Family Values and Scheduled Dinners

     Hi all! I can't believe I haven't posted anything for a couple days. I went to a dinner once ( a couple months ago ) to celebrate my great aunts birthday. I noticed how family oriented her stepsons and stepdaughters were with another. They talked, laughed, conversed, and drank. It was so different to me it seemed almost foreign. I remember thinking to myself what it would be like for my family to be that way. And I longed to have that. 
     Well yesterday was a Saturday and lately I've been feeling the need to connect with my family. So I scheduled ( yup that's right, scheduled ) a family dinner. One of my uncles from Sacramento was coming ( shh....a little secret I'll share because I'm so exited, I'm collecting jewelry stones and the such for a shop I hope to open in fall of 2012. He has great connections to real gem stones which I happen to love.)  I wasn't sure exactly who else to invite so at the last minute I decided to call up my cousin who lives close to me. The grand total of persons were five ( me, my grandma, my cousin, and my two uncles), which I'm darned proud of.
     I woke up early in the morning and started preparations for the night. I set the table really nice with dishes and silverware. I made green beans, salad, homemade dressing, spaghetti and meatballs, bread, sweet potatoes, apple pie and ice cream. ( The only thing is I wish I had taken some pictures so I could show you guys. Next time I definitely will. ) After dinner I let my family know why I had made dinner for them. I told them I thought it would be good for the family to be closer. And that once in a while it is a must to get together at the dinner table. And, hey, if I have to schedule it a couple weeks in advance, them I'm fine with that.  
     So let me ask you guys this.
When it comes to family values and dinner where do you guys stand? How do you get your families together over the table?

And I can't forget to give a little recipe I made for my homemade salad dressing:
so here it goes:

1/2 cup ketchup
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp sugar ( depending on how sweet you want it )
1 pinch of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper


p.s. I like to keep it in a jar and let it marinate in the fridge for a couple hours before serving.
p.p.s. I also like to shake the jar a couple times right before I toss it in the salad.