It's All Relative

Our day yesterday was actually quite peaceful and calm. Enjoyable even. We split Tony and Dominyk so they weren't in the same vehicle and that helped considerably. We arrived in plenty of time for dinner at Henry's (Salinda's boyfriends) and afterwards some of the boys played football while Henry's parents, Bart and I and a few other kids watched the original Home Alone that happened to be on TV. For some reason it was very relaxing for me.

Today I got up and decided to accompany Bart in the kitchen or cleaning all morning. We ended up eating around 2 and then cleaned up and played a few games. All in all there were only a few blips in an otherwise nice day.

However, if you were not us you might not have viewed things the same way. I was cussed out several times, a couple fights broke out, there were a few tears .... but seriously, compared to what it could have been like it was a good day. For the first time in 2 years (and only for the second time in history) all 14 of us were together. I attempted to take a picture and that was quite the ordeal. It did not go well. However, I did get a relatively good shot of everyone to put on Christmas cards.

Above are a few shots from today and yesterday, concluding with Bart, the way he is at the moment. Exhausted from preparing a huge meal that included 5 dozen homemade buttermilk rolls, 23 pounds of turkey, 25 pounds of mashed potatoes, green been casserole that used 16 cans of beans, deviled eggs, a relish tray, sweet potoes, stuffing, and of course, 2 pecan and 2 pumpkin pies with whipped cream. Life just doesn't get much better than that.

So, even though it may not have seemed like a great day to others had they been there, I had a great day. Having all my kids in the same place and a husband that not only cooks but is just an amazingly wonderful person -- the day from my point of view was great.