. . . this hardly ever happens . . .

. . . all of us . . .

{well ~ minus six grandkids}

. . . together . . .

. . . yay! for labor day

and drew and jessalyn

coming to town . . .

. . . laughing a lot . . .

. . . eating too much . . .

{counter-clockwise from on the floor: baby colby, tyler, amelia, amber, chris, brent,

drew, jessalyn, amanda, me and bill}

. . . did you catch that? . . .

. . . BILL WAS THERE! . . .

{you'll notice his credit card is out and he's ready to go,

but he was there! and that, my friends, is progress.}

. . . and general silliness ensued

between brothers-in-law . . .

{or is it brother-in-laws?}

. . . poor amelia ~

how'd she get dragged into this? . . .

{also the waiter in the background}

. . . it's a wonderful feeling

to have the whole family together . . .

. . . and to know that they like each other . . .

. . . i feel like the luckiest mom ever . . .

. . . can't wait for thanksgiving! . . .