It’s a phrase often tossed around in our home.

“Oh, man, I wish I’d  _____________ a long time ago!”

“Timing’s always perfect!”

“Why was I so late to this game?”

“Timing’s always perfect!”

You get the idea. Just seven weeks back, we were questioning timing and the decision to host our annual whole-fam-damily get-together at our house, the first week in wintry February. I was stirring something on the stove, excitedly preparing for the trickle-in of the rest of our kids (one set had already moved in), when a text came in on my phone: “My flight’s been cancelled.” A second text, “Mine too.”

Nothing makes me happier than when our bedrooms are full, highchairs and a diaper changing station are set up, a deck of cards lay waiting on the windowsill by the kitchen table. There’s a dog on my sofa. Music is playing and my favorite humans are perched on the bar stools in my kitchen. We’re cooking and eating and drinking wine and loving.

As I lay awake last night, my mind scrolling through its new, favorite playlist of Covid-19-related worries, I was overwhelmed with the thought, “What if we’d waited for warmer weather? What if we hadn’t been together in February?” Sure, we lost a day to weather-related flight cancellations, and for multiple reasons, we fell way short on the amount of time when all eleven of us were together. But we did it. We were together as one, big, blended, family. Adi and Lily met each other and it was precious. We had the gift of being together with no gifts to wrap or Christmas ham to bake. We took walks and played cards and ate pizza. They were here and I was happy.

I was most appreciative when the kids all agreed to tidy-up, dress-up, and sit for a photographer. Other than at weddings, we’ve never had a professional photo of our entire group. And while the whole tripod and somebody running to jump into the photo has netted decent results, I have always wanted the real thing. And we got it. Maria, (mariamckenziephotography.com), agreed to come to our home and photograph our crew. It was not a perfect effort, mind you. At the appointed time, we had to wake Adi up from her nap and I mindlessly answered Lily’s request as she tugged on my watch wanting me to take it off so she could play with it. I did not consider that she would be more interested in inspecting the links than grinning for the camera. But, Maria was amazing with the babies and the rest of us did our part to have fun with the whole thing.

Today, I can look at these pictures and be grateful. Grateful for my family and our good health. And mostly, grateful for perfect timing.