2009 Graham Family Christmas Party

On Friday many of my extended family on my dads' side came to Tone' and my house for our annual Graham family Christmas party. I am always amazed that we are able to fit nearly 35 people inside our 1200 square foot home, but we managed and it was a lot of fun. In fact, I rather like the coziness of closer quarters as it forces us all to stay together more than if we are spread out in a larger home.
I think it is funny to note that half of my relatives in this picture are my cousins, in one form or another; first cousin, first cousins once removed, second cousins, second cousins once removed......hmmm, I'm not sure about the last one, did I just make that one up? Is my second cousins baby my second cousin once removed? And now that I'm thinking about it, if my dads first cousin is my first cousin once removed, then is my cousins kids my first cousins once removed as well?
So then if my dads first cousin has a daughter, who is then my dads first cousin once removed and my second cousin, and this daughter has a boyfriend, what does that make us?

Absolutely nothing Dan #2 until you pop the question!!!
Come on, you know you want to be a part of this family. :)

Of course, he'll have to get through this guy.

But once through that tough part you could end up with one of these cute little things!
(The little blue eyed red head that is. Not that my brother isn't cute, but....)

Okay, I'm done mortifying my cousin.....

Here I am with my second cousin, Chelsea, the mama of the cute little red head. (Oh how I want a cute little red head!!! Guess I'll keep having babies and see what happens.)
Since i waited to have children my brother and sisters' kids are much older than my boys, so I'm excited that my second cousins are having babies now. Luke has two third cousins around his age that he will grow up with, yay!

We did have a gift exchange where the men bring a man gift and the ladies bring a lady gift and this year we went from youngest to oldest. There was some rather loud yelling going on when the men were picking their gifts. I think it had something to do with Dan #2(the boyfriend) stealing the father of the girlfriends very cool gift. We'll see if that was a wise decision.....
Speaking of Dan's; this is Dan #1- married to my dad's cousin, Susan, not to be confused with my dad's new wife, Sue.
Incidentally, I'm not sure how to number Susan(also known as Sue) and Sue, as my uncle's kids, Susan and Debbie, grew up in the same church as Sue and her late husband went to. So Susan's kids all call Sue, "Grandma Sue", even though she is now their first cousin once removed, (I think). So technically, Susan, my dad's cousin, is Susan #1 and Sue, my dad's wife, is Sue #2, but that doesn't really feel right.


And this is Chelsea's' husband Chad, not to be confused with my sisters' husband, Chad, who would be considered our "Chad #1" by order of appearance.
And since I'm on a roll, remember my brother? His name is John, not to be confused with my dad, whose name is John. They had always been identified as "Big John" and Little John". Until, that is, "Little John" ended up being bigger than "Big John". Now everyone just says, "John", and they both turn around. Then there is my cousin Steve, the father of the girl whose boyfriend needs to propose soon, not to be confused with my other cousin Steve, who couldn't make it tonight. Everyone missed him, but not necessarily the M&M Christmas lights that he brings every year for the gift exchange.
Confused? Not half as confused as my 3 year old, I'm sure. He's still trying to figure out how he has a cousin named Abby who is older than him and also a cousin named Addy who is younger than him.


After all the excitement it was time for little Lukey to get into his jammies and have some quiet time watching "Noah's Ark", his new favorite video. He pulled his cousin, Morgan, into the family room to sit with him. I think this is one of my new favorite pictures, so sweet.

Aren't families great? I am so blessed to have such a fun, loving and large extended family. What I am most grateful for, however, is that our ancestors have passed on to us their faith in our Saviour, Jesus Christ, from many generations before us. Now we are continuing that strong Christian heritage in our own families, and with God's grace, our children will continue to live for Him as well and this family will continue to be a beacon of light in a dark world.