Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

From now on, our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the Yuletide gay

From now on, our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together

If the fates allow

So hang a shining star upon the highest bough

And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

From now on, our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the Yuletide gay

From now on, our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together

If the fates allow

So hang a shining star upon the highest bough

And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

We thought, and we thought, and we thought, and we decided that this is the Christmas song that most expresses our feelings this year.  Here we are as in olden days.  Faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us once more.  We'd like to share with you some of those memories - some older, some newer - but the spirits of these loved ones are always with us.

1996 - We loved our Christmases at Charleston Greene.  Every year, we went tree killing, and then trimmed the tree with great love and attention.  We made handmade tree ornaments and gave them to relatives.  These are the usual suspects:  Matt, David, Katie and Kathy.

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1997 - We like to call this the "Mr. Hankey Christmas" because that famous South Park episode aired the night this photo was taken, and we all watched, some in horror, some in disbelief, some rolling on the floor laughing.  The above photo was taken at Leslie's house in Tigard, Oregon.  The whole Scranton gang was there.  See if you can find some familiar faces!

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1999 - A photo of a typical tree killing. We'd drive out to our favorite tree farm.  Hunt down the perfect specimen.  Take turns sawing and dragging and heaving our prize back to the car. We would then celebrate with a hearty, warm lunch at our favorite local pub.

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2003 - Two of our most favorite people:  Aunt Jane and Kathy's Mom.

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2003 - What Christmas would be complete without the "Rug Rats" (thanks, Tom, for purchasing the rights to the name, "Rug Rats," from Vicki, Mike and Nick)?  Those three are all a lot older now, but somehow the name stuck for them as little ones.  Here Sue is enjoying Vicki and Mike enjoying their prezzies.

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2004 - What Christmas wouldn't be complete without Great Guacamole Dip???  Thanks to our friends Darla and Jackie who always made sure we had plenty of avocados and Great Guacamole Mix to last us through each holiday season.  It just wouldn't be Christmas without Christmas Guac!

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2004 - Here are the McNee Men (for some reason now known, the most McNee of the McNee Men - Steve - was not in this photo - perhaps he was opening his prezzies at the time).  We're not sure if these four are lined up for Christmas goodies, or waiting for their Christmas punishments...  There's Kathy's Dad, and Thomas O., and Thomas J. and David.  This photo was taken at the famous annual Miller Pollyanna Party.

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2006 - The Miller Pollyanna Party was the scene of many great photos, including this one of Katie, David and Kathy.  (Note that David is wearing the same green Christmas sweater he wore to the party in 2004.)

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2006 - The McNee Women:  Kathy's Mom, Jen, Vicki, Sue, Eileen and Barb.  Kathy is the only one missing from this photo, but that's because she was the photographer!

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2006 - was Baxter's first Christmas.  As a young kitten, he loved to drag the laundry from the bedroom and bring it to us wherever we were in the house.  I guess he figured it was ours and we needed it. Imagine our surprise when we came home from work and found that Baxter had taken all the socks from the laundry basket and put them under the Christmas tree.  While he didn't hang them with care, he did arrange them neatly on the tree skirt.  Thus, a legend was born.

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2008 - Here's another Miller Pollyanna Party photo, this time of Kathy's brother Steve (the Main McNee), Kathy's nephew and Steve's son Ryan, and Steve's wife Lea Ann.  Why does the youngest member of the family always gets the biggest present baggies???  Just saying.

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2009 - This is an extremely rare photo, and, in fact, we may be violating certain legal rights of Isaac by even publishing it.  But - believe it or not - this is Isaac and his girlfriend Alex actually holding Christmas stockings!  We were so pleased they were able to join us for our little pagan celebration.  Note the fake video Christmas fire in the background.

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2009 - Some people are having too much fun!  This is yet another Miller Pollyanna Party, and we found that one of the snacks on the menu was a Nick Sandwich on Kathy and Eileen.  I'm not sure who started tickling whoms first.

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2009 - This was a special year.  Matt, Weina, William and their puppy Bubu had just moved back to the States from China, and Katie was in from San Francisco.  Here, the two are cuddling the little Bu.

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2009 - The same celebration included the Three Mrs. Scrantons, all in one place at the same time.  Note Bubu's photobomb.

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2010 - Speaking of Bubu, he and Maggie had a chance to catch up on old times over Christmas 2010.

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2010 - The puppies must have done something funny, because Risa and Laird could hardly contain themselves.

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2011 - Christmas 2011 was MOST special, because Weina's sister, Haini, was able to come visit, AND, little William made his first Christmas appearance.  Here the two of them appear very amused by something.  William was sporting his Santa suit.

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2011 - Matt, William and Weina are all sharing a photo moment, while David photobombs.

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2012 - Meet the Millers.  This is a great photo, because by this time next year, they truly will be an entire family:  Tom J. and Eileen, Drew and Jen (who will be getting married next June), and Tom O. and Michelle (who were married in November 2013).  They're our very favorite people named Miller (with the exception, perhaps, of niece Kim Miller and her parents).

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That was quite a trip down memory lane.  Same themes each year.  Many of the same people.  But the family keeps growing (and some of us look like we might be growing a little older).  What can make us happier?

And, so, as the song says:  Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow.  Have a merry little Christmas.  Let your hearts be light!  Have yourself a merry little Christmas now!