Family ties...

Growing up, I pretty much only saw my dad's side of the family twice a year...Thanksgiving and Christmas. Since both my grandparents passed away 5 or 6 years ago, the family has been making a big effort to get together more often. To put it in perpective...here is how my family goes :

Son#1: my uncle who was married for a while and had two kids, and then later divorced and remarried and had two more kids.

Son#2: my dad who married my mom and had me.

I am the youngest in that group of cousins...only child...with two kids of my own. Of the other cousins, who are all married, there are 4 more kids between them (and one on the way). They have a much bigger family than just, well...me. At first it was a little difficult for me just being the way I am, to want to get together with everybody. It's kind of like super easy to make friends as a child, but much more difficult as an adult.

But as an adult, I love these people. I realized that I don't really know much about them (which is sad) and am really enjoying getting to know each one much better. :)

This week was my two of my cousins birthdays as well as my son's, so there was a little shin-dig at another cousin's house to celebrate. I forgot my camera, but was able to snap some funny pics of me and my boys with my phone....

Happy Birthday to my Caleb, who turned the big 8 today!!!!