Thanksgiving Celebration!

Ok, so it has been two days, and I haven't heard from anyone, so I guess I will take the initiative, unless I hear from anyone further...

Blacker Family Thanksgiving Party - Thursday, November 26th at Noon at the Pannell Family of Fun Home in McCall.

Some of you may want to make it a day trip, so if you come in the morning, leaving around 9 AM, you will get here in plenty of time to...
-eat at noon, nap kids & play games from 1 PM until around 5 PM, eat a light dinner with left-overs, have pie for dessert, and head home around 6-ish PM, which would get you home by 8:30 PM.

For those who want to spend the night(s) before/after, you are more than welcome to as well. Beds are on a first come, first serve basis (or by reservation!) We have the master suite with one king size bed w/private bath, two queen beds, one full size bed, six twin beds, two cribs, and plenty of floor space!

We will take care of the turkey, potatoes, drinks, and a salad. Any volunteers for the rest??? Here's what I was thinking...

Mom & Dad - Bring your homemade rolls, stuffing, and you get to help make gravy when you get here!!
Larson Family - Pretzel Salad and crafts (if you are feeling up to the crafts!)
Downs Family - Pies & Whip Cream and games
Blacker Family - Vegetables (i.e. corn, olives, whatever, etc) and paper products
Wagoner Family - Good luck on your move... if you are coming, let us know.

So... hopefully this is received in love! If you want to come, please let us know. If not... and you can conjure up better plans, please let us know that, too. We are open to whatever!!!

Christmas

For Christmas this year, we won't be going anywhere because Jason HAS to work right up until Christmas. Mom mentioned the family Christmas Party, but again, we don't have a location, nor a date, nor any plans. We have to put in for time off RIGHT NOW, and want to be able to come down and visit for the Christmas Party, so if anyone has any suggestions, please throw them out!!! Friday nights work best, as he has to work on Saturday night, but we can take time off if we know WHEN!

Also, if any of you valley people want to come up and play in the snow, the Pannell Family of Fun Bed & Breakfast is open during the Christmas Break. If any of you would like to come, please let us know so that Jason can take time off, so that we can go tubing, play games, and just have a great family time! We want your input!!!

Sorry to put any of you under pressure of making decisions, but we can't just take a night and come down very easily, so we are just trying to figure out our calendar for the holidays!!!

Thanksgiving!

So... it is just about two weeks until Thanksgiving and there are no definite plans for a Thanksgiving Celebration for the Jim Blacker Family! I am getting anxious! It is our turn to do Thanksgiving with the Blacker family and so I am putting this post out there to get your input...



Question #1 - What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Question #2 - Where and when do plan on celebrating Thanksgiving? (Location, Date, Time)



We are excited to get to do Thanksgiving with all of you, but are trying to figure out our plans. We would be WILLING to host the Thanksgiving celebration this year, but that would mean a trip for ya'all to McCall. We have plenty of beds and floor space, and an attic full of fun! But, we are willing to do whatever gets planned.... so please... somebody... let us know what the plan is?!?!?!



Please post your comments, or a new post, letting us know what time frame each of you have for Thanksgiving and if you would be willing to host it at your home, food plans, etc. Let's get brainstorming and communicate!!!

A Quick Trip to McCall

Manda, the boys, and I took a quick trip to McCall to see the new baby, Eli. We arrived Saturday evening around 11:30pm. (Thanks to great directions, we didn't get lost!) Our plan was to stay until the next evening. However, the boys were having so much fun in the mountains, they begged to stay another day. So...we stayed one more night and had a great time.

Cute baby Eli.

Chase with the baby kitten he wanted to bring home.

What a pose!

Brendan giving Chase some pointers on driving.

Brendan before he fell off the four-wheeler.

Most of the kids in a serious game of Apples to Apples.

Emma wearing Manda's shoes.

Amanda pushing Megan on the swing.

Megan and Chase having a good time.

Brendan and Kimberly showing off their 50-blanket fort.

Grandma's Birthday Project

I think I finally figured out how to post pictures! These pictures are from when the Larson and Downs families labored over the jungle at grandma and grandpa's. We had so much fun!!!

