Our big family.

As I had said Saturday, we were expecting company on Monday. We had planned the meal, Thanksgiving... again. And we were preparing for Jody's parents Davey and Jane to spend the night.

Monday I came home for lunch to check on Jolea and her cooking adventure. She had baked a ham and glazed it nicely, and she was in the process of baking some cookies. I had planned to make the cookies after dinner that night, but if she wanted to do them GREAT! After all these were cookies she had won Best of Show in a 4-H competition back in 1997. She had made them before and she could do it again. I was going to donate them to the school carnival for the cake walk... so they're cookies, not cake, people don't care. Everything was running fine and dandy when I left for school. Jody was about to leave to go get his Neulasta shot for this round.

Fast forward a few hours and I'm coming in the door at 4:45 after a finance/sales tax meeting at the Administration Office. The house looks great, Jolea has the table set for 6 everything clicking right along... it's all timing when preparing a meal like this.

I had to break the news to Jody and Jolea that Jeff had called and said he was in Hillsboro and wouldn't be here for dinner. He said he was on a job site and may being spending the night if they didn't get finished. He also said they had stopped at a McDonald's south of Fort Worth and were eating breakfast when he saw (in his words...) "an old man throwing garbage away" he said he had told his co-worker, "wow that old man looks just like my Grandpa.... it is my Grandpa!" Then he jumped up and went over to ask Grandpa, "where's Grandma?" So they had a reunion in the McDonald's... I think he gets this from my side of the family.... we Nelsons always find a family member no matter where we go.

Back to 4:45... I walk in, tell them about Jeff and they tell me that Grandma and Grandpa are on their way and they are bringing Jody's Uncle Durwood (Jane's brother) and Aunt Betty, and their daughter Tina and her husband Ron. GREAT... we haven't seen them in years.... and that explains the US Army sized pan of potatoes cooking... Mr. Potato Head (Jeff.. he eats mountains of potatoes) won't be here for dinner. Not 5 minutes later they all drive up and they also have Jane's sister Aunt Sis! Durwood and Betty live just outside Grants Pass, Oregon and Tina and Ron live in Lewisville not 20 miles from us, and Sis lives in Weatherford, west of Fort Worth!!! For shame, for shame... we haven't seen Tina in about 20 years and Sis in about 22! It was great and we love this sort of unplanned family gathering.

Slip over to Jolea's blog to check out all the similarities between our family gatherings and the movie, National Lampoon Christmas Vacation. It's rather scary.... but it's our family, what can I say.

Off to work, it's dress as your hero day at school. I'm going in a chambray shirt and jeans, my boots, and a tool belt... I'm going as Jody... he's my hero. He's a genius with non-osmotic, non-nutritive food lacquers.... Watch the movie, it's almost Christmas.