A Gathering of the Clan

Yesterday, Bro Kevin flew in from the Mile High City, along with his three young 'uns, the youngest of which is now 21.  Margie went down to the airport to pick them up and drove them to Pere's house, where they are all dossing for the weekend.  Cousin Jimmy came over from next door and hung for a while.  When school let out, Bro Sèan drove up.  That evening, the three brothers, together with Kevin's three offspring and my daughter went to dinner at a new Lebanese restaurant that had opened in town, to wit: Phoenicia. 
Sara was able to give us a running commentary on the menu; and of course Kevin's kids have Lebanese ancestry. I had the baked kibbi. Brian had raw kibbi, which I called kibbles and bits; Brendan (who recently joined the army) went with shrimp scampi, Elisabeth had a Lebanese baked haddock which we inspected for signs that Jonah had been swallowed thereby, so large it was. Sara went for the chicken kabob and contrary to to most kabobs was more chicken than peppers and onions. Kevin went for beef kabob; Sèan had something else which now escapes me. It was all very good. The owners are a couple of Jabbour brothers and I wondered if they were related to the Jabbours I went to high school with.
 
Then there was the belly dancer.


Once my brother has emailed me the photos of me dancing with the belly dancer, I will regale the world with them. She pretty much got everyone in the restaurant to dance with her. Elisabeth, who teaches art, had taken belly dancing and gave a good account of herself; but yr. obt. svt. is not the best choice for this line of work.
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Today, we went over to Pere's house and basically hung out with the Olde One. Sara showed up with her three darlings. The younger cousins took delight in teasing Noelle about alleged HS boyfriends. Adam kibbitzed the Scrabble game. We swung by Flynn's and picked up some food. (It is a peculiarity of our family that my father's younger brother is called "Flynn" even by other Flynns. Although Pere will sometimes call him "my brudder" even when he is talking to his other brothers. Everyone knows who is meant.) In any case, uncle Francey is a chef and caterer, and he cooked up a mess of chicken (two kinds), roast beef, potatoes, green beans, plus salad and rolls, and this we used for dinner at Pere's house. After dinner, there was a cake for my birthday, which is tomorrow, but no one complained of the early start. 
 
Now, snow began falling during all this -- Big Snow -- and it is expected to accumulate eight inches worth by tonight, so Bro Sèan has elected to spend the night up here. Tomorrow, who knows.