Arizona Christmas

There are 28 Andersons together this year for Christmas. Garrett, Jeanie, Solomon (4) and Jeremiah (1) have joined Garrett’s family in Arizona for the holiday. This includes Grandma Susie and Gramps (Bruce); Taylor and Teresa Anderson, and their kids Danielle (9), Leah (5), Andrew (3) and Jessica (<1); Trent and his girlfriend LaRae; Julia and Brent Crenshaw, and their kids Christopher (4), Susie (4), Evan (2) and Anna (1); Grant and Alena Anderson and their kids Clayton (6), Whitney (4) and Owen (1); and straight from England (with the Air Force) Carma and Ian Sheehan, and their son Jak (<1). Carma is expecting another.

The Andersons get together every other year for Christmas. Jeanie has been coming since 2000 when we were engaged. At the time, we only had 2 grandkids. Two years later we were up to 7, including a newborn Solomon, who was the youngest at the time. Last time, in 2004 we were up to 9, and anticipating Jerry’s birth on January 11th, just after Christmas. This year we are up to 14, and Jeanie is happy to not to be either pregnant or have a newborn.

This is also the first year that we are trying this gathering in Arizona. We have traditionally gathered at Gramps and GrandmaSusie’s house in Bloomington, Illinois. Now we are staying at either Grant or Taylor’s houses in Mesa and Gilbert. It has been surprisingly chilly here the first few days. We are very happy to be here with family, but we have become unaccustomed to the fast pace of the big city. Every so often we turn to each other and bless the non-existent traffic, affordable houses(and forest) and comfortable life we live in small-town Illinois.

Solomon is really enjoying his cousins, especially Grant’s kids that we are staying with. He humors Whitney and plays Polly Pocket with her, and Clayton is probably just as much a Star Wars nut as Solomon, so of course they get along well. Grant has done a lot of work in his yard, including burying his trampoline, and sodding the back yard. I've gotten to help him some, hauling rock and sand from the front yard to the back. We look forward to spending some time laying brick this week. The house looks great, and so does the yard. We are very happy to be here sharing this Christmas with my twin brother and the rest of the family. Sincerely, Garrett