Chilling In Bristow, VA

Evie And Her Girls

Mitch And Tyler With Cousins, Richie And Vince

Cousin Love

Bristow Sky At 8:00 AM

My son in law and I are up at 6:45, the rest of the family is lucky, sleeping in after a great weekend of partying at my niece Julia's wedding.  It's cool but clear here in Virginia, but it will be getting warmer, alas, with rain, and it's supposed to be 76º on Christmas Eve.  Get out the grill.

Tom, Nick, And Drew At Chief's Game

Yesterday was a sad day in many ways, as most of the family that were in town for the wedding had to head out, either via car or plane.  I was up early, said aloha to my sister and her husband as they left early for Ohio.  Then, my son Tom, his son Nick, and brother in law Drew left around 9:30 the Kansas City Chiefs game with the Baltimore Ravens.  Tom was able to get  good tickets from the Chiefs front office.

Julia, The Lovely, Happy Bride

Brunch At The Columbia Firehouse

Dining Room And Buffet

Device Crazy

The rest of our crew slept in, then got ready for a final gathering of the wedding party and guests, a brunch given by friends of the groom's parents, at the Columbia Firehouse Restaurant and Bar, an actual old firehouse turned into a great venue, just around the corner from our hotel.  It had a great bar and restaurant on the first floor, and we were upstairs, in three or four connected rooms.  They had a great buffet of the usual breakfast items, along with fresh oysters and crab cakes.  Twelve of us sat around for an hour and a half, enjoying the food, the company, and getting to spend time with Julia as well as her parents.  It was a nice way to end the weekend for out of towners as well as the new couple.  They are off to NYC for a brief honeymoon and will take a more extended one later in the year.

Tyler And The Girls

Afterwards, we did some shopping, stopped at a coffee shop that my grandson, Tyler, wanted to visit, then went to the hotel and packed up.  Beth and family were taking a 6:30 flight to Dallas, so we bid her and Tyler, Mitch, and Marisa, a sad good by, and then we drove back to Bristow, what should have been a fifty minute drive turned into an hour twenty minutes because I took a wrong turn out of Alexandria.  Between the unreliable GPS and the numerous signs, I took the wrong outlet onto #495.

Relaxing At Home With Granny

Dad And Hayden, Kicking Back

Anyways, we arrived home around 4:30, the guys from the Chiefs/Ravens game around 5:00, so Tom and Jill's family were able to spend another night together, the girls excited of course.  Tom leaves today for KC late in the day, so we will have some time together today.  Jill had shrimp and appetizers for dinner, and bought a honey baked sliced ham, so dinner was easy, making ham sandwiches as we watched some football.  Around 8:00 we all adjourned to the basement to watch, again, Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation, always a hit and hilarious.  The kids are starting to anticipate certain scenes, which is fun.  Evie finally got the girls settled down around 10:30 when we all went to bed, ending a fantastic weekend together.