We call him Snow Leopard because he was a sassy cat

I'm finally back from the holidays in Houston, and what a joyful Christmas it was. The Edelbrocks (my in-laws) are a great, loud, boisterous, funny group. Ben has three siblings, and while each sibling has a distinctly different personality, everyone is extremely smart and witty, which means when you get around the family, you better watch out. Being a slightly sarcastic person myself (NO, really?!!) I feel like I fit right in, but you had better be on your game or chances are the joke of the holiday will be on you. Because if there is one thing we Edelbrocks love, it is a good joke at someone else's expense (see -- I fit RIGHT IN).

The winner this year is Ben's youngest brother Adam. At 21, he is the baby of the family and in his senior year at Notre Dame. While sitting around and chatting with the family, the unfortunate phrase "We called him Snow Leopard because he was a sassy cat" came out of his mouth when describing an alley cat that he and his roommates feed. And naturally, we all jumped on it like wolves. SASSY CAT? Do tell Adam, how did he show his sassiness? Did he swish when he walked? That certainly IS sassy Adam.

And then of course, the joke goes on to be used in every aspect of our weekend together. As in, "OOOOOOO, Adam, that touchdown was certainly SASSY, wasn't it?" Or, "Dinner was great Michelle, the green bean casserole was especially SASSY this year," and so on. Then, when Adam left to meet his girlfriend for a ski trip, the rest of the siblings were quick to upload photos of him to Facebook with one particularly adorable childhood photo captioned with his sassy cat quote.

The moral of the story? Outside of the lesson to never use the word SASSY in normal conversation is how much fun we all had together. Because its true, the family that laughs together, stays together (I've just made that saying up, but it makes sense to me). It is so neat to be part of this big family that truly likes and enjoys being around each other. Who can tease and joke with each other and enjoy every moment we spend together. And THAT, is why we had such a happy, joyful and SASSY Christmas.

*Post edited to include the sassy photo of Adam, per my husband's comment that I simply can NOT post this without a photo.