What's up, gangsters.
So, like we've done every year for the last twenty years or so, today - the day after Christmas - the Houghs drove up to Clare to celebrate the Holidays with my Dad's side of the family. Jeff and his family couldn't make it up, but Chris and Nicole were up with the twins from Indiana, and Lucy and Larry drove up from Grand Rapids. The regulars - us and the Whites - were also in attendance, so we quite a few people on hand this year. After picking up some Qdoba catering in Midland on our way out of town, we spent the majority of the afternoon and evening in Clare. Per the usual.
And now let's look through a ridiculous amount of Holiday pictures, featuring the extended Hough Family.
Behold. . .
So, like we've done every year for the last twenty years or so, today - the day after Christmas - the Houghs drove up to Clare to celebrate the Holidays with my Dad's side of the family. Jeff and his family couldn't make it up, but Chris and Nicole were up with the twins from Indiana, and Lucy and Larry drove up from Grand Rapids. The regulars - us and the Whites - were also in attendance, so we quite a few people on hand this year. After picking up some Qdoba catering in Midland on our way out of town, we spent the majority of the afternoon and evening in Clare. Per the usual.
And now let's look through a ridiculous amount of Holiday pictures, featuring the extended Hough Family.
Behold. . .
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| Alayna took this with her new phone when we first got to Dad's in the late morning - a herd of deer across the pond. Always happens when you're not holding a rifle. . . . |
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| After the kids got settled, we started into the gift exchange with Dad and Cindy, who opened their gifts from the girls first. Alayna insists that people put the bow on their forehead whenever they're opening their presents. . . |
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| Abby got a bunch of Nautical/Beach-themed decor for her recently remodeled bedroom, like this ship's wheel, shells and net piece. |
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| As you're about to see throughout the rest of these pictures, Chris and Nicole's twins - Louis and Sam - were more than willing to help everyone else open up their Christmas presents. |
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| One of the things we got Dad this year was a Detroit Lions hat ('dad'-styled, with the adjustable strap backing, of course) to wear when he putzes around Eight Point Lake on his new pontoon boat. |
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| The beginning of Christmas Chaos. . . |
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| The twins help Kris open up some of her stuff. |
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| Alayna's new hair-curler. This design's a little easier for young girls to use than the traditional method for curling hair. . . at least that's what the Females tell me. |
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| Abby received a new tablet this year (her old one crapped out on her.) |
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| Louis hands Kris one of her new Converse shoes. |
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| Some more beauty and self-care cosmetic stuff for our resident tween. |
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| Glamour Shot |
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| Alayna's been asking for knit hats with holes in the top to accommodate pony tails. Dad and Cindy picked this pair up on Amazon. |
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| Strikin' a pose |
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| We got Dad a well-rated, laptop folding table for him to use up at the new cottage. You know, for his Nerd Command Center. |
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| Louis works on one of Abby's presents. . . |
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| How many Boomers does it take to figure out a folding table? |
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| Answering some questions about the new laptop station (I assume.) |
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| Kris scored an air purifier she's been wanting to put in our bedroom to help with her allergies. |
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| Abby watches Cindy open another one of the gifts from us. |
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| Cindy's new iron skillet (again, another gift for up at the new Eight Point Cottage.) |
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| The girls also scored a couple $50 Target gift cards, which, with any luck, will go towards something reasonable. |
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| A Masonic folding knife from Case Knives. |
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| Wouldn't be a Hough Family Christmas without Yours Truly scoring some new vinyl. . . |
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| These two have been on my list for a long, long time. |
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| Because with great power comes great responsibility, folks. |
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| As I previously mentioned, Cindy has gotten Qdoba to cater our extended family get-togethers the last couple years, and it has been unanimously applauded. She orders and pays for it, we pick it up and bring it up to Clare with us, and everyone stuffs themselves stupid. |
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| Kris is about to gain ten pounds. . . |
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| Cousins chow down on some Mexican. . . |
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| This is apparently something Louis likes to do. Chris raised himself one of those boys. . . |
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| Lucy fills Chris' ear about something-or-other. |
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| What can I say, the dude's a snappy dresser. |
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| The Whites rolled in while the rest of us were helping ourselves to seconds (and thirds) of Qdoba. |
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| More Christmas presents to work through. |
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| This has been Alayna since Christmas Morning. We figure after a day or so we'll cut the cord and teach her the concept of moderation, but for now we're fine with letting her explore her new device. |
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| A real beauty. And Kris. |
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| After the kids got some food in their system, they made their way downstairs to play ping-pong and pinball (and, in Alayna's case, watch Netflix on her phone.) I went down for long enough for my nephew Bradley to school me in ping-pong. |
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| Setting up Abby's new tablet. |
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| Yet another Uncle Brian. . . |
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| Some White boys, opening up presents. |
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| Cindy channels the Church Lady. |
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| This is some sorta egg Jax really wanted. I have no idea what it is or why he wanted it. |
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| It's a. . . . a fan? I think? |
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| Today had a high temperature of 52 - insanely rare for this type of year - and the next couple days were supposed to hover around the 50-degree mark. Kris bought me a set of Masonic Square and Compass symbol emblems from a website that specializes in chrome auto emblems to put on my new Escape (a.k.a. The Titanium Falcon) - a running theme with the rest of the gifts I got from her this year, which I was totally fine with. This type of emblem requires a temperature of at least 50-degrees for the installation process, so I brought one of them up to Clare with us today so I could put it on correctly (and NOT have to wait until March in order to do so.) These things are much higher quality than the usual 'chrome' emblems you can find on Amazon - most of those are plastic with a thin plasti-metal finish that wears out over time. Based on the reviews, this baby should hold up in numerous Michigan winters, with salted roads and regular car washes and freezing temperatures to boot. |
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| Having secured my new chrome emblem to my ride, I went back inside and poured out a couple Brooklyn Imperial Chocolate Stouts - one of my top-three favorite beers - for Chris and I. While the craziness of extended family and gift-opening continued unabated in the living room and kitchen, we retired to the Library and sipped on pure awesomeness. |
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| . . . and then his sons woke up and wanted to hang out with us. So this picture of Chris really about sums it up. |
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| The infamous Devil Head ornament that has always faced out Dad's front window. |
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| Checking out the annual Snow Village display. |
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| Samwise and Dad. |
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| Abby installed many, many apps during our visit in Clare. Which was as expected. |
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| Meanwhile, back in the living room. . . |
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| No idea what's happening here. |
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| Every family has that creepy uncle. . . |
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| Towards the end of the evening, Dad and Cindy requested a series of family pictures. Where the f*** else would you take a family picture at Dad's house besides the frickin' Stairs? Here we have The Whites. . . |
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| The Houghs, v. 2.2 |
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| The Houghs, v. 2.1 |
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| Aunt Lucy and Uncle Larry |
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| . . . .aaaaaand Dad and Cindy. |
- Brian
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