Family Dinner Party

My parents have a wonderful tradition of taking all of their children and spouses out to dinner during the Christmas season. It's always so much fun to get together minus the little children and enjoy a relaxing meal together.

The past two years we've eaten at Bucca di Bepo because we love the round table where you can hear everyone when they talk. In fact, because of the domed ceiling it sounds like the person across from you is speaking into a microphone when they say something.

It can be a little unsettling to have the Pope's head sitting in the middle of the table, but as you can see my dad doesn't let that bother him. The other nice thing about eating here is that each couple chooses a dish and then we share it so we all get to sample a little bit of everything. I love the Eggplant Parmesan here, so that's what I always order.

Here's the whole crew, minus Jeff and Rachel. We missed them a lot this year since now they're living in Wichita, Kansas and it's a bit of a drive. Plus Rachel is expecting twin boys next month so she can't really travel anyway. Maybe next year we should have the dinner in Wichita.

It was Matt's birthday the week before so he got to end the evening with a birthday dessert.

Thanks Dad and Mom for a fun evening out together. And another thank you to Brian's mom and dad who graciously watched our boys so that we could attend.