Christmas in Iowa~The Sassy Side

I'm terribly overdue in posting, so first, Happy New Year to all! My Christmas break was quite typical in that I drove thousands of miles with my parents, saw lots and lots of family, cruised into St. Louis for two days and crammed in as many friends as possible, and then flew to Baton Rouge and saw lots of Jason's family and then drove home two days before second semester began. Okay, flying to Baton Rouge is not typical, but I blieve it will be the "new typical" in my life. Jason also flew to Iowa the day after Christmas and met all of my family plus some.

I've been working on scrapbooking my pages digitally, so here is Christmas Eve on the Sass side of the family. We didn't do presents this year, which was fine, but it did leave the evening somewhat flat, just because there is not the same anticipation. However, I took advantage of the time to have our family create a "Sass Family Christmas" album. It's 8x8 in size and each woman in the family worked on pages. We finished 54 pages in a night, which is amazing! The book goes all the way back to the early 50s and 60s, although those pictures are few. Beginning in 1976 there are pictures from each year. Some years we were diligent about taking a "grandkids" picture and some years we weren't. There are some fun collages of presents, eating, and game-playing for us all to enjoy in the years to come. I'm putting the finishing touches on the album and then I will scan each page to create a matching digital album that everyone who wants one can enjoy. The original one will reside with Grandma. Here are a few shots of my family working on the album and then enjoying each other. We diligently took a "grandkids" shot, but we're sans cousin Andy. Traditions are changing...