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The TWELVE embarrassing pictures of Christmas~past!

Aw~the ones that made the cut.  From Ross the boss, Mrs. Moss and all the little Landers.  1968

The ones that didn’t make it.  For obvious reasons.

Nativity.

Left:  I was an angel (both as a child and for this photo shoot) but my mom cut my wings out of the shot!  What the heck?  I see I must have been making THE pronouncement over Baby Jesus (aka little brother, Danny), as I seem to have everyone’s rapt attention.  The set was created using bathrobes and towels, a bassinet and my aunt’s old prom dress. 

Right:  Why on earth would my own mother cut me, the angel, out?!?  Joe is not playing air guitar, but rather looking “Josephly,”…I think.  Or perhaps, “shepherdly?”

Just 5 sweet children getting ready for bed the night before Christmas.

Left: Well, the boys are taking a break, I see.  These were done on a Saturday night after our baths to prepare for Sunday morning.  Everyone was in good spirits, feeling fresh.  How much does Danny look like the little brother on “The Christmas Story??”

Right: We got the pooch in on this one, which, I guess, is why I got placed in the background.  Hmph.

We were Christmas Carolers.

Scenario:  My mom used crayons to draw an outdoor backdrop on a white sheet.  She dragged an old storm window frame in from the garage and attached some drapes to it.  Then she used the red towel to cover a dresser and set a Biblical vingette as though some one was looking outside (from inside their cozy, warm and very spiritual home) at these little children sing.  This is WHY Photoshop was invented: to help creative photographers like my sweet mama.

BTW~these were AFTER church on a Sunday night, which followed church on Sunday morning, that had followed Sunday School before that.  I recall being veeeeeeery tired, at half past 10 p.m., it was sooooo flipping hot in our coats and hats inside the house and my mom just would not quit.

Left: Though nearly ruined by water damage in some humid state or another, I feel this was “the one!”  I mean, I am obviously truly singing, Tami is smiling cute!  Tim is singing his head off, even though he had the little Carol book turned inside out, you can practically read the Bible (turned appropriately, I am certain, to Luke’s Gospel. chapter 2).  It was a good one.

Right:  Danny is crying and Tim is thinking about it.  Tammy and Joe can’t keep their eyes open, and I am in a preacher’s kid-after-Sunday daze.  Let us go to bed, already, mom!

And then there is this atrocity:

Me, at 16, playing an 80-year old grandma in my mother’s church production, “The Littlest Package.”   Baby powder in my hair, a crocheted shawl about my shoulders.  Can’t understand at all why this didn’t make the family Christmas card?!?  (Is the girl in the left picture flipping me off?  Because she was my best friend at the time!)

I love you anyway, mamala!

  

 

Ode to the Family of my Summer, for I shan’t and mustn’t acknowledge an autumn which does not truly begin until the September (or Autumnal) Equinox, on the 22nd day of this month ~ yes, just a couple of days from now, but still.  Despite the fact that my sweet daughters, Stephanie first and then Stormie, have brought me a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks each (how sweet are they??),  I won’t purchase my first until it is truly autumn.  I must sing of my love for the summer until the last verse fades softly…

 

Ross and Norma with grandkids and great-grandkids

  

 

Dad and the brothers visit

Press close, bare-bosomed Night! Press close, magnetic,
nourishing Night!
Night of south winds!  Night of the large, few stars!
Still, nodding Night!  Mad, naked, Summer Night!
~Walt Whitman

 

 Joe’s wife, Robin with my dad; hanging on “Moslander Mountain”

 

Ross the Boss, Mrs. Moss, and all the Little Landers (Jeanie, Joey, Timmy, Tami and Danny)…except Tim didn’t come this year, but the rest did – with their spouses and children.

It was a divine time, full of remembering and creating new memories.  Cousins kidded and cajoled.  Siblings sought to reconnect.  Dad told us where we came from and gave us insight for our futures.  Mom cheered us all on and hugged the stuffing out of us.  Love was in the air and in our hearts.

