Last Family Party of the Year

As I was putting together the annual photo album that I give my mother-in-law every year, I found myself feeling very grateful that she brings the family together on such a regular basis. I had over 300 pictures and at least one get-together every month of 2008 to put in the album. My sister-in-law, Colleen, has the last birthday of the year:

We usually end up celebrating Colleen's birthday in January, but this year we actually managed to squeeze it into December. During the party, Marreen sat down on the couch with her arms around Cody and Kelsey. Of course, I had to take a picture. . .

Gloria and McKenna joined in the Kodak moment. . .

. . . followed by Jeanie. . .

. . . and then Colleen.

There was still a little room left, so Zach jumped in to complete the picture!! It's hard to see it without enlarging the picture but from the look on Kelsey's face, Zach isn't as light as he looks!!

I creatively cropped the picture to better reveal Kelsey's feelings!!:

Sweet little McKenna was just bursting with energy. . .

Gloria decided to make good use of all of the ribbon Jeanie used to wrap Colleen's presents with. . .

Pretty in Pink:

After beautifying Jeanie, Gloria moved on to Uncle Tony who seems to let her do just about anything. . .

Gloria loves to take advantage of the situation. . .

He's such a good uncle. . .

When Tony escaped his bonds, Marreen used the ribbon to simulate a "puzzle" that she has used at work. Somehow, the two participants have to separate themselves from each other without removing the ribbons that connect them.

It was pretty funny to watch. . .

Matt and Jeanie couldn't solve it, so Gloria gave it a try. . .

They didn't have much luck, either. . .

Cody was the one who finally showed us how to solve it, but I'm not sure any of us really got it. . .

It was a fun way to wrap up a year of birthday's and family get-togethers!