Mother's Day Extravaganza of Yumminess and Excess Desserts

Another Mother's Day, another Sunday spent with some of my favorite people on the planet: my folks, my in-laws, LT and the kidlet. LT and I introduced our parents to each other on Mother's Day 2004. Since then, the Extravaganza of Yumminess and Excess Desserts has become our annual tradition. My folks and LT's folks come to our house for dinner (which I usually start planning in March and begin cooking several days in advance), we eat, drink non-alcoholic, artificially-sweetened beverages, and then eat some more. In the past, the day has also included a "what's LT been up to in the garden" tour, but this year she's off to a slow start, yard-wise, so we just played outside with the kidlet. The menu this year was a lot less fancy and labor-intensive than usual, but still mightily delicious. The highlights: carmelized onion dip, sundried tomato dip/spread, seafood chowder, salad, bread, Suzy-Q cupcakes, and fruit. (leave me a comment if you'd like a recipe for anything) Since my Pops has been doing such a great job with his new diet and exercise routine, and one of LT's Mums doesn't eat anything with sugar in it, I only did one dessert this year.

This is among one of my favorite events of the year. I love to see my parents and my in-laws enjoying each others' company, and I am so very grateful that they all genuinely love each other. We truly have become a big family over the years that LT and I have been together, and that has made everything in our lives so much better.

Kidlet benefits most from this situation, of course. She gets to spend time with all her grandfolks at once, which is something that LT and I never had. Kidlet has known and been able to clearly say the names of all her grandparents since she was 11 months old. LT and I are still collectively "Mama", but all her grandparents have their own distinctive names. She's also been able to string together "Uncle" and my brother's name for several months now, despite only getting to see him once a month or so. When we mention Uncle T, kidlet automatically says "Astro?", because my brother and his dog are very much a unit. She's a smart one, that kidlet.

So, to all of you Moms and Grandmoms, a belated, but very happy Mother's Day. I hope you are all as blessed with a loving family as I am.