A very Hockwald Christmas!

7:55 am - Tuesday - December 26th - GNHS - 45° F, humidity 91%, wind 2 mph out of the east by southeast......crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 65° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were winging our way back to Nashville, TN after spending Christmas with our kids, grand kids, and great grand kids.....↴ 

And then there was Christmas day.  TLE and I both slept well Sunday night in Sharon and Rod's guest room, and were up just in time to see Brayden (son) opening his presents, including the main attraction, a new Dell computer.....

....of course, Mom and Dad forgot the username and password, so it took about 45 minutes to straighten that out, but in the end Brayden was very happy.

We were dressed and on our way over to Chris (oldest son) and Rochelle's home by 8:30 am, and after exchanging greetings and hugs I got down to business eating Christmas breakfast.....

....Pozole, Christmas tamales, and tortillas.....we've been having this breakfast at Chris and Rochelle's for well over a decade, and every year Chris seems to perfect it even more.  I added some cilantro, radishes, and a squeeze of lime to punch it up a tad....paired with a full bodied cup of coffee made the perfect breakfast!

In all we had 25 people in attendance, including Ed and Linda, Rochelle's parents, so there were many simultaneous conversations taking place all morning, and into the afternoon.  TLE and I are used to being by ourselves 24/7, so it takes us a while to adjust to the level of noise at a typical Hockwald gathering......

Rod and Brayden

Rod, Kate and Sharon

Jolene (7) and Levy (2) - two of Kate's kids

Kate, Rochelle and Sharon...so many amazing, beautiful women in my life

Chris and Dad talking about Raider's football....the Raiders, by the way, upset the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL morning game

Elijah (20), and Charlise (17) bracketing our daughter, Meredith.  Elijah and Charlise are also Kate's kids.....she has a wide age span running from 20 down to 2 years of age

Brayden (grandson) with Daniel (great grandson...son of grand daughter Cynthia)

Grandson Chris (Chris and Rochelle's son)  with great grandson Jameson (grand daughter Cynthia's son)

Courtesy The Amazing Rochelle

....by the time we took our annual Christmas picture Ed and Linda (Rochelle's parents) had already gone home, so we had 23 present and accounted for in the picture.  Also missing are Tim, Laila, Crosby and Bowie who now live in Georgia....

Tim, Laila, Crosby and Bowie

....we miss them a lot, and are looking forward to our next trip to visit them.  TLE and I did spent about 20 minutes 'Facetiming' with them before we left Sharon and Rod's home Christmas morning.  If you add in all of our in-laws there would close to 40 people in this picture.  It always kinds of blows my mind to think that without TLE and I finding each other 56 years ago none of these pictures would exist.

This was the best Christmas ever, and our hearts were brimming with love, and satisfaction as we moved from one conversation to another.  By 1:30 pm it was time for TLE and I to bid our adieus and begin the 2.5 hour drive back to GNHS, where we arrived around 3:55 pm without incident.  As we watched another GNHS sunset, we continued to bask in the afterglow of time spent with our children, their children, and their children's children.  We are so proud of all of our children, the families they have forged, and feel extremely blessed to spend such quality time with them.... 

 ....we pray your Christmas was rich, and full of love as well....may God bless you all!

Thank you for stopping by!