Dumb Ass feeling gratitude

Dumb Ass. That's the name of the game Paul selected at the Christmas gift exchange. It's a trivia game that we ended up playing it the last two nights. If I might brag, I'm quite good at it - surprising the wee ones with the amount of knowledge I possess, mostly due to how much I read. Everyone had their moments though - answering questions you'd never expect them to know.

You may not know this about me but I am not a fan of game playing. It requires concentration - something I am bad at supplying in my off-time. In fact I blurted out a few answers Friday night when it wasn't my turn - simply because I wasn't paying attention. My bad! That made me giggle. That, and the toddy I was drinking. The chatter during the game was priceless. Thank goodness Franklin the wonder puppy settled down and napped during most of the games.

We took a drive to Ames on Friday to show the fam all the updates to their college town. And to show Corey the most beautiful college campus in America. He is a Clemson University grad and was smart enough not to argue. We lunched at Hickory Park of course - after Corey purchased a token ISU t-shirt. Amy had previously gotten a Clemson shirt while visiting that town for a football game (their team is 11-0 woohoo).

Saturday we celebrated Thanksgiving at Paul's niece Barb's. Thanks much to the Archers for hosting! We took along Mom's creamy mashed potatoes. Corey and Amy made a pumpkin cheese cake - the peaks of the whipped cream started out like the Rockies but melted and ended up like Iowa terrain according to Corey - but it was still delish. Paul's sisters were there plus bro-in-law Dave and great niece Mandy. It was fun catching up with the Goldsmiths. I heart family.

We had thoughts of going out later but ended up catching more sports on TV (another Cyclone bball victory) plus football. Amy is getting awful sick of football. That's when we broke out the Dumbass trivia game again. Did I mention how much fun it's been to be around these people?

Gathered all together for a group shot - not too bad!

I heard from my sisters on Thanksgiving Day. Susi and husband Jim, like our fam were celebrating with all the children (and grandkids). Cindy entertained 12 at her place and managed not to tear a retina this year. Betso had the clan at her place - arriving from all over Washington state. Love to all of them.

I'm very thankful for all of my family and friends. How rich my life is. #gratitude