Gerron, Jordan and Austin being dudes

  

Tredessa, Grandma Moslandr and Uncle Joe

Sister-in-Law, Dawn.

Dawn and Dan share family secrets

Just the other morning my sister-in-law, Dawn, whom I have known and loved since she was 14, emailed me these beautiful sentiments about The Moslander Family Reunion:

“I took you all in during our time spent together. Kinda like a wonderful meal!  I feel full, but want to take in some more. Good memories, but missing everyone.”

Cousins Rocky and Corbin having fun at the Phipps farm

Riding horses at the farm.

Brothers telling fish stories, no doubt

So blessed.

 

Me with little sister Tami and her husband, Gerron; Jordan and Rocky-best cousins forever!

I love my family.  I am so blessed by wonderful parents and amazing siblings who have married so well.  They have gifted me with extraordinary nephews and nieces.  And everytime we are together, all is right with the world.

 

Aunt Tami with her nieces; Aunt Tami pulling me into silliness.

“In every conceiveable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.”  Alex Haley

Mom and Dad. 

Whom I have also sometimes (with great affection) called “Mammogram” and “Pap Smear.”  Not sure how they feel about that!  This is the result of these two people. 

All my love to family, both near and far, both born to us and joined by love. 

Related posts:

• Scenes from a Good Summer ~ Heaven Fest
• Scenes from a Good Summer ~ The Grandbebes 
• Scenes from a Good Summer ~ The Garden
• Scenes from a Good Summer ~ Puerto Rico 

Previous posts about the Moslander family reunion:

• Mommy & Daddy 
• Moslander Reunion ‘09
• It’s a Family Affair
• Family Farm
• We are Family-I got all my sisters with me

Stefanie and Wrex Phipps are just such generous and giving people.  They let us crash their farmland and just became a part of the Moslander family from far and wide as we celebrated and re-unioned together last week.  Thank-you sooooooooo much, Stef and Wrex.  EVERYBODY fell in love with you just like we did when we first met you.  You made us so welcomed and were just a part of us!  We love you and will never forget the great time at the farm!  pictured: the farmer and his drop-dead gorgeous wife; Stef and Dessa

Aunt Tami-finger licking good; Uncle Gerron saying, “Down boy-Tami is mine.”; Elise-the-Niece and me

Austin feeding the calf; Dawn and Robin, my beautiful sisters-in-law…and two of the godliest women I know

Goat says, “Really.  What do you city folk want?”; Cowboy Wrex bringing the horses; Hunter saddled up

Tredessa swinging the rope and getting her steer; Averi taking control of the bull

Cousin Corbin roping; Gemma bull-riding; the boys being little cow-pokes

My mom has always, and I mean always been a cowgirl at heart!; Tristan with his kiddies; Guini and the goat

Tredessa lassos her cousin Corbin (certainly he deserved it for one ornery thing or another he said); the little ones lasso-ing; Dave and his food

Hunter and his corn-on-the-cob; Averi and hers; Gavin and the goat

Corbin; Rocky; Uncle Joe playing horseshoes and losing (to his 71-year-old mother)

Uncle Gerron with Jordan and Austin; my mama roping again; Stephanie and Tristan

Uncle Gerron and Uncle Joe; Rocky and Corbin shooting…plastic bottles and stuff

The bonfire Wrex built; Aunt Dawn and Guini; Wrex and Austin stoking the fire

The boys roasting marshmallows; Guini and Hunter walking down the road as the sun disappeared; a beautiful summer evening with family around the fire

above: Our hostess Stef with sisters Tara and Tredessa;  Aunt Dawn and Guini doing sparklers

below: Uncle Gerron is loved by animals and toddlers alike – here with GemGem; Hunter and his fireworks

It was an unforgettable evening of love on the farm with the fam.

