Christmas Parties

The H. J. and Edna Milligan Family Christmas Party was held on Saturday, December 11th at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville. The site is a replica of a 1917 farm and village. By my count there were 98 in attendance. About half were adults and half little kids. Family members came from 6 states: California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah and Idaho. Many thanks to those who made this party happen, to those who provided the food, arranged the location, brought desserts etc.! Thanks for your generosity. It would have been nice to sit down and visit with each of the attendees. That was impossible with all the hub-bub going on.

Our festivities took place in the Opera House

Hailey holding Aubrey and petting a horse.

Jayse, Ashlyn and Katelyn ready for a ride

Andrew, Ashley and Ashlyn

Kaden, Tanner and Landon chasing after the wagon

After enjoying a nice meal, the younger generation put on a talent show. We were entertained with dances, gymnastics, musical numbers (violin and piano), poetry, riddles, jokes etc. We played a candy bar game. There was the usual 'mad-grab' out of Kent's boxes of motel supplies to everyone's delight.


These are the 16 female cousins in attendance. I was outside when this picture was taken so I snitched it off Facebook. Front row: Heidi, Jill, Jennifer, Jamie, Emily, Natalie. Back row: Lauren (the youngest cousin), Kim (the oldest cousin), Staci, Leslie, Robin, Rebecca, Angela, Holly, Candace and Andrea.

These four cousins were born within a year and a half of each other. Eric belongs in the group as well. L - R: Rebecca (holding Talmage), Robin, Candace and Natalie. Several of the cousins now have four children of their own but Natalie is the most prolific as she will soon have her 6th child. One time within four months, each of my three sisters and I gave birth. David was born December 26th, Leslie arrived on January 12th, Sam was a leap-year baby on February 29th and Jodi followed on April 22nd. Mother and Dad had 28 grandchildren and I think 23 were at the party. Two years after the last grandchild was born, the first great-grandchild arrived. There are nearly 70 great grandkids so far. Mother had 7 kids in 10 years...4 girls followed by 3 boys. James Keith, my middle brother, died as a newborn. Our sibling picture is below:

Ron~Marilyn~Kathy~Kent~Jean~Marsha

Pretty setting, gorgeous day, but awfully muddy!

Since our Utah kids were going to be in town for the Milligan party, they wanted to have our immediate family Christmas party later that evening. Cousin Marcia from Texas joined us and stayed with us for two nights. Candace and Robin and their families stayed at the SpringHill. It's a treat for the kids to stay there, go swimming and have a continental breakfast. Anyway, 25 of us ate downstairs in our 'banquet room.' We had ham, funeral potatoes, green beans, rolls, coke products, brownies and fudge. After putting the tables away we had a white elephant gift exchange which brought lots of laughs.

On Christmas Eve we will be having one more holiday dinner for our local (geographically speaking) daughters and families. We bought an extra turkey at Thanksgiving and need to free up some freezer space. After that we can rest for a season...oh, but what about New Year's Eve, New Year's Day etc.? Actually, we haven't made any plans. Hallelujah!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!