Let me tell you about my family

I love my family.

Yesterday I sat around my kitchen table. I don't have a formal dining room but I have a huge kitchen! I had 13 people in my house. It was so much fun. It's not often that us country bumpkins have a house full of guests, but yesterday was my once a year day.

My mom and dad are the greatest - and they don't even read my blog!!! I have always felt so much love and I've never worried about my relationship with them. Christmas Eve my dad brought our trailer back full of firewood. We were really sad that it was too warm to have a fire in the fireplace, but we have firewood. Then my mom just jumps in wherever she can to help me keep things clean.

I have one brother. I like him, too. He brought his wife and their two daughters. I must say that having girls around the house changes things... My SIL makes a wonderful pumpkin pie. We gave our nieces a tea set and a cooking set. The cooking set contained a chef's hat. My SIL tried to get each of the kids (except that oldest one of mine...) to put it on for a picture. The two youngest were the most averse to wearing it and the most humerous as the fended it off.

My SIL let me know her folks would be alone on Christmas day. As God would have it, I saw them in Sam's last Sunday. I was able to personally invite them to join us for our Chritmas dinner. I've never had trouble with in-laws and they aren't direct in-laws but still; I don't know my SILs parents very well. I shouldn't have worried. From the moment they arrived at my home I knew we'd be alright.

I married the man I used to call "the smartest man this side of the Mississippi". I don't call him that anymore, but I think it sometimes. Now he's just MM (My Man). But I learned something about him this year. I was shocked that I did not know it before now. I didn't discover it on Christmas day. It isn't a show stopper, but wow. I thought I knew MM. Now I wonder what I don't know about him. Really, he could have told me long before now. I was almost embarrassed to not know. We were at his Uncle's house for thanksgiving and I was packing up some leftovers -including of course, the obligatory turkey. Running out of time, I asked him to cut some more turkey and load it up in a bag. He looked at me as if I had asked him to bag up the garbage so we could take it home with us. I didn't get the message and kept doing my work. When we finally got in the van I asked (no volunteering of info allowed!) what was up with turkey? Was he totally offended that I asked him to do something? I had no idea.

So what did I learn? Not that prepping left overs is women's work - he would've walked home for that one. Or that he doesn't know how to carve a turkey... You know who does the majority of the cooking around here, right? I learned that MM does not like turkey. It was an amazing discovery. Now back to Christmas day.

Every year for Christmas we have never done a turkey. Until this year I never understood it. Now I get it. We eat pork ribs and chicken on Christmas day because it's the best and it's a treat (the ribs for sure). OK MM I'll eat ribs anytime, so long as I can have my family around the table.

So there you have it... My family. I have to count everyone to get to a baker's dozen but I wouldn't have it any other way!