Previous posts about the Moslander family reunion:

• Mommy & Daddy 
• Moslander Reunion ‘09
• It’s a Family Affair

The Moslanders Came to Denver & here is a glimpse of the time together…

pictured:  At Mile High Flea Market ~ Jordan, the semi-pro football player; Uncle Gerron innocently shopping for the right pair of jeans; Aunt Tami with Jovan and Averi

pictured:  me (what the heck with the hair??) and my mama; cousins Tara & Elise; Gerron and Dave, the bro-in-laws (some people think Tami and I married brothers becuz we both went for the hot Latino types)

pictured below: Elise with her daddy and my brother, Joe; Elise at the jeans shop, where unbeknownst to her, there was the inevitable Moslander-booty discussion happening; Tara and her Aunt Tami discussing tank tops

What on earth did we do?

We gathered, we ate, we Mile-Hi flea marketed, we cooked out at the farm (Stef and Wrex~  Thank-you so much for an unforgettable evening) and roped “cattle” and rode horses and played horseshoes.  We bonfired and sang, we talked and talked and took pictures.  We prayed.   We cried sometimes and laughed a lot.  We ate some more.  Robin cookie-ed us silly!  We shot off fireworks (which may or may not have been illegal from over the Wyoming state line) and BBs and air-soft pellets.  Grandma (or great-grandma) Moslander whipped everybody’s butts in horseshoes at the age of 71-years-young!  Seriously?  If she would color her hair, you’d only think she was 54 by her activity-level.  She also perfected her roping skills after the lesson from Cowboy Wrex.  The woman kills!  We ate some more.   In short, we just hung out together.

pictured: Dawn and Dan and Grandpa Moslander relaxing; the little ones on the horses; praying before the big steak and corn on the cob and all the other delish food meal

pictured: Aunt Tami can truly talk to the animals!

pictured: a horse, of course; Tristan and Gemma riding; Rocky and Guini riding into the sunset

pictured: Grandpa Moslander reverted to his farm days as a kid and spent a lot of time feeding the mama goat and the albino calf

pictured: Aunt Tami with her new friend the horse; Guini and Hunter riding by; Grandma Moslander winning at horseshoes

pictured: Uncle Joe and Grandpa visiting between songs; the calf

Not Pictured:

The giant 3 1/2 foot snake that almost ran right over my feet!  Yes.  It was a giant!

Psalm 34.11  “Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”

pictured below: an impromtu baseball game in Nederland; horseback riding at the farm; my little sister talked me into some weird face; the nieces with Aunt Tami ~ Stephanie, Elise, Auntie, Tredessa, Jovan, Stormie, Tara

The family

I am the oldest of 5 children born to Ross and Norma Moslander.  We are blessed to still have our parents with us.  They came from Springfield, MO, where, for the second time, they are trying to ditch retirement and are looking for a pastorate.  Anyone want a roomy house in Springfield?  pictured: my dad with the 4 originals who were here at church on Sunday morning ~ Dan, Joe, me and Tami; both my parents with their grandchildren and great-grand-children in Nederland

My brother Joe and his wife, Robin, came, bringing Corbin-their-youngest with them, joining niece-Elise, who has resided with us here in Colorado for the past year and a half.  Two of their kids couldn’t make it, but we were glad they came all the way from Aberdeen, SD, where their church just held a dedication for their new facilities.  pictured: Robin talking to dad during the bonfire; Robin and Joe dancing in celebration of their 25th anniversary, the rest of us dancing, too; the fam ~ Joe and Robin with Corbin and Elise

Tim and his family from Butte didn’t make it this year and we were very sad about that, but we plan to make him really sorry by super-imposing him into photos from some old 1970s pics we have of him.  That’ll teach him.  Hehehehe…evil laughing. 

