Kohler Thanksgiving at Deep Creek Lake

 The Kohler family met up in beautiful Deep Creek Lake, Maryland for a Thanksgiving gathering.  This has become a bi-annual event with different houses each time.  This year's house had a lovely view from the top of a mountain and a wonderful deck to enjoy said view.  That was all good for Wednesday, but then the snow and wind moved in for the rest of Thanksgiving week.  Fortunately, there was plenty of other activities to keep everyone occupied.

There were many ping pong games, led by Aidyn (at one point he and Anna decided to play while on their knees).  Grandma, an experienced ping pong player from her younger days, decided to show them how it was done but then realized this was contingent on them actually being able to hit the ball back to her.  She decided to coach from the sidelines.  There were also some highly competitive Uno games with Anna introducing new rules that the rest of the family did not know (Aidyn called them the "college rules").  The stakes were high, as evidenced by Aidyn coming to the table with a giant glass of "Victory milk" to help him win (two glasses later, it still did not work).  Grandma was the overall winner of the most Uno rounds.  Friday was a day to make buckeye candy, which was a family affair (this was suggested by Uncle Tim as Uncle Rod puts in a large order every year for work from Grandma...this year he provided the supplies and assisted in production).  Grandpa as always found repairs to make to the rental house (he always leaves a place better than he found it).  Benny also joined the family, where he wore himself out running up and down the stairs.  Aunt Courtney brought her new dog, Cookie, who was more interested in playing with Benny than Benny was with her.  

Tim, Theresa & Rod

In addition to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, the family celebrated Grandma's 80th birthday.  This included cake and a photobook with notes from family and friends.  Grandma brought along the annual Christmas ornament gift for Anna & Aidyn. This has been a tradition since they were born with Grandma getting a personalized ornament with something they had done that year. Anna got a high school graduate to mark the year 2024.  Rod and Tim celebrated their birthdays on November 30 with really no celebration (at their request).  The best present would have been a win by Ohio State over Michigan, but alas it was not to be.

It was great to see everyone for a rare family gathering and to enjoy a getaway.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Making buckeyes

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