Saturday, June 20

We were up early this morning, so we could get last-minute tasks done around the house, start a couple of beef roasts cooking in the slow cooker, and finish the lemon pudding cake dessert. Family began arriving around 10:30, and by lunch, there were sixteen of us to enjoy the feast. I only had tables set for fifteen, so one family member, Hubbie's son, had to eat at a TV tray table. He didn't seem to mind.

Those who attended included Hubbie's three children...a son and two daughters...two sons-in-law, two young grandchildren, a grown granddaughter and her husband, two great-grandchildren, a sister, and a two-year-old great-niece that the sister brought along.

Appetizers before the meal were choices of jalapeno cream cheese dip with tortilla chips (dip made by Hubbie), a crab and veggie pizza (brought by Daughter), or for the sweet tooths, the orange pecans that I'd made for the Second Friday event at the art gallery.

The meal included the beef, wonderfully seasoned with herbs and spices and cooked with onions and carrots, plus mashed potatoes, gravy, coleslaw, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and Vidalia onions, and loaves of yeast bread. Dessert was the lemon pudding cake, of course, for everybody but me...I had a plain chocolate cupcake and fat-free vanilla ice cream.

After lunch, we retired to the yard to sit in lawn chairs and visit, while the kids played with flying discs and other lawn toys. Some folks left for home around 2 p.m., but Hubbie's daughters stayed around until about 4 p.m.

It was extremely hot and humid today, but pleasant enough under the trees in the yard. Still, Hubbie and I were ready to get back to the air conditioner after everyone left. Around 7 p.m., we had a simple supper...a deli turkey sandwich on yeast bread for Hubbie, and raisin bran cereal with yeast bread and butter for me.

Then we settled in to watch TV...several old episodes of "The Closer."

At the eagle nest, the mother was keeping the baby company. The baby is still practicing flapping his wings, but he tires of it easily and soon snuggles down for a nap.