My sister, Tami, so energetic and lively, and her husband came from Corbin, Kentucky (youth pastors by day).  Gerron-the-husband fancies himself “the great one.”  They are adored by the nieces and nephews and are both natural born animal-whisperers. pictured: T & G at the Mile High Flea Market; later that day at the farm, charming the animals

My youngest brother, Dan and his wife Dawn (we have known her since she was 14 years old!) got to come from Hobart, IN (very near Chicago) and brought 2 of their 3 handsome sons, a beautiful family.  pictured: Dawn and Dan on the patio one fine summer evening; Dan and Dawn’s youngest son, Austin, Joe and Robin’s son, Corbin, and Dan and Dawn’s firstborn, Jordan (a semi-pro football player) at the flea market.

How we spent the time…

We gathered, we ate, we Mile-Hi flea marketed, we cooked out at the farm (Stef and Wrex?  Thank-you so much for an unforgettable evening) and roped “cattle” and rode horses and played horseshoes.  We bonfired and sang, we talked and talked and took pictures.  We worshiped at church together and on the patio as a family.  Dad told how we got our spiritual start, about his salvation and baptism of the Holy Spirit.  He preached it up.  We prayed for each other, we cried sometimes and laughed a lot.  We ate some more.  Robin cookie-ed us silly!  She brought vats of her unbelievably-delicious cookies (peanut butter, chocolate chip, monster, and oatmeal raisin) omygosh - truly, Mrs, Fields – watch out!   We celebrated Father’s Day late and floated down the Platte River (how are there no pictures of this??!?…especially of Corbin trying to float on a shark and it nearly taking him under as he tried to swim to shore!?  Hahaha!).  We splashed in the pool and sunned a little.  We shot off fireworks (which may or may not have been illegal from over the Wyoming state line) and BBs and air-soft pellets.  We ate some more.  We golfed.  Some of us (*ahem) did all-night video game parties at Rocky and Jovan’s.  We took a picture on what is affectionately known to us as “Moslander Mountain” up Boulder Canyon (since we photographed ourselves there on our very first reunion in 1995).  We picnicked in Nederland and played wiffle ball.  Did I mention there was food?  We came back down the mountain and celebrated Joe and Robin’s 25th anniversary with a dance (how did Dan get so good at that Cha Cha Slide number?…Is it because he is a high school teacher??).  There was coffee in the shade on delectibly cool mornings and rhubarb dessert everyone wants the recipe for (Stormie!).  In short, we just hung out together.

Could it be any sweeter?

The weather was positively perfect: sunny all day, but  not unbearably hot.  Sweet summer evenings outside.  God even held the mosquitos at bay for us.  It was seriously perfect.  All the time.  And romantic lights twinkling around the yard.  It was like, for these precious few days, we were all there, together, safe and secure and all was right with the world.

My kiddos

I am so thankful that my children not only choose to participate in the Moslander-Family-Reunions, but they are catalysts for them.  They want them to keep happening.  They plan for them.  They help me with them.  They love to spend time with their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.  They participate in every way (even though it can be hard with young ‘uns), and help with the food and just generally make me so very proud to call them my kids.  

The party is over

Wednesday afternoon at about 3:00, 5 days after it all began, mom and dad, who’d been the first to arrive, were the last to leave.  And my heart is full of together memories, for the moments we shared.  We’ll do it again in 2010 and much will have changed, but the love in my heart for these people will remain…pictured: mom and dad with Elise and with Tara and Hunter on the “good-bye” porch; and below in the yard with the sign and appropriately sad faces

I miss them already…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:  Am I blessed with a godly heritage, or what??

They did a front page spread on him a few years ago with a big picture of the praying policeman.   Either Joe is just  super exciting or not much is going on in Aberdeen!   Ha!

I can’t fathom that gray hair when my hair  is still so naturally   “coffee” with dark red and honey streaks?

See the article here:

http://www.aberdeennews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080914/LIVING/809140334

Joe-it is time to get your own blog!

Love, your big sister…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:   My favorite song from when I was 4?   “I’ve got the Joey, Joey, Joey, Joey down in my heart…”   Still do.