Was it really a week?

Took off for Gatlinburg last Thursday with my mom and dad and brother and aunt and uncle and hubby and boys. Ten in a rental van could get long (try sitting on the edge of the seat during your whole time in the van) but it was great. Rich and I got the great idea to give the elders (I didn't say "elderly") to the mountains for their Christmas present. They've been planning--and I think cooking--ever since. The trip through the mountains (the loves of my life) and to Gatlinburg proper (a place that I don't really relish) was wonderful. Mom and Dad got to count about 150 deer (we think) in the early-morning Cades Cove and my aunt and uncle got to go to the aquarium while Brian and I tagged along. Ten of us in a cabin was even more fun than ten of us in a van. We got to sit and talk and just be through the evenings for the weekend. We've never gotten to do that. Ever. The only thing I missed was my uncle and my grandparents--and my uncle moreso since he's the only one of the three who most likely could have made it. He should have turned 77, I guess, or maybe 78, last month. The weekend was so wonderful that Mom cried when we got back home and I think my stoic aunt and uncle did, too. Dad probably did, too, but I'll never know.

So off to plan for next time. My aunt would go to China in a heartbeat, but the rest of the folks...

This whole adoption thing is going well considering we're having some problems with the adoption agency. Funny how, when you tell someone who wants your business (read "money") that you're going with another agency because they won't work with your social worker, they become more than efficient and ultra-cooperative. I wanted greed to stay out of this--much like I wanted it to stay out of the births of our 3 biological sons--but alas. Money makes the world go 'round and the adoption agencies communicate, apparently.

Brett has a girlfriend, speaking of sons. I picked her out the first time I saw her, so you know this is dead in the water before it even begins. She is a doll--pretty and sweet and...

And Bart is my poor, stupid baby for not going out with Michelle C., but that's another story.