My Guy Meets His Future Family

I come from a ridiculously big family- my dad has about a million cousins, and my mother has five siblings (in addition to a handful of step siblings).  In the course of the last three years, I've given My Guy a free pass from family events- knowing how outrageous and overwhelming my family can be at times.  While he's been expected at holiday dinners, I haven't forced the issue with birthdays, graduation parties, or reunions; until this past weekend.  When I'm with my extended family I tend to get caught up in the excitement of seeing everyone and never want to leave.  I did warn him before hand, and encourage him to take a trip to the package store before he meets his future family. 
My father's cousins were having a family party, and I'd been looking forward to it for the last month; reminding My Guy about it a regular basis.  As wonderful as he is, he refuses to own a calendar, and if it's not work related, he won't add it to the planner in his phone; leaving me responsible for managing our social calendar.  So it was no surprise when Wednesday he texted me "Do we have plans for this weekend?"  Good grief.
So we get to the party and I couldn't be more excited to be reunited with my family.  After working for years in the restaurant industry, weekends didn't exist, so I sacrificed these types of parties.  Introducing My Guy to my family, and watching him interact with all the cousins, I felt so elated.  Listening to him talk about his previous life as a football coach, sharing his experiences in Oregon (how do you pronounce that state just south of Washington?), how passionate he is about his work and saying goodbye to everyone, and shaking hands or offering a hug made me wonder why I had waited so long.  I love my family to no end, and I love him just as much.  Since I love all of them, it should be only natural that they mesh as well as they did.  It was actually me, who after 8 hours said "We really should get home to let the dog out," and about an hour later we were saying our goodbyes. Despite the weather, it was a perfect day, and I can't wait for the next party!