So my extended family is a bit hopeless – moderately terrible at getting together, even though many of us live less than an hour apart (or less). I see a reasonable amount of my dad’s brother and his wife, not nearly enough of my cousins, and even less of some other aunties and uncles! So naturally, just before we leave is the perfect time to get in contact with some I’ve not seen for over 15 years! It’s the way it goes, eh? My wonderful cuz Melissa decided she would make the effort and pull the family together, inviting all the family who live relatively locally to a pre-Christmas family get together. She did a great job, getting my dad’s eldest sister and family to join us (the ones I mostly haven’t seen since I was a kid, and even then not much!), as well as the usual ones who see each other more regularly. Sadly, one cousin and his family couldn’t come as they had a sick child, and his dad (who just had a back operation), mum and sister couldn’t make it either – I’m sad about that, but we had a lovely afternoon. Mel and her fiance and mum (my auntie Jacey) did a brilliant job on the lunch, the set up and made sure it all ran smoothly. The food was delicious, the company excellent, and we had a great day. I even bullied them all into a bunch of family photos (which then took me several hours to work through!). Missed absent family (my mum and dad would have liked to be there too) but glad we had those we did.