A new attitude

My mom started talking about a Christmas gathering with her family quite a few months ago. I know we were still sitting by the pool when she mentioned it, so it was late summer! In the past, I have had an attitude problem with family gatherings such as these. But, this time, I approached it with an attitude adjustment. And, what do you know? It made all the difference.
We enjoyed a day visiting with Great Grandma Beatty, and almost EVERY one of her 13 kids' families! Yes, we had to rent a hall to accommodate. And, thank you Mom for securing a non-smoking hall! I heard a few complaints from the smokers (not to mention those who blatantly ignored the rule) , but the rest of us were elated! In the past, it would be hard to visit if you wanted to due to the impenetrable smoke screen established after 10 minutes!
And, I am so excited that my girls will have fun memories of sitting on Santa's lap, playing games, and winning prizes. It was very fun for them.
I saw cousins that I haven't seen in over 10 years! Remember, we're talking about 13 siblings in my Mom's family. So, some of our time was spent conferring with each other about WHO a person was, what their name was, who they belonged to or with....etc. And, I think we may have ended up with one or two unidentified in the end. But, for the most part, it was cool to see everyone (again).