Friday Flashback: Case Cousins

I am having a hoot scanning in all these old slides. I cannot wait to get my hands on more of them!

I look just like Logan in this picture. Our mannerisms are so alike it is scary!

I like how we can barely see any one's face. And I absolutely love the old vintage Pop Shop bottles.

Same photo only retouched. It is definitely clearer.

Boy do I look unhappy here. I think it has to do with my dad making me take pictures when I would rather be playing.

The Breinholt Family Christmas Party

Every year, the weekend before Christmas the Breinholt family gathers for our annual Christmas party.

Merry Christmas!

And we almost didn't make it. It was very snowy and treacherous driving through the canyon but we made it and we even made it on time!

One of the things that I enjoy the most is watching all the cousins play and open the gifts from each other. Seeing their eyes light up when they rip the wrapping paper off and seeing how happy they are receiving a small but very thoughtful gift. It means much more to them that the gift was given to them from their cousin.

When the family was smaller, I used to participate in the gift exchange and I was surprised at the gifts that I got. Each one was extremely thoughtful, I remember getting a Green Bay Packer CD, a Jets crystal, a case of Mountain Dew Livewire, a bunch of Star Wars Pez Dispensers, Pictionary, a Princess Leia action figure from some of the past Christmas parties. I know I got many other things that I cannot think of from the top of my head. It is not the gift itself that made me happy, it was the thought behind it.

I thought it was so awesome that Cassie gathered all the cousins together in the front room.

Logan had Kellie this year and he made a pair of earrings and bracelet for her. She was so excited to get it. She went over to Logan to have him help her put the bracelet on. Her older sister Cassie told her that she should go and hug Logan and Kristy for giving her such a special gift. Cassie must still have some Anti-Matt Agenda still going. I snagged a hug from Kellie anyway.

Logan was quite happy with his gift. He got a science kit.

See how happy everyone is? You can tell that Cassie and Kellie are sisters. They giggle the same way.

I know that this Christmas party was a little more stressful than some of the past ones. I hope that I was not a cause for this stress. If I was, if I offended anyone, please forgive me. I apologize, it was definitely not my intent to offend anyone.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for hosting the party and for the gifts we received. I will make I put them all to good use!

Random Ramblings

Day 275

My cousin Jaimee made a comment on my blog that really excited me.

Jaimee said...
Didn't you start November 1st? Then you should just have three months left... August, September, October!! Because I started a month after you and I have four months left! :)

Obviously I cannot count. But math has never been my strong suit so it comes as no surprise. I am pretty excited that I have only three months left. I still have not decided if I want to continue daily blogging. More than likely I will continue to do so even though I might not do it daily. I might skip Sundays especially with football coming up and it seems like my Sundays are steadily filling up with meetings and Church stuff.

I do think that a major celebration is in store for when myself and my fellow bloggers have finished this year-long trek. We should all try to meet up in person and celebrate by going out to dinner with everyone. And if we do it before our blogs officially end, we will have something to blog about. ;)

But for an end there is always a beginning. My cousin Josh has joined the blogging ranks.

Speaking of cousins... my Aunt Margo just sent me this picture. From left to right: Angie, fellow blogger and sister Jennifer, Kati Jo, Wyatt, Misty, Blake, Me and Johnny and fellow bloggers and cousins Josh and Jeremy

I would like to give Josh's funny blog a shout out! You can follow The Original JC by making with the clicky on the link. Glad to have you aboard Josh!

Out of curiosity, I quickly scanned every one's blogs (I checked the blog links on the side of your blogs) and it looks like (unofficially) there are 22 fellow bloggers that have taken the challenge. Some have stopped, some have only done a few entries but at least they tried. Maybe at the end of my blog I will figure out officially how many people are blogging.

It looks like my wish has unfortunately come true. Our camera bit the dust. Kristy tried to use it yesterday and it just wouldn't turn back on. So we are camera shopping tonight. I have one in mind, we are going to BestBuy to test it out and then I will order it from Amazon since they have it $20 cheaper. I am looking forward to having a new camera to play around with. It is not a real fancy camera but it will be quite a step above our current one.

Kristy washing cherries and Logan pitting them

Logan being a ham

Saturday, Kristy and Logan and I spent a few hours canning some cherries. We found a fantastic deal (24 pounds for $26) and they were the good sweet Bing cherries. We kept a bag to eat and we canned the rest. It didn't take too long since all of us were helping but my palm is sore. We borrowed our neighbor's depitter and I spent hours ramming the pits out of the cherries.

The final product. I think they look pretty.

We did 14 bottles worth for our food storage. Canning season has begun. We have beets and beans coming up shortly. We managed to snag some pics of our cherries before the camera died. Hopefully I won't need it until I get a new one.

Blog Crossover

Day 124

Last night we had a small blog meet-up with some fellow bloggers.

My cousin and fellow blogger Jaimee and her family came over to my sister and fellow blogger's home and we had a nice live visit. My wife and fellow blogger and my family attended as well as my mom and future fellow blogger. (Yes, I like to say 'fellow blogger')

Fellow bloggers Jennifer, Jaimee, Me and Kristy
I didn't have many expectations when I started this blog. It was merely an attempt to chronicle my life so Logan can get to know me. Like he was reading a personal journal. But it has grown way beyond what I initially thought. Through this challenge I have gotten to know so many people and really get to know them. When we visited with Jaimee and her family it felt like we have known each other for years. Well, I have known them for years but this time I felt like I really knew them. They are more friends than just family. It was fun to see her cute children Matteah and Casey in person. Such sweet and fun kids. Daniel and Jaimee were fun as always but it seemed different this time since I felt like I have been in their daily lives for the last couple of months. It was awesome and I wished we lived closer so we could do this more often. Thanks for driving from Colorado Springs and up to Logan so we could spend some time together.

Matteah, Daniel, Jaimee and CaseyMatteah, Logan, Dax and Jace
While it was great to talk with them it made me miss the rest of the Case Clan. So if any members of the Case Clan are reading, it is not too late to take my challenge and BLOG! This has been a rewarding experience. You have been put on notice.

One thing I did notice about this whole blogging thing I started. I am the ONLY guy doing it. I guess I should count myself lucky. I have gotten to know some awesome women. Which reminds me, I am not only pleased about getting to know my side of the family but that also extends to my sister-in-law and fellow blogger Andrea and her family and also to my friend across the ocean and fellow blogger Sarah and her awesome family (which should be expecting a new shiny member any moment!). It has been fantastic getting to know you folks too. So how many people are doing this challenge anyway?

Thanks Jennifer for hosting a great blog meet-up.

Andrea it is your turn next. ;)