Well, I have not been very good on the blog this month. From Thanksgiving and the death of Ben's mom, it has been a whirlwind of visitors and family. We had a quiet (?) Christmas, hosting Laura, Robert and their twin 3 yr. olds, and their 5 yr. old for dinner. Laura is the new Hospice and Palliative Care physician for Wellmont, and Ben is totally retired. I cooked food from the 26th to the 31st in preparation for the arrival of all the Cowan clans.
On December 31st, Blair and Reid arrived after driving from Colorado together with Nash, the chocolate lab, in the back seat! They had a layover day in Nashville and swapped cars with the Cowans in Nashville, getting their big van and bringing the four cousins to Bristol. Graham, Sherri, and Morgan also arrived the 31st. This was the first year in over 10 that Hans and Mary were both on call in Nashville and could not come up. The kids would have none of it, so the pickup-carswap plan was hatched! Mary sent a complete dinner with them so I did not have to cook for the whole crowd. Thanks, Mary, that was such a treat!! We loved it.
Aggie arrived late on the night of the first with her two boys and we had our big New Year's Day dinner on the night of the 2nd after Mary arrived from Nashville in Reid's Subaru. Everyone enjoyed the usual puzzle, only this year it was a very hard 2000 piece one with lots of SKY!! Graham brought some movies which the kids enjoyed and we all went for a hike to the spillway.
On Sunday afternoon, the long awaited piano moving took place with Graham, Blair, Reid, and Nicholas putting it in Ben's truck, all of them padding it and tying it down and then driving it to Knoxville. We got to keep Morgan in Bristol, though! Later, Mary left with her kids, and Sherri drove her car back to Knoxville. They unloaded the piano in Knoxville with more help from Sherri's cousin and Blair, Reid, and Nicholas came back in the truck after pizza and a movie!
My boys really enjoyed Morgan and really had a chance to get to know her. After all, it was a full year ago that they saw her, as a one year old. Now she is a potty-trained, talking, walking, and delightful two year old!
It was a delightful, if crazy weekend, but we all enjoyed each other and everyone had a blast. Each year, I get so nervous about having such a big crowd here, but each year it gets easier. The kids all help, Morgan is older, and Ben was here 24/7 and willing to do anything and everything to help me.
