It's a girl thing

Yesterday all the women in my family got together. My mom, all my sisters, my nieces and even Leah got to be there. We also invited our good friend Mary to join us. We met for lunch at the Kimmell House Inn, a B&B in Kimmell, IN (that's where I'm from). It is a charming old house and the food is always really good. Afterward we went to my sister Karen's house. We all made out our Christmas lists and drew names for Christmas. Then there were lots of birthday presents to open. Since my mom, my sister Peg, and I all have October birthdays we usually do this in October. But since I was in Florida we did this yesterday. It's kind of a tradition for some of us in the family to procrastinate in buying birthday gifts and so we give everyone their gift in October. (I'll have to give credit to my sister Peg, she is always on time with all her gifts.) I gave each person a gift bag with various items but one of them was a picture frame. Each of the younger girls got a frame that said "cousins" and all my sisters got one that said "sisters". So I took some pics to have printed for them to put in their frames. Finally, we played cards. Eight people playing Hand & Foot. It was so much fun. There are so many different rules for Hand & Foot that I really like to play with my family because I like their rules the best! My mom and I were partners and we pulled out the victory on the last hand.

Here's all of us at lunch:


Everyone busy making out their Christmas list:


The "sisters" (Karen, Kay, Peggy, Carol - youngest to oldest):


The "cousins" (Leah, Kari, and Angie - daughters of Carol, Karen, and Kay):