As families grow, change, and blend…some traditions have remained the same.  Since the boys were 10 and 12, we’ve claimed Christmas Eve as our Christmas.

Early morning breakfast of sensible and clearly non-sensible foods followed by a lively gift exchange with some jumping up and down and gratitude expressed.

After gifts are given, we dash off to the bowling alley for our “Christmas Bowl.”  Yes, you read right.  We bowl every Christmas Eve.  It is as funny as it is fun.  We cheer for each other and there is the tiniest bit of competition.  (I mean there are awards – teehee).

Cousins help each other, especially if little ones are just learning the ropes.

After bowling, there’s Christmas spaghetti for lunch.  More laughter, good stories, and play.

Families pack up in late afternoon and head out to other homes for other celebrations.

For Robert and me, it was a very good Christmas.  We feel lucky to have family and friends near and stay connected (Marco/Polo) with those far away.  Merry Christmas.

 

We celebrated my husband’s birthday with a small circle of family and friends.  Cheesecake and laughter….what could be better than that?

Brother Larry is on the left.  Yup, the gene pool is strong with those two.

What do you do when you learn that the people who put up your house division made a critical building mistake on the construction that would cause dry rot and water damage that would not show up until a few years later?

This happened to my son and daughter-in-law.  A neighbor found the mistake and passed on the news to the rest of the neighbors.  Solving the issues cost a lot of hard work and money.

When you find out your house is in danger…..”Who ya gonna call?  Dad!”

Tom tore the siding off until he removed the dry rot.  Dad showed up with all the tools and lumber one would need to finish the job.  They worked hard together, removing the window, putting it back in the right way, trimming it and putting on new siding.  Took them a few days but they did great work.

Once the job was done, it will need sanding and some new paint.  It will be as good as new (actually better than new).  I sure hope they can find the workers who made the mistake and did the damage to the whole neighborhood.

Father and son…..a good team.