Our family gathering in Charlotte was technically still in the Christmas season, since it was the day before Epiphany. The date didn’t matter, because our hearts were festive. The celebrants were relatives of brother Bob and Beth. Because of illness, Bob and daughter Julie were missing. Those pictured are Susan, closest to the camera, and left to right Bill, John, Kathie, Sam, Max, Kate, and Beth. Husband John was standing with me and out of range. Everyone was smiling, probably because they didn’t have to move or pose formally. I didn’t look, but I’m sure John was grinning, because he avoided being in it.
We had a lovely afternoon visiting with each other. The hilarity broke out when we played Speak Out. The game has plastic pieces that stretch your mouth. One person reads a game card with immobile lips, and the others try to guess what he is saying. Max and Sam were good sports and volunteered to go first.
Susan went on the deck with her dog, coming back to tell us a deer was lying there watching them. Four or five of us walked out to see him, and he posed more willingly than humans. We were about 15 to 20 feet from him. He and his herd move freely on the land behind the condos that connects to a green belt. We saw at least six of them walking there. Can you believe I saw more deer in the city of Charlotte in one afternoon than I’ve seen in the mountains in four years?
I texted Beth to let her know we were home safely. Her drive to Winston Salem should have been shorter than ours to Waynesville. It wasn’t. A tire blew out, and AAA rescued her by putting the spare donut tire on the car. She made it home without further incident.
One day later niece Julie and her friend Tommy picked up our grandson Nathaniel from the airport in Charlotte. He was returning from Christmas break with his dad. They took him out to brunch and delivered him to his dorm. What a kindness that was!
Everyone is back in place and ready to resume normal living after a wonderful Christmas season.
Mehrling Muse 
Looks like a lot of fun. What was the hardest card to read in that game?
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There were short phrases, and none of them were easy.
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I saw that game first on Ellen. She plays it with her celebrity guests sometimes. It’s hilarious!
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We didn’t play the game very long, but it was fun while it lasted.
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That game sounds like a lot of fun! It sounds like your Christmas season was wonderful. I wish you more great times with family and friends and a house full of love. Cheers!
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We didn’t play the game very long, but it was hilarious.
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Nice to see you all looking so happy celebrating being together.
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Good times are always welcome.
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Sounds like you had an awful lot of fun as usual.. I guess the deer in Charlotte feel safer than those in the mountains. It was lovely of Julie and her friend to pick up Nathaniel from the airport, feed him and see him safely back to his dorm.
xxx Humongous Hugs xxx
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I hadn’t thought about the deer feeling safer in the city. Nobody will shoot them there!
xxx Epiphany Hugs xxx
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What a handsome young buck! Playing that game I’d be worried about more wrinkles around my mouth! ha ha! I have enough of those from too many hours under Mr. Sun!
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Someone commented that the plastic mouth pieces from the game showed off the work of orthodontists. Two of the cousins currently have braces, and the older one probably did have them. I didn’t stretch my mouth. It’s big enough on its own!
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Love the deer photo!
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That deer seemed to enjoy the distant adulation. He gave us several nice poses.
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What a lovely deer, and a terrific group of family members. I hope your year of 2019 continues on through every day filled with happiness, family, terrific neighbors, and good friends.
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Thank you, Kathy. I hope your new year will be a marvelous one, too.
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Another great day!
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I almost bought that game for Nye…was it fun?
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The game Speak Out was lots of fun. We didn’t play strictly by the rules and didn’t stick with it long. We were together to visit, and playing a game gave us a fun break.
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What a lovely time. I love it when groups play silly games – old fashioned, but a fun group activity that will be remembered.
Deer were there just for you!
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You have had quite the holiday festivities since Thanksgiving – whew, but how nice to spend the time with friends and family and make some good memories. I laughed that John escaped this picture. Your shot of the deer is good and close … it was relaxing, just wantiing to be part of the party.
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We had more than our share of houseguests and celebrations, but it was marvelous. We have lovely memories and photos.
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Yes, you are fortunate that everyone was there and the weather was fairly cooperative – you did get a little bit of bad weather back in December as I recall. Now you’ve got the slideshow to look at when you want to relive those nice memories and all your friends and family who follow the blog can see those pictures as well.
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Photos are wonderful for prompting memories.
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They sure are Anne – I am grateful that I have my mom’s albums of her family. And my parents took a lot of photos when I was growing up.
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This has been one of the best visit ever. With all the busyness I missed you over the holiday!
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I wonder if lots of people cut back on blogging in December. I thought I was writing a fair bit, but there weren’t many posts to prove it.
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I noticed many cut back, took vacation and quit. I also noticed some that came back this week after being m.i.a. for months.
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I was too busy to notice who was missing. Their being away helped me by shortening my reading time. If that isn’t egocentric, I don’t know what is. I enjoy people when they are posting, though.
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Honestly, I feel a little better now ☺
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