
A week and a day after Christmas the local siblings finally got together for the holiday at Mom's. There was a good turnout of the nieces and nephews too. The real trick to the great photo above was snapping the shutter when we had all stopped talking, joking and laughing for a mere moment.
Inside we had our usual pot luck dinner with such delicacies as homemade Mac & cheese, BBQ-ed hotdog bites, chili, meatballs, pork pot pie, veggie and fruit platters, cheese and crackers, pumpkin and chocolate cream pies. Yeah, there was beer and wine too.

Here's Mom getting a look at the HDTV gift from us "kids". It took a little rearranging of her TV hutch but with a carpenter in the family we made it happen.

Carol. Lindsey, Kailey, Jay, Deb and Dennis during the Yankee swap between the adults of the family.

Here's my trophy from the swap. I think it's pretty neat. I'd swapped it out but then regretted it and took it back. Carol says she has an idea to put it somewhere around the deck but I'm kind of thinking that maybe I'll take it to the office and keep it in my cubicle, at least until spring.

Here's a gift I didn't mention from my earlier Christmas posts. It's from Alie's father, Victor. I've been enjoying a nip now and then since receiving it. Sure makes the cold weather a little more tolerable.