December....already!

 Trees at the Wolford school

 Winter is here :-)

 Bob was on the phone 

when he spotted these moose (meese?)

walking through our yard

 "Frosty" must have been shocked by the meese;

his eyes are jumping out of his head. :-)

"Bigfoot" was here, too

 The choo choo train is on the way to its winter home--

the tracks north of our farm...

Lookie who we found at the hockey game...

Jill, Jerry, and Doug!

 A gift arrived for me before we left home.
It's a nifty weeding tool from the kids.

 First stop: Buffalo, MN
The girls had gymnastics the day we arrived.

 After our rib supper, we went to the historical society
for their tree display and story time.

 Later, we played games

and opened gifts.  The girls made bookmarks for us.

 In Cleveland, Donna, Leanne, Bob, and I enjoyed 
the "Corky's" ribs that DD sent.

 Doug, Sara, and kids arrived late Friday night,
so we waited until Saturday to open gifts.

 Pickleball shirts from all our kids were a big hit!

 Donna, RJ, and Julia...
note the unicorn slippers! :-)

RJ and Julia painted a plate for us.
Saturday night we had a "Smith Family" dinner
with "Aunt Lou's spaghetti" made by 
cousins Mary Anne and Leanne, and grape leaves 
made by Chrissy. Thirty-two
cousins feasted  that evening.

Joe, Sara, Casey, and Nolan

Katie, Mike, Madison, and Macie

 John, Marissa, and Ian

 Ian and Julia, both four, read to each other.

 Marissa and Sara

 Cousin Pat's sons Scott and Brian drove up from the South!

 Brian, Stephanie, and Brian, Jr. came from Daytona Beach.

David and Susie

Tim and Chris

 Mel and Scott came from Nashville to meet the family.

Smith "girl" cousins: Susie, Chris, Diane, Donna, 
and Sharyn who came from Tallahassee.

 Steph and Mel were great support in the kitchen!

 I think they liked the Lebanese food and hospitality! :-)

Christmas Eve we had forty relatives.  Here are all 

seven of the Shalala "first" cousins:

Fran, Diane, Tommy, Donna, Chuck, Bud, and Mary Jo

 Mark and Kira brought Liam,
the newest family member, for Donna to spoil.

 Cousin Michael was the super patient 
driver for Brian, Steph, and Brian, Jr.

 Even Jane got to hold the baby.

 Cousin Bev and Donna

Donna packs up food with cousin Marcia

 Mary Jo and Jane came from New Mexico

 Tommy and Patty chat with Sister Judy

 Bobby and Lyndsi hosted brunch that morning,
and still had energy enough to help us clean up.

Tommy and Patty

We took our first road trip on the Pennsylvania Turnpike
heading to Doug and Sara's and to see Donna's
swearing-in ceremony.

 After a few rainy hours, we arrived in Virginia

Doug's trains are a real phenomenon.  
He had trains running on four tracks at the same time.

We had an early New Year's Eve party with the kids
and some of Doug and Sara's friends.
Happy New Year everyone! :-)