First Family Party of the Year

My mother-in-law is very good at bringing the family together. We are all incredibly busy and it would be easy to let that get in the way of getting together but Jeanie seems to make it work and we're always glad we took the time to be a part of the celebration. My sister-in-law, Colleen, has a December birthday but it almost always gets celebrated in January.

Gloria had fun helping Colleen open the presents. . .

. . . and even got to try on the fancy-schmancy new snowmobile helmet:

McKenna took Kelsey's nose. . .

. . . but thankfully, she put it back:

McKenna and "Go-wee" share a deep mutual admiration:

After dinner, presents and dessert, we all relaxed around the table chatting. Swiss Miss Tony always cracks us up with his dry wit.

I'm not sure who started it, but it wasn't long before a few arm wrestling matches broke out. Kelsey was a little surprised that Gloria is tougher than she looks. The two of them were fairly evenly matched and Gloria even beat her a few times.

Colleen took on Rob. . . and lost.

Tony tried to defend her honor (not really, but it sounds good) but this match ended in a draw:

These parties usually break up early enough for everyone to get home to bed so they can rise early and live normal lives. We don't live a normal life, so we tend to stay later and keep Dick and Jeanie from turning in at their usual time. We played a fast moving, hand slapping game of "Swap" until after 10:00 and had a screaming good time (literally!). The next family get-together will be for Rob's 40th birthday!!!!