Christmas Eve

Monday

Lots to do today.  We got up ate and then headed into East Aurora.  We both drove.  Bonnie left and I got some tools together and followed.  We put up quite a few shelves and mirrors for Bonnie's Mom today.  Then they left to go for a PET scan.  My assignment was to take a flat tire to see if it could be fixed.  I took it to their trusted tire man out in Strykersville and found out it was ruined.  Mom had driven a mile or so with it flat.  So we put a new tire on the rim and I headed home.  Today was to be the best day for a while and the SUN was out.  I changed the tools I had in the car for tire tools and loaded the jack into the car.  Boy was it heavy.  I do not remember it being that heavy when I bought it 10 years ago.

After grabbing a sandwich for lunch I headed back into the apartment and took the emergency spare tire off the car and put the new one on.  All went well, but that jack was even heavier when I put it back in the car.  I headed home, put the tools away and cleaned up.

All went well with the PET scan now to wait for the results.  Bonnie got home and we watched the news.  I am really beat and I am heading to bed nice and early.

Tuesday

Up early and we headed to downtown Buffalo to the Mission.  Last night I prepared the turkey breast by rubbing it down with mustard and Pappys rub.  It is sitting outside in the cool grill and tomorrow morning it will go into the smoker.

Soaking up the flavor of the rub

Traffic was light both this morning and coming home.  We spent the day helping to get ready for the Hambone Express.  Right now it looks like about 134 teams of volunteers will deliver over 3700 ham meals on Christmas morning.  We are tired but thankful that we can help.

Wednesday

I was up by 8 this morning had my breakfast and then put the turkey in the smoker.

The smoke is just starting

The turkey was done in just over 4.5 hours.  Sorry I did not take a picture of the finished product.   We were just about ready to load up to head to the family party.  Bonnie also made a big pan of chicken enchiladas to take along.

Must be 10lbs or more

We loaded up the car with food, presents for tonight and tomorrow and headed to the apartments.  Mom had reserved the activity room for the get together.

Bonnie's Dad Otis

I got to talk to all the brothers and sisters either in person, on the phone or by text.  We had a nice turn out.  Bonnie had gone through a lot of her Mom's pictures and sorted them and they were passed out to the families.

Checking out the old pictures

More picture gazing

We had a good time and were home around 9pm.  My son had facetimed us in the car and we called him once we got back in the house.  We had a nice long FaceTime chat with his family before deciding to call it a night.  Just as a hung up the wind picked up and we got a NWS warning for severe thunderstorms.

This Gum ball Tree makes it to a lot of family Christmases

The tree is a family tradition and I seem to remember it always being at the Christmas Eve get togethers.

Well I will post this as we are getting up early to head into the Mission for the HamBone Express.

Merry Christmas!  Enjoy the time you get to spend with your families.

Thanks For Checking In!

"Some people try to turn back their odometers, not me, I want people 
to know why I look this way, and some of the roads weren't paved"