Christmas - part 3

The day after Christmas is my dad's birthday. We took him out to dinner to this small diner near their house that he enjoys. During dinner my dad and Ryan cracked each other up with sayings and hand motions that accompanied. The first is them saying 'hmmm' in a thinking tone. The second is them saying 'oh, no' - which has been a Ryan favorite ever since. The third was a new one that night saying 'holy, moly'. They are also famous for 'no way, jose' and 'oh, man'. Then of course, is Emma just enjoying the day.

On the 27th, we attended the going away party for Aaron Stone. I've known Aaron, well probably since he was born. His dad, Tom, was a friend of my dads from high school. And his wife, Sally, is my mom's best friend. So we consider them our Aunt and Uncle and the boys, our cousins. Aaron is the youngest of three. Adam is my age and lives in Baltimore with his wife, Jenny, who is expecting their first baby next May. Nick is a few years younger than us (I want to say 3) and lives in Boston with his wife, Kathy. And then Aaron, is another few years younger than Nick and graduated from MSU a year ago. He was living in Boston for the last year working out there before he decided to enter officers training for the Marines. This is the first person in a while that I've know who has entered the military of any kind (the other being my cousin, Derek). Overall, I'm very proud of him for signing up at a time like this and I hope for the best.

But back to his party. We brought the kids who were a hit. There were other little girls there who let Ryan play ring around the rosie and balloons with them. The dinner was great, but the highlight of the evening (as always is with the Stone family) was the entertainment. Everyone was asked to tell a joke or do some kind of entertainment. Because of the kids, we were asked to keep it in line with the audience and to be funny. If not, a whip cream pie in the face was the punishment. Uncle Tom was the first to get it and Kris was the second! My mom even got up and told the joke that the boys had prepared for her since she had flat out refused to do it before that time. Ryan brought his camera and spent some of his time taking pictures of the dark lights and the floor. At least it kept him busy. The night ended with us going home early. When Ryan got sick before Christmas he managed to give it to Kris, who had it on the 22nd. My mom came down with it on the 23rd and my dad on the 24th. And I got it on the 27th. Luckily it was another 12 hour bug that you get over pretty quickly! Besides that it was such a great night.