Really Random Thursday, 12/28/23

 Wrapping it up for the year.

Anyone besides me?

Levi went to the winter formal. I dropped by just long enough to see him in his suit. Handsome guy.

Here's a weird holiday tradition. One of our favorite restaurants has this half-ram near the ceiling. They "decorate" it during the holidays, and for some reason I always want to eat here.

The other place we like to eat is at a place called the Galleria, where there are several different restaurants. The hallway, which has tables, is beautifully decorated. We had lunch here yesterday. 

This year our family celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. 

We were so happy to have our niece, Liz, join us. We played what I think will become a new holiday tradition--Bunco. Have you ever played it? 

As Charlotte said, it's challenging but not complicated, well suited for all ages. You basically roll three dice at a time, starting with 1's. As long as you roll a 1, you get to keep going and adding points to your score. If you roll three of a kind of whatever number you playing, you get a Bunco worth 21 points. If you roll three of a kind but it's not the number you are playing, you get a mini Bunco worth 5 points. Play continues until the team at the head table gets up to 21 points. Then you switch partners and tables, and roll 2's, and so on. 

We added a fun bonus--anyone who rolled three 2's was deemed the "traveler" and got to wear the Christmas necklace until another person rolled three 2's. 

We began our tournament mid afternoon, then took a break to enjoy the Christmas Eve service at church, and then came back to finish. 

We had cash prizes. Ella was the big winner with most wins, then there was a prize for the person with the most losses, the most Buncos, the most baby Buncos, and the person wearing the traveling necklace when the game was finished. 

Dinner was enchiladas, salad and a delicious Cuban dish called arepas, basically cornmeal grilled cheese sandwiches--so yummy. (Aaron didn't want to give up the necklace so he wore it all through dinner.)

Aaron made festive drinks called Poinsettias.

Funniest gift--we got Ella this blanket that looked like a flour tortilla.

I bought these weird sodas, thinking we could have a taste test. Everyone passed on that idea. And I'm not sure what happened to the other three bottles. I think the missing flavors were ranch dressing, buffalo hot wings, and bacon. Maybe I do know why no one wanted to do a taste test...

Anyway, it was a great evening together, celebrating the birth of Jesus and being with those we love.