Michael trying to decide if he has a weed or one of grandma's precious flowers.

Abbey and Chase doing what they do best! :)

Ashley enjoying every minute of this service project!

New Addition - Eli Jason Pannell

Eli Jason Pannell, born Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at 2:17 PM is now an official member of our family, and the Blacker grandchildren. He weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. 21" long and is a healthy, happy baby. He came quickly, he eats like a champ, as no jaundice, and is doing great - as am I. We just wanted to share a few pictures with those of you who are far away! In three days, he has changed a lot, however. At birth, he was pretty chunky, but has slimmed down in his face and body - yet, we brought him home at 8 lbs 2 oz, so he has retained most of his birth weight!

He came out COVERED in vernex! The nurse won the bet on his weight - 8 lbs 7 oz.

Jason's pug nose, chubby cheeks, & lips!

Five excited older siblings!

I had to include this picture because this picture of Emma is totally ALL-JASON!

Reunion Site

For those of you who are curious as to what the Blacker Family Reunion for the Summer 2009 looks like, here are a few pictures. There are a few ammenities that are still under construction (a.k.a. the play area - swingset/monkeybars/slides/tree fort/play house/monkey bars, the fire pit, and the pond packed with fish!), but we are working hard to get it ready for some family fun!!! However, the ducks and geese are in the pond, the horses are in the pasture, there are a few Coho in the pond already, and all we need is you!

P.S. If you didn't get to put in your vote as to when the most convenient time for your family to participate, please leave a comment and I can open up the poll back up!

Reunion Survey

I know that a lot of you have been busy! Some of you are already out of school and the rest have gotten out this week. We only have one more week to go!!! Please get with your families before the summer gets away from us, or before you leave on your travels, and figure out the best time that would work for your family to do an overnighter or one-day reunion. Listed on the right side of the blog is a survey as to when you feel is the best time to do it for your family. Your opinion counts and you will be able to include your input until the middle of next week. At that point, it is up to the patriarch, Jim, of our family to ultimately pick the weekend and we hope that most, if not all of you, can make it! We were just hoping to achieve a majority vote and that could make it easier on everybody. Depending on what ya'll chose, it could be just a month away... so put in your input and your VOTE!

(If you can't figure out the survey, just email me and let me know what you would prefer). The options are July 10th - 11th or July 31st - Aug 1st.

Blacker Family Reunion

Grandpa Jim has been talking about a Blacker Family Reunion (a.k.a. fishing derby) for the past several months, and to date, nothing has been concretely scheduled on the calendar. I know that all of your families are busy with their own schedules, including your summer schedules, as you have family trips and reunions on the docket. We would like to plan a family camping trip this summer, but our schedule is much more flexible than some of the rest of you who have older children in sports, etc. So, to put a concrete date on the calendar for everyone's benefit, I have posted a poll survey in the upper-right hand corner that allows you to mark when you would prefer to have the reunion take place. Please take the time to sit down with your families and figure out which time would work out best for you, and if you mark the other, please indicate in the comments what weekends WOULD work for your family. Originally this shin-dig was mentioned as only a one-day deal, but Jason and I wanted to open up the option to those who wanted to have an overnighter. Stay tuned for more information and pictures...

Happy Birthday!

The Downs family would like to wish a happy birthday to all of the May birthdays: Bryson, Kimberly, Abbey, Haidyn, Kathryn, and Grandma Sheri. We hope you have a wonderful time on your special day. Please know we are thinking of all of you. Love ya!

Bryson's Baptism

This is just a little note to let all of you know when we are planning on doing Bryson's Baptism. Because our Stake is in Weiser, they currently have the McCall wards do their own, individual baptisms. The other ward has even less primary kids than our ward does, so it is not often that you find two kids with birthdays in the same month. This is true for Bryson. There isn't another child with a birthday in May, so he will have his own baptism. Also, since they added onto our building last summer, the baptismal font is not up and running yet. So, our options are the Cascade church, the Lake, or our just-thawed-out pond.

