No One Perished!

When I woke up Sunday morning and looked out the window...



..I thought, uho, I know a guy who won't want to drive anywhere in this weather
and I have almost $40 worth of tri-trip marinating!

Things didn't improve as the day wore on...

And sure enough, Thom called several times during the day, to tell us they
may not make it as he wasn't feeling comfortable about driving in the snow...
he's 'from Las Vegas', you know!

I had everything set, though, just in case the thought of my smoked"tri-tip" (even better than brisket) would be the bait that would entice him to risk the lives of all those he holds dear.

I heard the doorbell ring and ran to see who would be the first to arrive.

Yeah, the Strassers made it and the little munchkins were delivered into my welcome arms, one at a time.

Sara and Jesse brought in last week's left over shrimp mold.

The Thurstons soon followed and were able to get he whole family to the door in one trip.
Don't they look happy to see grandma?
Not the big draw, though, it was that smoked tri-tip on their minds.

Grandpa was in the kitchen starting on the delicate carving process.....
..has to be done just right.

Don't ask me how it happened, but Sara managed to grab a quick sample without losing a finger...
didn't even get a nail trim!

Our final arrivals were the Morgans and those smiles have more to do with the relief they felt at making it to the tri-tip without even a dent in the fender, than the thought of being at grandma and grandpa's house for the evening.

In minutes we were all seated and chowing down...yum, yum.

There was a place for everyone right in the kitchen where we could take complete advantage of the wonderful aroma that was eminating from the oven that so recently held
that magnificent smoked tri-tip!

Atticus had a table unto himself, but didn't seem to appreciate the solitude.

Grandpa wore his birthday present from his thoughtful Nish grand kids. He insisted I take his picture so they'd know he loved his present in case they check out grandma's blog.

Grandpa took at least an hour out of his day to set up a huge village playground, for the grand kids, in the basement. But I still caught the little munchkins playing with the much more interesting Christmas decorations in the living room.

They each got a picture of some Christmas item taped to their back.....

...and were asked to guess what it was by asking their cousins "yes or no" questions.
Miraculously they all guessed.....without cheating.........NOT!!....
Everyone got a prize!!! Yeah!!!!

The contest between the adults was a little more intense.
They were given clues to the name of Christmas Carols and worked in teams with their spouses.
Sara and Morgan had a few differences of opinion.

Amy was very concerned about someone copying off her paper (where most of her answers were incorrect) and didn't get a lot of help from Dwight who had wandered down to the basement to check out the score on a football game.

Katie really stressed out over her answers. Tom did help, however,...he kept going off into the office to look up words in the dictionary. Cheating got him no where, though, cause.....

..Sara and Morgan were the triumphant winners of the candy jar!
Recognizing, however, that this is the season for giving, they divided up the candy amongst
the other contestants.
They all had a bit of a problem with..

"To Decry Matriarchal Osculation of Yuletide Anthropomorphism"
"Jehovah Dulcify Blithe Cavaliers"
and
"Endocarps Vesicated in a Conflagration"

Soon after the game, Tom began to worry again about the weather and so rushed his family out the door before we had even served dessert.
Poor Katie and the kids were so disappointed that I quickly put together a "to-go" bag. To get the kids moving towards the car, Tom promised the kids they could even eat it in the car!
Too bad for the car, 'cause it involved
CHOCOLATE.

Howie was quite pleased that his family decided they could brave the snowy streets.
Chocolate rules....right, Howie!

All too soon it was time for everyone to say their good-byes.

We're having such fun, that we are extending our Sunday dinners thru the end of the month.
So join us next week at the Morgan's for our final December Sunday Dinner Night.