[Here's some lineage for those of you who might wonder at the similar names in upcoming sentences: our daughter is Suzanna; her mom is my wife, Susan; her mom was Suzanne, or "Sue"; her mom (Susan's grandma) was Susan; her mom (Susan's great-grandma) was Susanna; and her mom (Susan's great-great-grandma) was Susan. Got it?]
When I first started dating Susan--and through the majority of our marriage--I got to participate in weekly Morey get-togethers at Susan's grandma's house. Grandma Susan's kids and grandkids would gather at her house every Sunday morning after church, and the women would start making a huge breakfast that we liked to call "heart attack on a plate": bacon, sausage, fried eggs, toast, and pancakes. I was amazed at how smoothly it always went considering how casual it was; whoever happened to get there first started to make one food item, and subequent arrivals looked around to see what still needed to be made and then started making it. Eating was in shifts: grandkids first followed by adults, most of whom sat around the table in Grandma Susan's small kitchen, squished but content. As food ran out, Sue or one of her sisters noticed and got up to make another batch of that item. No one left Grandma Susan's house hungry on a Sunday.
Years later Sue passed away followed some time later by Grandma Susan, and the adult children sold Grandma's house--and with it went the central Sunday morning meeting place. There have been subsequent Sunday get-togethers at Susan's aunts' homes, and everybody still enjoys those occasional heart attacks on a plate (which are still made with the same casual, unplanned look-around-to-see-what-needs-to-be-made-and-then-make-it approach to cooking); but the weekly gathering happens no more, and we miss getting together with the Moreys as often as we used to.
Monday night was a little bit like a return to past form. Well, not all the women were in the kitchen together cooking, but they all contributed dishes to the food that Susan laid out for the meal--and just having everyone together made it feel like old times. We stocked coolers on the veranda with beer and soda, and I took my station at the grill to make hot dogs and burgers (some of them uncharacteristically pink--sorry about that!). Susan laid out the fixin's: lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, ketchup, and mustard. She made a huge bowl of potato salad and a crockpot of baked beans. She made a batch of hummus, which she served with pita chips, and she laid out fresh veggies alongside her chocolate chip/toffee bit oatmeal cookies (for balance). Once we added the other food that arrived (crab pasta salad from Kathy, Jell-O salad from Mary, Rice Krispie bars from Laura, a variety of chips from Trista, and homemade granola bars from Audrey), the kitchen counters--and our plates--were overflowing.
Not all the Morey clan were here, of course, but still we had quite a houseful of Grandma Susan's offspring:
- Sue's widower Roger and all their children: daughter Susan, me, and our children Suzanna, Abigail, and Hillary; son Jerrett; and daughter Cassie
- Kathy and her husband Pat, their daughter Tina, their daughter-in-law Trista, and Trista and Todd's son Trae
- Terry and his wife Audrey
- Mary and her husband Dale, their daughter Laura, and Laura and Brian's sons Caden and Jordan
Some relatives hadn't seen our house since we did our post-move-in redecorating (remember this and this?), so they got tours of our home. Meanwhile our daughters appointed themselves babysitters of Trae and Caden, and the womenfolk passed around Jordan all night long, so the kids were all in good hands. The kids ate at the table in the family room, the women ate in the dining room, and the men ate out on the veranda. When the sun went down and it got too cool out there, they came inside and joined the ladies. Our kitchen and dining room and living room are all open to one another, so it was easy for people to spread out but still stay within visiting distance. It was a great night of food, visiting, and just general family bonding time.
Last night Roger and Jerrett came over again to join us for supper. Susan ordered brisket, pork, chicken, jambalaya, and corn bread from JD's Barbecue, a terrific local restaurant, and I picked it up on my way home from work. Leftovers from the night before rounded out the meal. We said our goodbyes to Cassie this morning, and she returned to Fargo today. Before she left town, she made a stop at the girls' elementary school to visit Abigail's teacher, Mrs. Bauer, who happened to be Cassie's grade school teacher, too! Cute!
So, it's just Mobergs in this house again, but we surely enjoyed having extended family here the past few days.
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