Well, since the Lake is still frozen and the pond is freezing, Bryson has chosen to be baptized at the Cascade church. He will be baptized on Saturday, May 9th at 4 PM. We hoped this time would help all families traveling with small children to be able to nap their children on the way up and not take up a whole Saturday, for those who will come straight up and go straight back. Immediately following the baptism, we will have dinner and dessert, and then everyone can go home.

We do have room at our house for any family who wants to come up on Friday and stay-and-play before, or for those who want to stay over Saturday night. Our church is at 9 AM, for any who are interested. We have an empty king, queen, full, and two twin beds for use, and we can always kick our kids out of their bunkbeds if needed. So, if any of you would like to stay the night, we do have room. Jason's family will be staying at his parent's house up here, so that if my family wants to come visit, you will have a free place to stay.

For those who can make it - GREAT, and for those who can't - WE TOTALLY UNDERSTAND. We have not been able to attend very many family functions in the past, and know how difficult it is to get away, and even have the funds to travel. We just wanted to extend an official invitation to all of you. If you think you will be coming, will you post a comment indicating such, as we are trying to get an idea how many people we are feeding dinner to after the baptism.

Hope all of you are healthy and doing well, and your families are happy and thriving! We love and miss you all!

Still Alive

Just letting all know that we are still alive. I know I have not reported on my blog for a while, nor have I talked to or seen many of you in a while, but I want to reiterate the Happy Birthday wishes and thank those for theirs. All is well in McCall. We just had another ultrasound - the doc up here likes to wait until after 25 weeks because the heart is more developed then - and we took ALL of the kids with us. Needless to say, they tag-teamed Jason and convinced him into letting us all find out what we are having - a BOY! So, we are going to end up with 3 girls and 3 boys - the Pannell-Brady bunch! So, we are pretty excited. Jason has finally graduated and is still in training up here for a few more weeks until he finally gets to be cut loose and patrol on his own. But, so far... he has arrested someone every night, so some of the guys are a little jealous that he is getting so much "action" and practice. He is enjoying it and I am just counting down until when baby comes. Let us know what your plans are for birthdays/holidays and we will try to make arrangements to come down. The kids are out of school April 10th here as well, but Jason has to work that night - but, we'll see what we can muster. Let us know. Love and miss you all! Enjoy your green grass and tulips - you valley people! :)

March Birthdays!!!

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to Jaxon, Davis, Tyler, and Jason,
Happy birthday to you!

The Downs family hopes everyone has/had a wonderful birthday! Congrats to the Pannell family for having a third boy. When is your due date again? We are open to anything for grandma's birthday and Easter. The kids don't have school on March 10th. I had a hard time understanding the last part of your blog, Pam. Something about a monitor and grandma's birthday. Please clarify when you have a chance. :0) Bowling was a blast the other day. Becky, you should post some pictures of the fun event. Love everybody!

Hello Everyone

I just wanted to say that Dad's birthday party was a blast! Thanks for all of the fun. I am also checking in for Easter and Grandma Lily's birthday. Her actual birthday is April 8, and well that is Wednesday. oh, By the way, Congrats lisa on having a boy. We heard it through the grapevine and thanks for blocking me from your blog. I know I am lame and don't get on very often, but when I do it would be nice to read something. Anyhow, Spring break is almost over and well my slaves will be going back to school. Darn! Anyhow, I would love to hear what is good for all of you. April 10 is friday's date and that is Easter Weekend. Saturday will be hard for us because we have VB and BB. But, that night would be ok. I know Larsons have track and baseball and downs have a nose pickers convention to attend, led by Sheri on the dry scab team. ONly kidding. Blackers I am sure you have your sheep doing something as well. So lets get the schedules out there and if all we can do is Pizza together or the church thing again, let me know! Also, is everyone still ok will the monitor for grandma's birthday. Let me know. Love you all! Pam

Dad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMES!

Just wanted to wish James a happy 3rd Birthday, from the Pannell Family! Hope that you had a fun-filled day of laughter, sharks, and lots of poopy diapers for your mom!! :] We love you! :]