Family Visits

It is an awesome thing to live in a place where people regularly have to come for conferences, trainings, and layovers.  Twice a year, we get to have dinner with the Scout Master's oldest brother when he comes to Dallas for training.  He is a pilot for Southwest Airlines.  The kids love seeing him.  I love hearing all the news from Utah.  The Scout Master loves to see what new media gadget Brother #1 has acquired.  And we all love connecting with family.  

The Scout Master's Brother #2 was in town this week for a conference, so we made arrangements to pick him up and bring him to our house for dinner.   All of the Scout Master's brothers are positive, happy, uplifting people.  And they are always so grateful for whatever I happen to throw together for dinner.  Tonight I made BBQ salmon, funeral potatoes, and a huge salad.  And then for dessert, we had pound cake with whipped cream and berries.  It was only after my brother-in-law had eaten a full plate of food (including the funeral potatoes dripping with cheese, butter and sour cream) and a generous helping of dessert that I served him, did he mention that he's been doing this Clean Eating thing for the past several months...no carbs, no sugar.  (That's how gracious this family is.  I could serve them a plate of cat food and they would thank me for it.)   It was so nice of him to just eat everything and say thank you, knowing that he will probably have to detox his entire body for a week after just one meal with us.   Oh well...

I thoroughly enjoyed spending three hours with Brother #2 in my house filling us in on all the details of the past year in Utah.   Reconnecting with my in-laws is effortless.  They are seriously the nicest people on the planet.  I love hanging out with them.  It made me seriously homesick for family.  I wish we lived closer so that we could get together more often.  I miss my sisters-in-law.  And I LOVE how close those cousins get when they're together.   There are new twin cousins and a grand cousin who have been added to the family since our last visit, and it tugged at my heart to hear how cute they are and how much they've grown.  Apparently, we need to plan a trip to Utah very soon!

It was so great to have family here tonight...just the breath of fresh air I needed to get me out of that crappy mood I've been in since Sunday.