Family Gatherings

Yesterday, my husband and I hosted a family gathering so that the members of my family (my parents, my 3 brothers and their families and my daughters and their families) could get together before the holiday craziness begins.  Once we all start Christmas shopping, attending holiday parties & school plays, there is no time for family gatherings, unfortunately.  Even though this was planned months ago, there were several family members who had other commitments and couldn't be here.  We really missed them.  I was hoping that we could get all 5 of our grandsons together for pictures but our 17 year old grandson had to work so there were only 4 boys here for pictures.  The pictures are adorable!!!!!

The food was made up of family favorites (comfort food) and they were delicious.  We had corn chowder, roasted potato chowder, shepherd's pie, cornbread, homemade honey wheat bread, meatballs in sauce, homemade chocolate chip cookies & wacky chocolate cake.  We had soda, milk & apple cider for beverages.  When we get together, we like to cook things that everyone loves & they sure did love these.  We sent home leftovers with every person who attended and they happily complied.

My youngest brother who is 46 took the 3 oldest boys (a 7 year old and 2-5 year olds) outside to play football ~ the chicken flock had to dodge flying bodies and a football.  All of the boys had a ball ~ I bet my brother is sore today, though.  Our youngest grandson who is 9 months old went for a walk with me and his Mom to see the chickens and to get some fresh air.  We picked some decorative grasses that grow near the coop and my mother, oldest brother & my daughter took some home to decorate their houses for fall.

After everyone left, I spent the evening cleaning up the kitchen and storing more leftovers in the fridge.  There were lots of dishes to do and windows to clean (our youngest grandson loves to look outside, hence, the need to wash the lowest windows).  I don't mind the cleaning part, though.  It gives me time to reflect on the day's events and have some time to myself.

Our house is very small but that didn't matter to the 18 people here yesterday.  We all have fun together and there's always lots to talk about so time goes by quickly and no one every notices that my house is too tiny to do much of anything in but sit and talk.

I hope that we have many more family gatherings with all members able to come.  I'm sure that, in the future, there will be some relatives missing since several are in their 80's and in poor health.  It's sad to think of but every family gathering is precious and we need to make sure that we have as many as possible ~ families make the best kind of memories.