One more (fun) pic.

A man of his word

Here is the link to Grandpa's obit.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?n=kenneth-neel&pid=147190960

A good man and a good friend to all of us!

Here's another fun one.

Photo on file at the County Assessors office

I recognize the house but I don't know whose car that is.

Announcement, announcement!

For the first time in, I think, forever Mom and Dad are ordering their Christmas cards! I know you are all disappointed that you wont be able to cut, glue, paste and write during your break — but I am sure Mom can find plenty of other things to keep you busy. Hey, maybe we can put up dry wall or something instead.

Can't wait to see (most) of you!

Most, meaning almost all of our family, not most as in some of you!

Maya's Great-Great Grandma

Hi all! I just wanted to share some photos that were taken today while Maya, my dad, Pat and I visited my dad's grandma (who we call Gam). I have really been wanting to take Maya to meet her great-great grandma and I'm so glad that we finally made it over to see her. She is 94 years old and is doing relatively well although her memory is starting to fade a little bit. Although she didn't like the way that I spelled Maya's name (she thinks it should be Mya), she did tell me a few times that I did a good job and made a beautiful baby. I have to agree with her. 

Aside from seeing Gam, I always enjoy going to her house because she still has so many of the things there from when I was a little girl. She also still has a lot of things from when my dad and my grandma were both kids. My favorite thing to see at her house when I was young was her lava lamp, which is probably from the 70's. She turned it on for me again today after I told her how much I loved it as a little girl. 

(Just so you know, I will be posting this on my regular blog as well but I wanted to share with you all first.)

I'm so happy that we got these pictures.

 Maya was so sweet, like usual, and so curious.  

I was watching closely to make sure Maya didn't pinch Gam. Maya loves to grab mouths. 

"You should have named her Verbena." - Gam, whose name is obviously Verbena.

Maya, Me, Gam, my dad. My dad is Gam's first grandchild, my brother is her first great-grandchild, but Maya is probably her 6th  or 7th great-great grandchild (I'm not sure). 

We will miss you Grandpa Ken!

I just wanted to share some of the photos that we have of Ken. 

We love you and we will miss you Grandpa Ken! 

Grandpa Ken

Hi all!

Just heading over to see Grandpa Ken. Sounds like he is going to see Grandma soon, if not while I am writing this. Although they are a little sad to see, I thought I would put up a few pictures of him and others at his birthday celebration on Mon. night.

Here's to a great man, who has lived 91 full and wonderful years.

We love you Grandpa!

A Cali Thanksgiving

What a great trip I had last weekend to visit the Cali Blakes! Dinner was delicious, the weather was warmer than in Utah, Harry Potter 7.1 at the IMAX theatre was awesome, and the company was the best.

Jennie spent two days in the kitchen baking pies, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, carving a turkey and blending Grandma's delicious cranberry stuff.

I am putting a picture on here so you will believe it, but your youngest sister (who is generally not very domestic) turned over a new leaf this year. In fact, I turned over two leaves. After making sweet potatoes for the Holman pre-Thanksgiving dinner in Salt Lake, I decided I could do a little bit of cooking at Jen's. So, I can now add a different recipe of sweet potatoes and brocolli casserole to the short list of things I can make.

Eliza and I made the annual pineapple turkey

Although the dinner was good, the company was even better!

I have a lot to be grateful for!

Early Thanksgiving Dinner

Just wanted to post a couple of pictures from tonight. Thanks again Mary Lou and Miles for our early Thanksgiving dinner! Hope you have fun in Denver!

On a side note, this evening we learned that Maya likes the taste of sweet potatoes but isn't a fan of mashed potatoes or cranberry sauce. Watching the faces she makes when tasting food is so much fun and I wish that I would have gotten video of her. 

Cheese! 

Pretty sure I ate most of these.

Can't help but take pictures of my happy girl.

Hanging out with Auntie Mers.

Seriously adorable! 

Getting ready to head home.

Maya loves her grandparents! 

The Family Picture

I noticed that the family picture was added to the blog and I also noticed that my posture is terrible. If we take a family picture this Christmas will someone remind me to stand up straight? Thanks!!

Since I'm here I might as well give you all a quick little update. Maya is doing wonderful and is happy as can be. She loves to make noises and has started to squeal and scream for no reason at all. She wants to crawl but gets frustrated as she pushes herself backward instead of forward. She is so much fun!

Can't wait to see everyone over the holidays!

Love,

Not much of a red head anymore. 

Shandie

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

It was so fun to talk to all my family on my birthday. I love you guys!

Happy Birrrrthday, Old Lady!!!

Birrrrrthday greetin's to our arrrsum sister Kate!

(Insert pirate picture here... complete with a patch, peg leg, and parrot on her shoulder!)

Hope you have the best birthday yet filled with fun times with your fam! Hope you know how much you are loved!

Mers

Happy Birthday James! We love you!!!

Unlce Rich, Aunt Jennie, Miles, Sean, Eliza and Jackson :)

Happy Birthday, James!

It's this little guys birthday today...



Just wanted to say I love him and hope he gets to eat a lot of cake and candy to celebrate!

Love you Jamesie boy!
~ Auntie Mers

Since our Mom is now a blogger...

Hello all!

It's your favorite youngest sister here — I was talking with Mom and Dad the other day and threw out the idea of having a Holman family blog. Mom and Dad loved the idea, so here it goes. Please don't feel pressured to write a novel or post professional photos. This will just be for fun and quick family updates (i.e. Mom and Dad's remodel, the Blake's celebrating a Giants win, Ben's photo shoot with Wilson, Alyssa's outfit of the day or Maya cheering on those Utes! Or most importantly, my hot date of the week... you get the picture!) I am hoping this can be a place for us to do quick updates of our families so we can know the little fun stuff that maybe all of your friends don't need to hear about, but as grandparents and an Auntie, we love it all!

It can also be a forum for discussion if we need to know Christmas gift exchange assignments or in planning family events. I just made the blog in the last ten minutes, so I will have to put a picture of our family and make it more aesthetically pleasing (maybe Meg could help with that!?!) as we get it going.

Hopefully you all aren't annoyed with one more thing to do — like I said, use it as little or as much as you like. I know the thought of having my own blog and the upkeep of it seems a little daunting, but a shared blog with many contributors could be a great way for us to stay close. Most of all, I miss and love you guys and just want to hear the fun daily stuff of what goes on in your lives.

Let me know your thoughts.

Love you all and can't wait to "Meet you in Sun Valley" on the inter webs!

Mers