MerryChristEasterMas

This month, the Ram Fam finally celebrated Christmas 2021 and combined it with Easter 2022.  I hope it is the first and only such holiday combination in the future because the reasons behind the delayed/combination were, well, quite frightening at the start and varied as the months continued.

The week of Christmas, one of our adult chicks, Taylor, announced he tested positive for Covid.  So we put our Christmas gathering on pause until we knew it could be safely rescheduled for a time when all six families of our flock could be together.   Unfortunately, our strong, healthy chick didn't catch a mild case of Covid.  As the days wore on, he progressively got worse.  While he wasn't hospitalized, thank the Lord, it was a day-by-day uncertainty during his three weeks off work.  His full-strength recovery took an additional several weeks, but he was back to his ornery self again by late January, after many days of prayer and healing blessings from God.

Rescheduling Christmas was challenging as other family members endured Covid precautionary quarantines, the nasty stomach bug going around, work-related travel, vacations, road-trips, work scheduling conflicts, and the passings of a daughter-in-law's aunt and grandmother.  As we planned towards a MerryChristValentineMas, a MerryChristStPatrickMas, it just seemed impossible to find one weekend where everyone was available until now.  So MerryChristEasterMas it finally was! 

After leaving up a houseful of Christmas decorations in hopes of a late January celebration, we finally took everything down the first of February, fearing what the neighbors may have assumed was prolonged laziness.  I did, however, bring up a small, 4-foot Christmas tree from basement storage last week and had fun decorating it half Christmas and half Easter to honor Jesus's birthday AND resurrection day.  It really added a hint of unique and fresh holiday cheer without being outdated and dusty.

Our gathering wouldn't be complete without Grandma/Great Grandma Ramsay's Sugar Cookies and Mimi/Great Mimi Casey's Lime Pineapple Punch which would be made upon the family's arrival.  The punch bowl was my grandma's, or now ... Great, Great Grandma Lawton's.   It just feels so comforting to remember and honor their traditions and influences in our family as we enjoy their recipes, decorations, serving bowls, and tablescape dishes.  We miss ALL our dear parents, grandparents, and a sibling who live in heaven now.  It's hard to believe Chris and I are the oldest living patriarch and matriarch of our family flock now.

The table was set (a bit more casual than formal this time) ...


... and the gifts were dusted off from 4 months of storage.   While Nana Cheryl and Papaw Chris eagerly awaited the brood's arrival at 1:00 pm ...  

... Izzy was WAY TOO EXCITED to have her picture taken with Nana and Papaw (we tried).  She preferred to run anxiously from window to window whining, waiting and watching "for the kids" to arrive and play!  

Indiana weather in April made clothing attire especially challenging too.  48 hours earlier, Chris and I were sporting sweatshirt hoodies, jeans and fuzzy socks as the furnace still huffed away with near freezing temperatures at night and 40 degree daytime highs.  This day, like the day before, a highly unusual 80 degrees was the projected daytime temp making our Christmas and Easter celebration seem even more surreal as we battled the heat and late afternoon thunderstorm threat.

As our flock of chicks and grandchicks arrived dressed in sundresses, tank-tops, and shorts, the dusted-off gift pile continued to grow with anticipation and excitement of the children's gift exchange and ...


... the ever popular white elephant exchange (only with nice and fiercely fought-after gifts) for the adults.

A non-traditional menu was planned around the uniqueness and timing of our celebration.  The Ramsay men prepared the main dishes while the Ramsay ladies provided the side dish favorites.  Taylor provided over 130 bluegill fish fillets he caught, filleted and froze during the months of ice-fishing in February and early March with Chris and his father-in-law, Todd.  Taylor and his brother, Ryan, fried-up the fish in the garage ...



... while Chris manned the grill full of burgers and hotdogs.




The Ram Fam ... April 2022 ... blessed, healthy and celebrating together again.


"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgement." ~ 2 Timothy 1:7

May we continue to thank and glorify God and his son, Jesus, through our lives, our stories, and our beings for we are wonderfully made by Him and ...

For Him,


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