Christmas Pogue-Style

Jack Margaret Pogue, my sweet grandparents =).

I have a large family. My dad is the oldest of six kids which means I grew up with lots of lots of cousins. Growing up, we spent most of our weekend holidays at Nolin lake with the family, and our Thanksgiving and Christmas in Louisville. Our family is expanding by leaps and bounds YEARLY. Most of my cousins are married, and lots of them have children. Each year it gets harder and harder to get together.

This is just a handful of my cousins.

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About two years ago, the towel was thrown in all together~my grandparents have a place in Florida and had decided to spend the holidays there. I certainly didn't want Christmas to pass and not have a chance to see my beloved Pogues. A few of us put our heads together and decided to meet in Elizabethtown for Christmas. We celebrated in early December at Ryan's Steakhouse in E-town. From there, we decided to start rotating Christmas get togethers each year between the aunts and uncles.

(L-R); dad Lindle, Jackie, Linda, Beverly and David. When I was a junior at WKU, my uncle Mark passed away after battling a rare form of cancer =(. He was the "life of the party" kind of guy. I was fortunate enough to be in Louisville the summer prior to his passing. I had an internship with the Courier Journal and was able to spend lots of time with him and his family. We still miss him lots!!!

I love the fact that we still try to get together (even if it's early in December). My family is SO GOOD to my kids and always get them so many nice gifts. I mean REALLY, the more people who can love on your children, the better, right. Kids need lots and lots of LOVE. This year my Uncle Dave dressed up as Santa and delivered presents to all the children. Their little faces just LIT up when he arrived. It was such a nice party.

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Prior to our Christmas-ing with the Pogues, we had our first Sparks game at Cumberland Trace on Saturday. I have to admit I was nervous about coaching =). We've never practiced/played full court -or- with opposing team members. We only have 6 girls so defense is a little hard to teach. BUT, it all went fine, and the girls had a good time, which is the MOST important thing in my playbook.

Miles ran out onto the court TWICE to get to me. I had to quickly swoop him up so he didn't get trampled and run up and down the sidelines with a toddler in my arms. He also had to wear his Kentucky jersey so he could be like his big sister.

Me and my basketball player #4.