In our household, there are at least two meanings to the word family. I suppose that it’s about time to explain two of them….the first one is the obvious one: genetic family…you know, Mom, Dad, Cousins, etc. The second one is the Denver Family, or the family that we refer to when we are going to Family Dinner (which is held once a week). It’s comprised of the folks that used to live in the Columbine House (where Ahna lived before we got married), and their respective partners in crime life.
The Denver Family all got together yesterday to celebrate the holidays. We met up at Gabe and Charlotte’s new house in the Whittier neighborhood of Denver (just north and a little west of City Park) for a mid-afternoon dinner, gift exchange, and white elephant gift exchange. Each year we draw names to purchase/make something for; and this year we added the White Elephant aspect to the party. For the real gifts, Ahna got some homemade tea mixes from Claire (with homemade pouches to hold it), and I got a couple of gifts from Tori including a photo frame with pics of Ezra (for work) and the newspaper front pages from Obama’s victory…something to put in a safe place to share with Ezra.
The White Elephant exchange was fun…as there was much stealing of gifts, conspiring to end up with stuff, and disappointment that you ended up with something potentially worse that you came with. For example, I wrapped up a CD of Alan Jackson (that someone had given to me as a joke), and ended up taking home a pair of salt and pepper shakers that are in the shape of a cowboy boot and painted to look like the Texas flag. Oh boy. Ahna ended up with a nice sent of plates that we might actually be able to use…..
The attendance at Family Dinner varies from meal to meal due to work, travel, life, etc….but when everyone gets together – like yesterday – it’s a wonderful reminder of how much fun it is to be with everyone at the same time. Can’t wait for the next one…
The Life of a Little Hippie 
Love Ezra’s rockin’ t-shirt!