Cousin's Christmas

Today we trekked up to Fort Worth for the annual Cousin's Christmas. That's the current form of my family's Christmas gathering - an evolution from the immediate family gathered at Mom and Pop's in Breckenridge, then in later years as we outgrew that little house, Christmas at the Lake Cabin. Then, when Mom and Pops moved to Fort Worth, it made more sense to gather there, and so we do. My brother had the good idea to invite the cousins of the clan; certainly those that live in the area, so it has become the Cousin's Christmas.

Like most family get-togethers, this one centers on food and fellowship. There's a modest effort at bringing ohhh! and ahhh! dishes; then there's the fun of meeting the new babies and the new fiancés, seeing the nieces and nephews growing up and growing hair, hearing about the new job (or the new retirement) and just being with your own kin. After we stuff ourselves silly, we play a version of the White Elephant gift exchange. There's a theme to the gifts (though some themes don't work as well as others) and we enjoy the creativity of the gift-givers, and often the gift-getters. Remember, there's a box of watch band calenders out there somewhere (Barbara thinks we ought to write them into our will just to be sure).

There's only one problem with the Cousin's Christmas. It costs 7 hours in the car to enjoy. I know, I know, we could break that trip up by staying over. Someday. Today was a real adventure because coming home the wind was gusting to 30 mph and it was pushing the Highlander all over the road. I felt for the truckers and people in little bitty cars!

I'll post some pictures if some of my relatives will e-mail me some (hint hint). We didn't think to take the camera, so I guess I'm still learning the blogging business. Watch this space.