Hayhoe Family Christmas Get Together

Last night we had our annual Hayhoe Christmas Due (as we like to call it) This is when all my Mom's 5 siblings get together along with all my cousins and their spouses and their children. To put it nicely it is like a small wedding gathering when we get together. We have become so large that we can no longer meet in any one's home, so we continue for the 2nd year in a row to meet at Kleinburg Golf club, just north of Toronto.
We had a great time, the evening started off with ordervuos(spelling!?!) and then we had a sit down dinner. When we all finally sat down to eat we all filled 7 round tables. We had squash soup, a lovely cranberry salad, a nice turkey dinner with roasted potatoes, carrots, green beans and stuffing and for dessert we had a various selection of sweets. It was a great meal and I didn't have to make the turkey.:o)
We drove to Kleinburg yesterday afternoon and arrived at the golf club, right on time around 4:30pm. The Lord was good and the weather was clear and sunny most of the 3.5 hour car drive. Luke and Allison both had a nap on the drive there and then the remainder of the trip they watched the movie "Cars".
I have got to tell you when we left Windsor it was +5 and when we got to the Toronto area it was -5. There was a 10 degree temperature difference from Windsor to Toronto and surrounding areas. It was pretty wild and chilly to say the least. Thank goodness I packed the kids their warm winter clothes, oh and Toronto had much more snow then Windsor. Only our roofs were covered pretty much when we left and the golf course was covered with the white stuff.

Allison and her second cousin Regan looking and playing with the Christmas tree at the golf club, waiting for others to arrive. Regan is my cousin Andrew's and wife Kim's little girl.

My cousins Rosy, Jenny and Mychal-Anne.

Some of the men of the evening: Luke, My cousin Andrew, cousin Dan, My Dad, My uncle Paul, Uncle Ralph, cousin Kevin and my Bruce.

It was nice to see all my cousins together again as we only get to see each other about 1-2 times a year. Many of us have kids of our own now and thankfully there was a dance floor set up for the kids to play on. No, we did not have a dance at our family Christmas, just to clarify for you all out there. It was for the kids to play on and run around on. At times things did get a bit rowdy with the kids and they needed a break, so one of my cousins pulled out their portable DVD player and the kids tried to watch a movie together on this tiny little screen which didn't seem to work to well. Here are some of the older kids trying to peacefully watch this movie together. My cousin Andrew was the ref for a good part of the time, which was only about 15-20 minutes or so.

After our dinner it was time for the gift exchange for all the kids. My Uncle Bernie was great in pulling all the kids together at the golf club and had them sit on chairs waiting for their name to be called to come receive their gift.
I have to tell you something about my uncle Bernie. He is my Mom's younger brother and the youngest of the 6 kids in my Mom's family. He has always had a heart for kids. Now I have never heard him say this, it just seems to be evident to me. When I was child Uncle Bernie was always in there with us kids playing kick the can, joking with us, playing with us, jumping on the trampoline with us and never seemed to mind missing out on the adult time he could have been having at our annual family gatherings we had throughout the years. He just seemed to love to be with the kids. The best part is that nothing has changed. Here is my uncle spending time with my children now passing out the gifts, spending a few minutes to talk to Luke and encourage him (Uncle Bernie might not even know he did this for Luke last night)and laughing and having fun with all the younger ones in our rather large family. I have to tell you my Uncle Bernie is a true example of Christ to me ...loving all the little children. He loves the Lord and his life reflects the love of the Lord and I pray my kids will always know that Jesus is Lord of my uncle's life and that one day they will accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. Uncle Bernie, thank you for taking the time last night to spend quality time with all the children. I know I will always love and remember the times spent with my Uncle Bernie and all my cousins in the years gone by.
Oh and by the way Uncle Bernie, thanks for letting me live with you and your family for 11 months when I first went on my own. You and Aunt Sue were wonderful to me, for putting up with me and giving me a roof over my head. You were and Aunt Sue were a true blessing to me at that time in my life.

Allison opening her gift with me. She got a great little pop up book and a new dress from cousin Regan Hayhoe. Thanks Andrew and Kim!

Luke opening his gift from his second cousin Abigail. He got lots of bug collector stuff, a net to catch bugs, a bug keeper, a bug picker upper and more. Thanks Kevin and Katie.


As the night was coming to close, at least for the kids, bed time is 8pm! It was a long day for our kids anyways. Here is my Mom with Allison watching some Christmas TV on the television there at the golf club, my cousin Andrew is there with his girl Regan as well, just trying to keep them happy.

Here is Bruce with Allison and her second cousin Claire. I still think that Allison and Claire could pass for sisters, they look so much alike.

Here is Claire Hayhoe. Claire is my cousin Brad's and wife Heidi's little girl.

And......here is our Allison enjoying her new book she received in her gift. She loved it!