Our family from Albuquerque is in town for a nice visit. We always have a great time when we see them.

This is Ashley. See how happy she is? Must be the beautiful dry and clear weather we've been having that is so much like the sapphire skies and dry air of her home.

Here we have my sisters. I'm not sure why I took a picture of them. They're not visiting from Albuquerque. I see them all the time. Oh yeah, I remember. Teresa (in green) loves having her picture taken. So being the nice person I am I had to oblige. See her expression? It's the tail end of a great big smile. She loves me and my angelic children.

That's my mom and her sister, Mary. I thought I'd liven things up with some history trivia questions. What a party animal I am. They loved that and told me it was just what they wanted to do tonight. See how out of control we can get? Mom is correcting A. Mary about St. Francis of Assisi and Mary is reminding mom that she is perfectly able to rip mom's doll's heads off if she doesn't shut up. It got a little ugly. (oh wait, that was their childhood...sorry)

Here's Alec. He's really smart and set us all straight about King Arthur's Quest for the Holy Grail. (we thought it might be the quest for the holy hand grenade)

And this serious bloke is my brother. (why didn't I take more pictures of the people I don't get to see all the time?) He never looks like this. He's quite animated all the time. We just came back from seeing Harry Potter and I think he's a little upset about Dumbledore's fate.

I regret putting this one here. Dad is not vomiting, he is trying desperately to eat off of the quality china I provided. (being the gracious hostess I am)

Hey, he's having fun! Hi there nephew Evan!

I have no photos of U. Jay, Pattie, or Dustin. (or the locals who were also there: Andrew and Collin) Fear not. Your time will come.

Despite my sarcasm, I really did enjoy having lots of family in the house. (especially since I wasn't home half the night anyway. Thanks for b-sitting so I could go to the movies!)

After everyone left, I realized how quiet my family is and how much I don't mind house-full-of-people-noise when compared to my-3-kids-noise which is almost totally drowned out when they are outnumbered.

Thanks to my superb hostessing abilities, I'm sure to expect everyone back tomorrow night. (so, I can go out again, right? No? Thought I'd try.)