Nicholas Christen England

Twenty-four years ago Dale raced me to the hospital in the snow after hitting a deer with his cop car. On Christmas Day Nicholas was born. He was the best gift I've ever received on Christmas. Angelic, isn't he?

Daddy's boy all the way.

Every Halloween he knew exactly who he wanted to be. I couldn't find the Elvis years.

Great fashion sense.

His cousin, Matt, became sort of a hero for him. During this time he changed his name to Matt and made us all call him that.

Nick loved to suck his two middle fingers with some sort of silk. To avoid the embarrassing underwear incidents we bought him a silky Puffalump, who was named Nonee. He did not use the silk of the stuffed bird, but the little tag that was attached.

Playful.

He loves all his pets, and there were many.

He didn't pick out all his Halloween costumes. As you can see this one wasn't a favorite.

Nick also likes to take pictures of himself. Janet started refusing to develop rolls that were entirely of himself.

Baseball has always and still is a love of Nick's. We enjoyed watching him play many games in many places. He played for Manson, Chelan, Cashmere league and in Wenatchee at the All Star game.

We also enjoyed watching him play football.

Nick served a mission in "Nic"aragua. We found this funny because anything Nick created had his name in it somewhere.

Nick is a loving son. He will come up and give me a big hug. What a great kid to have on such a fun holiday! Love you Nick!!

Thanksgiving, 2009, Utah

Dale and I realized that Thanksgiving would be very quiet at home. We decided to go where the most kids were so we flew to Utah to have Thanksgiving with KC, Nick, Marissa, Whitni and most of my family.

The morning of the big meal found us busily helping Sherry get the tables beautiful, far more different than the paper plates that are our usual method.

Dale was put in charge of the mashed potatoes, mainly based on his claim to be able to bake them whole and have the skins magically fall off. According to something he saw on TV boiling them whole, then placing them in a bath of ice water, the skins should easily slide off.

It didn't quite work, but the potatoes got done. They got mashed. They got seasoned with all sorts of yummy stuff, and when that wasn't quite right Nick seasoned them again. Larry and Dale were put on turkey duty.

One happy turkey carcass.

A bunch of wonderful people ready to enjoy a delicious dinner.

Just so you know, Dad, Larry and Steve, I didn't take this picture. I wish I had, but all the credit goes to Rob.
Don't they just say it all. Thanksgiving is for food, fun, family, football and falling asleep.