New Year's Day 2010: Picture Perfect

We were lucky enough to see just about everyone on both sides of the family at some point during the holiday season. On the Cummings' side, it was never everyone at the same time, but I'm realizing that as the family continues to grow, that becomes more and more difficult. I am resolved to be happy seeing whoever we can, whenever we can. (Beach week, anyone???) I love being a part of this big Cummings clan.

New Year's Day, we celebrated by basking in laziness. We got together at the Clagett St. home for games, food, films, and fireworks. The film of choice this holiday was "Cranford," a recent BBC production and probably my favorite series. It's even giving "Pride & Prejudice" a run for top billing in my book - no small feat!

Here is the cast of characters (at least those who were able to be there at dinnertime):

Grammy and Papa


Michelle and Greg (the newlyweds)


Isaac, Nathan, and Jenny (sorry I caught you mid-blink, J)


Celeste, Trina, Joel, Sarah, Emma, and Adam


Grandpa Bezzant and Celeste


Heather and Melinda



Marie and Dan


Uncle Dan was an absolute favorite with all the nieces and nephews because of this fun game. Since it was cold and snowy out of doors, Uncle Dan became the indoor swing. Others took a turn to help with what would otherwise have been an incessant line of hopeful children, waiting for a turn.


Emma snuggles up to Dan to check out his Itouch. This girl LOVES technology, and she navigates tech toys with authority.


I love this photo. When we were outside to watch Aaron's South Carolina firework display, this group snuggled up. It represents the inseparables. Spencer tagged along with Trina pretty much all day, and I can count on one hand the number of times all week that I saw Greg and Michelle apart.


Grandpa Bezzant is a Christmas regular, and we wouldn't have it any other way. He's a mover and a shaker, this year tackling a Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown trip with part of the fam. He's also about the smartest fellow I know, with an amazing memory for detail and ability to figure out how everyone he meets connects in some way back to the good folk of the San Mateo ward. He runs the Bezzant B&B in Orem and puts us up every time we visit Utah. LOVE you, Grandpa!


Another fun moment captured - Melinda, who is a musical genius by my reckoning, let Emma climb up to play piano with her and proceeded to play song after song at Emma's request (all by ear). We love you, Lin!