Shando and I had a wonderful xmas gathering yesterday at my sister’s house in Granite Bay. My nephew is only 16 and towers over all of us. My brother, sister and I are there with their kids, Brooke and Nicholas, and my brother-in-law, Ken. It looks like everyone got the memo to wear grey, but my niece is actually wearing maroon (you just can’t see it in this photo).
We brought the foldable electric scooter which Shando finally agreed to try on the flat street in my sister’s neighborhood. I think he was afraid to say how much he loved it, but he is always worried about breaking a bone, since he’s proud that he has never had to wear a cast in his life.
We brought two of our senior dogs, Polar and Capulet. My sister’s brown-spotted dog Ricki was reticent about the company, but she and Polar fell in love and played a ton, which was nice to see. My brother brought Mocha, the little chihuahua mix, who was more aloof. I listened carefully to the video to make sure we protected those we were gossiping about. They are not identifiable from this video. 🙂
Gifts for my niece and nephew (from “Guncles”):
I was named after my mother, Giuseppina, and she was named after my Nonno, Giuseppe. I was a huge momma’s boy. We spoke all day in chat when I was at work for YEARS, not to mention at least a few calls a day even when she was visiting Italy or I was living on the East Coast. 
