All Because Two People Fell in Love

The Saturday before Christmas is always the DeBry party.  Doesn't BYU know that?  I can't believe they scheduled their bowl game for the same day as our party!  Fortunately,  BYU was winning by about 30 points by the time the Provo DeBrys converged on the house, so everyone was able to relax and have fun!  Scott had the game on in his theater, just in case.  Let's see...who was there?  Jim and Da and Mike, Danny and Jessie.  We missed Jon and Sandra and the boys and Krissy and Sin and their littles, in D.C.  Paul and Rita and four of their kids' families came; Laura and Gordon and the troops, Mark and Malinda and kids all the way from Boise, Julia and Terry and their cute little towheads and Athena and Ben, making his DeBry party debut!  Well, done, Ben!  :)  Christina and Stewart, David and Marilyn and Emily and Darren are on East Coast duty.  I wish we could zap them here, just for a few hours!

We had Bob (Dot was sick; we missed you!) and most of their family.  Jon and Laura and Sydney were in Key West, but Samantha and McKenzie came.  (Sorry you had to work, Dave!)  Tiffany and Johnny and their girls, Jamie and Isabella, only had to travel 15 minutes, since they have moved here from Vegas.  Welcome!  Tyler was missed, too, but everyone is so grateful that he lives with Nana and is able to keep an eye on her.  Ally and her three boys and Kris and her crew, including the baby twins, rounded out the Pexton contingent.  (Jamison, hope you feel better!)

From Mark and Marla's gang, Jill and her two very tall and grown-up boys drove up from St. George, leaving Roger to run the postal service down there.  Dan and Judith and their family came, and Julie and her kids, minus Jason, and while I didn't see Karen and Scott, I did see their kids.  I didn't get the scoop on that, but we missed you guys!  Spencer brought Kate and left Bre home with Lizzy and newbie Ryder, born last week.  Congratulations!  From the King clan, the Dopps were there in force as well as Trajan and Josh and his family.  Is that everyone?  Did I miss anyone?  Of course, Nana was there in all her glory, handing out her two-dollar bills.  Thank-you, Nana!  Even though I accidentally left Nana's potato casserole in the oven until the end of the party, it was all gone almost as soon as I took it out!  I'll have to make a note to myself that we had far more dessert than vegetables, for the menu next year.  Then again, we ARE DeBrys, so that's as it should be.  As long as there is lemon dessert and lots of chocolate, we're a happy group!

Of course, the highlight of the party was when Santa Claus came!  Santa (Mike Boonak) was great with the kids.  Being a single guy, Mike was thinking about posting the Santa pics on his Facebook page to impress the ladies!  Hey, any girl would be impressed with a guy who can keep a genuine smile on his face through 50 kids sitting on his lap while parents snap photos.  Thanks, Mike.  Sorry the kids called you out on your shoes.  Tough crowd!

I never take as many pictures as I plan to, I never get to talk to each person as much as I would like, and the party always ends much too soon.  I am so glad we are able to get together.  I already have the party on my calendar for next year, the Saturday before Christmas, the 17th, unless of course we need to change it for an out-of-towner who might be here a different day.  Just let BYU know not to schedule anything that day, would you, Uncle Paul?

 Golda and James Harkness

 Bob, Da, Nana, Jim, Mary, Felshaw, Rita, Paul, Mark, Marla

 Paul and Nana looking at the book Paul made of Opa's missionary journal, 1931-1933.  I started reading it last night!  I stole it from Mary.  What a great treasure.  Thanks, Paul!

 Jim, Paul, Nana, Mark, Mary and Bob

 Spencer, Julie, Marla, Brooke

 Julia, Jill

 Jessie and Danny and big bro, Santa Mike

 Santa's helpers, Jessie, Ruby, Golda and Jamie

 Bridie helping Xanthe open her gift from Santa

 Araceli

Xanthe

 Freestone asking for a treadmill

 Terry, Anson and Scott talking sports

 Ptolemy

 Santa and his wardrobe assistant, Joshua

 Bob and Mary

 Felshaw and Mary

 The twins, Mark and Mary

 Isabella, Tiffany, Johnnie and Jamie DelVecchio

 Jack, Preston and Keaton Summers

 Samantha's girls:  McKenzie, Isabella and Tiffany

 Christopher, Jill and Nicholas

 Laura, Matthew and Jacob

 Dan, Matthew, Molly, Annie and Judith

 Golda, Ruby and Nana Ruby

 Circe and Nana Ruby

 Athena and Ben, on their way to Washington, D.C. for an internship.  Good luck!

 Jim, Da, Mike, Jessie and Danny

Ptolemy and Kris and Jamison's twins, Felix on the right and Miles on the left.

I wish I had pictures of everybody!  Maybe next year!