Come, Ye Thankful People, Come.

And they did... in droves. Following is the story of a large and loving family spending the weekend in Gilbert, AZ for Merrick's baby blessing and Thanksgiving. Ed and Gil Torriente brought company along for the ride. To the tune of 17 people total. All of whom made residence at my 1700 sq. ft. house. Add 2 obnoxious dogs (yip yap and worthless as I renamed them) and Eddy, Merrick and I, and you've got a total of 77.27 sq. ft. per person. That's not a whole lot. And it's certainly not for the faint at heart. And hardly reccomended for a first time mother of a 7 week old baby. Hardly. Good thing we love each other. Here is an accurate view of my living room. I had to get up and take this before everyone was awake, or no one would believe the carnage and blood shed that was strewn about my house for the weekend.

Here is the lovely (and as we found out moments before they left) and newly pregnant! Tina Torriente-Robey, helping me cook birthday breakfast for Lissette.

My usually spotless countertops spent the 4 days looking like this, at best.

And what would the weekend have been without hours of musical entertainment by the Torrientes?

We had the entire Harris family and most of the Torrientes for Thanksgiving dinner. And the church was really the only place large enough to hold us all. Not as elegant nor formal, but delicious food, nonetheless.

Here were the fancy seating arrangements. Really, how else could you accomodate the 18 Harrises and the 17 extra Torrientes?!

Good thing we can all get along well. And good thing the church building was available. We really did have a great time and were so glad that it worked out to have everyone all together. Chaotic as it was.

Here's the breastfeeding crazy lady who housed the madness with her dear husband in chief.

All of the Harris cousins. I'm so glad that I have one to add to the group now! And how wonderful for Merrick that he has so many fun little rascals to look up to.

Pick a patriarch, any patriarch.

What is not to love about seeing my sweet husband with Merrick in our favorite, the Moby Wrap. As you can see, it is one of Merrick's favorite places to hang out. We went hiking up to Usery Pass with the fam so we could get out of the house for the afternoon.

Here's the handsome Torrientes. It had been a rainy weekend, but the sun came out for the day and it was GORGEOUS.

Here we are at the top with Ed and Gil. It was so nice to get out and show them a little of our beautiful state. We were so grateful that everyone was able to make it. We know it was a big sacrifice for them to drive the 12 crowded hours down, missing out on a relaxing weekend. But we hope it was worth it!