Family Dinner

Since Julie was in town I offered to host a family dinner on Sunday.  We had a big group and it was so fun. 

Julie got to meet Isaiah. 

It was so fun to have Mel's grandkids come too. EJ and Ofa were sick so they couldn't come, we missed them!

We had fun visiting before dinner. 

Cody and Caitlyn came home from church to a full house!

Hallee loved playing with Clara.  She knew Clara would love her keyboard and microphone. 

I pulled out some toys for the kids.  Cody got excited about the Legos and had fun playing with them with Wesley. 

Keith grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and we had salads, chips and Caitlyn made a really yummy dessert for everyone. 

Hallee and Tessa loved that Clara wanted to eat with them and they played with her all night. 

I was worried because there was a chance of rain, but luckily it didn't rain so people could eat outside. It was a little chilly, but they didn't seem to mind. 

It makes me so happy to have the family together. It's so hard not to have mom here.  She worked so hard to keep us close and provide opportunities for us to get together so I want to keep that going. 

I gained a new level of appreciation for mom yesterday. It's a lot of work to host and feed everyone, but as I looked around and saw everyone visiting it brought me so much joy. I think I finally understood how mom felt and why she was willing to sacrifice and work so hard to bring us together. 

I love seeing the cousins together and I love seeing the grandkids with grandpa. 

Alisha came over and dad was telling her about all his hikes and showing her pictures.  We all laughed that he only has 32 pictures on his phone.  I told him that I had 32 pictures from today! He is a minimalist and deletes everything after he sees it. 

After dinner most people hung around and visited for a while.  It was so fun to laugh together and reminisce. We have so many good memories and hopefully many more to come.