GRAVETTE -- The Civic Center in Gravette was the location of the Payne family Christmas celebration on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015. We had our crockpot dinner, followed by a Dirty Santa gift exchange. Hopefully a good time was had by all, especially the little ones.
We got to meet our newest family member, two-week-old Wesley Cupples, with his mom Risa Buckner, grandmother Mandi Whitemore and uncle Randall Buckner, all of Anderson, Mo. Wesley is a fifth-generation family member.
Others attending from Missouri were: Paul Nicholson, James Nicholson, Natilie Southhall and Jaden Griffin of Kansas City.
Family members attending from Oklahoma were: Rick and Janet Payne, Candy Williams, Jill Williams, Matt Williams, Emily Morrison, Rebecka Williams and Zoe Stump of Vinita and Vinnie and Christine Audo of Lawton.
Attending from Gravette were: Bill and Clara Payne, Sue Rice, Lanny and Snooky Garrett, Jeff and Lana Turner, Chuck and Lisa Garrett, Jarod and Lacey Morgan and children Katelyn and Wyatt, Leif and Amy Garrett, Blake and Lyndsy Garrett and children Kylee and Noah and Lin Beeler.
Other family members attending from Arkansas were: Aryn and Abby Eason of Lincoln; John Payne, Cody Payne and Hayley Alyssa with son Benjamin, who just celebrated his first birthday, from Decatur; Delbert Payne and Jo Jackson of Gentry; Kenya Payne of Fordyce; Tonya Dean of Rogers; Don and Nancy Payne, Doug Payne, Steve Payne and daughter Sarah, Debbie Buckner, Donnie and Marilyn Payne and daughters Emily and Sophie, all of Bentonville; Mandy Payne, Al Ellis and Luke Payne, all of Fayetteville; Brian and Cheryl Bowen and son Hayden and newly engaged couple Jordan Keeshna and Allie Boling, of Springdale; and Tina Boling of Centerton completed the Arkansas group.
As always, there were fun and memories of loved ones. We missed all who couldn't attend due to sickness and bad timing at jobs. We will try to do better next year.
Community on 02/03/2016