Dinner For Eight

I think 8 people is the ideal number for a dinner party. More than that and it just feels like too much, for me anyway! Tonight we had my brothers and their wives and my cousin and his wife over for dinner and it was just perfect.

When you have eight you usually have just enough of everything. Everyone fits comfortably at the table and everyone has elbow room. You don't have to go scrounging around for extra dishes, napkins, stemware, chairs, etc. and you don't have to cook for an army.

Beth, my cousin Bob's wife

Jim, Gary, Marilyn and Beth

The whole group but the photographer!
Emily, Bob, Steve, Jim, Gary, Marilyn, Beth!

You get to talk to everyone and it is fun to have one big conversation for the whole table or little ones between just a few people simultaneously works too. The clean up is easier (especially when Emily comes over..honestly the woman is the cleaning tornado! If she and Jim are together in the kitchen they are like a cat 5 Hurricane..forget the tornado! I just love having dinner for 8!

If you want to give a little gift or favor it doesn't break the bank if there are 8! It's great! We gave them each one of these beautiful glass ornaments of a fall leaf to take home so they can remember the year we didn't get together for Christmas we still got together. We do it because we love each other and getting together is important! Bob's mom and our mom were sisters. He and his brother Billy, are our only cousins we ever lived close to growing up. Bob is more like a big brother to us than a cousin. Since this is the anniversary of our mom's death 6 years ago, it meant a lot to be with each of them today.

Gary and Steve

Jim and Bobby

Sometimes it is fun to have a larger group but, I think we should have more dinner parties more often and keep it to 8 people. It is manageable and fun and this particular set of 8 was really really great! Love you guys, thanks for coming!