My Uncle Mel and his wife Lynetta (along with others in my family) have moved north of Columbus to the surrounding suburbs. Mel and Lynetta did live in Gahanna, a relatively close suburb, but sold their house (even in the bad real estate market) and bought a house north of Mount Vernon. This year they hosted the family Christmas party that we only sometimes make, depending on where we live.
Since we wouldn't be there for the actual Christmas Eve and Christmas open house/gift opening at Grandma's house, I brought Grandma's gift to her. I had bought her a table runner made in Guatemala while I was in Guatemala. I bought a matching one for our church also. I also gave Grandma some Guatemalan coffee I had brought back. I know she will appreciate it.
I have cousins that are pretty close to my age. Jeff (pictured above) is only months younger than me. I have lots of memories of Jeff, Joe, and me playing at Grandma's house up in Powell (see Powell, Ohio and a bell). He drove up from his nursery business in North Carolina.
Uncle David (pictured below) loves to tease and heckle people. In this picture Perry seems to have caught him mid-laugh teasing his grandson Cameron, who wasn't feeling so well.
My cousin Joey (pictured below) used to babysit Vincent when he was little. I blame Joey for Vincent's like of Mortal Kombat, which Joey took him to see when he was little. It was great to see everyone even if it was a rotating door with people coming and going.
Uncle Mel (pictured below) is very fond of his dog, Whiskey. Whiskey is much better behaved than Frisco. Since Frisco doesn't always get along with other dogs, especially ones bigger than him, we took him to Pet Smart and had him groomed (to act as doggy daycare) while we were at the party. This allowed us to relax a little more and not have to worry about dog fights.
My cousin Jessica (pictured below with son Sean), who also babysat Vincent when I was taking classes at Ohio State University drove up from South Carolina. When I first moved to Florida her house was one of the last stops I made before going on to Tallahassee (Perry and I got seperated while caravanning and caused lots of worry for everyone, including Martha, Perry's mom soon after this stop).
The two main reasons to come up to the party this year are in the below picture. I finally got to hold my cousin Julie's little girl, Macy. She is a doll baby and was good the whole time of the party, which I can't say for other offspring...mine. The other reason was to see my cousins Nancy Ann and Amy. I haven't seen them in almost twenty years. They finally got back in touch with Uncle Mel this past year. They are now both living in Chicago, which might mean road trips this summer.
--- Stephanie
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