Only the best. Only the freshest. The finest. The biggest. In fact, should one more guest have shown up for dinner, there would have been no room for the food. So the guest-list was kept to a minimum. I should have felt guilty that our table could have fed an entire African village, but I was too caught up in my excitement. My senses were on overload. 
I was thrilled to secure my spot at the table, and even more thrilled to get my very own, festively-designed name card. It tickled me pink.
I was also happy to meet my two second-cousins for the first time, Mimi and Phil (Phil not shown), fresh in from BYU. It brought me back to my own undergraduate days...the memories flooded back of when living in tiny cell blocks with 40 other girls seemed extremely cool, and making drive-bys on the strip mall and pit stops at Walmart were coveted activities to look forward to (Walmart is still great). Where Denny's, the Malt Shop, and Cafe Rio combined met my nutritional requirements for any given day.
Luckily my train of thought was broken up by the entertainment portion of our celebrations. My cousins introduced me to a great documentary film to ring in the festive holiday spirit. It was about a man named "Pearl" from rural South Carolina. Pearl is a self-taught prodigy in the art of topiary-sculpting. Two hours of watching Pearl carve shapes out of foliage was actually a bit mesmerizing and definitely festive. I love it. Go rent it.
It was great day to hang out, catch up, and live large. No pressures, no pretenses, and no calories. Thanks to my cousins, and my expandable-pants, for a wonderful time.
