Family Dinners

My husband has a magic with his family that I don't understand. Let me start with some background. Jon is the oldest grand kid of 8 and the first to be married. I am the newest addition to the family since Ryan (who is now 10). Jon and I live next to his loving and wonderful grandparents. His Aunt Deb and Uncle G live 10 minutes away, his Uncle M and Aunt D live 8 minutes away, and his mom & sister live in Shelton (45 minutes).

Just over a year ago Jon and I went to his mom's for dinner in her new home. Jon had arranged for Nanna, Gramps, Aunt Deb and the kids to be there as well. Momma didn't know that Jon was inviting everyone. So once he had a head count she had to run to the store to buy more food for dinner, but she was thrilled. It was the first time the family would see her new home and everyone was buzzing with excitement. At lease that's what I thought all the buzz was about... Unbeknown to me, Jon was proposing that evening during dinner.

While I ran some errands that morning, Jon called my dad, mom, and siblings asking for my hand in marriage and inviting them to dinner at his mom's. (They weren't able to make it but he still got their blessings). Then he called everyone in his family, explained what he was doing, and asked them to join. I'm guessing he thought with an audience I wouldn't be able to say no :) That was the first time I saw Jon round everyone up.

On Jon's way home from work last night he called me to tell me he wanted Godfather's Pizza. Since our plans had fallen through just moments prior I agreed that a laid back dinner out would be great... No cooking or dish washing for me! 15 minutes later he walked in the front door and told me the family was joining for dinner at 6:30. I refer to it as Jon's magic, because a family gathering usually requires advance notice and lots of planning. Jon however, can arrange the majority of the family to be there in less than two hours. It's amazing to me!

My family gathers on holidays, big birthdays, graduations, births, weddings, etc. Now this is a slight generalization because my family is huge; there are always exceptions to the rules... i.e. My Dad's side of the family tries to do a camping trip (we refer to it as "Family Camp") one week out of every summer. Last year My mom's parent's took the whole family on a week long Alaskan Cruise for their 50th anniversary. My step-dad's family does a pre-holiday party. You get the point. :)

Living so close to my husbands family is wonderful, but it makes me miss mine! When I was younger I resented my dad for always moving further and further away from where I was. Now that I'm an adult I've done the same thing!!! There never seems to be enough time in a day, but I need to find it... I know that the older I get the more busy I am.

To my family near and far: I love you and miss you all! XOXOXO's