Family

family...aren't they great?  so many pieces make up a family....moms, dads, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, in laws of all the kinds and of course, the wonderful nieces and nephews.  it's nice to see family across the room and know that they are a part of you, a part of who you are as a family.  it's nice.  it's nice to be safe and be together and not worry about what to say or how to say it.  silence is okay and conversation is okay too.  we had a really nice day with family.  We went to church with our church family, and had lunch and great time with our related family.  great food (my stomach didn't even want to think about dinner) and it was great to be with family.  Ethan, Quinten and cousin Bradlee even played outside today--well, okay Ethan corrected me three times...they were not playing, they were digging.  That allowed us to talk and have conversation inside with whole sentences.  (& i made a twinkie cake from Paula Deen and it even turned out!) Overall, just a good day. 

i know not all families are like this and our family isn't like this all the time.  i grew up with 5 sisters and one brother, conversations were not always in a normal tone.  i remember when Tammy jumped on Jill's back because she was mad over clothes, that was funny.  Maybe it was Jill jumping on Tammy's back, i can't remember now, but the observers enjoyed the show.  i think that Kim used to say, "get the popcorn" when Tammy and Jill would go at it.  Doesn't it just make you smile?  I am...my family is always there...this summer my 3 sisters (Kim, Jill, Karen) and my parents came out to help us paint our house.  Dan is still amazed at how my sisters got to work and would have plowed him over if he was standing still!  My sisters and i and Dan and Dad and Mom started painting at 8am...painting and talking and painting and talking.  We had our whole house painted in 3 hours. The power of gabby sisters cannot be underestimated.  We laughed, told stories, some that i had never heard, and painted.  i cherish that support and memory because it was with my family and we didn't even ask for help--they just came.  And the next day after we painted the second coat on the house, Jill and Karen came with me to take the boys swimming at the local pool.  Karen and Jill kept commenting on how this pool reminded them of going to Grandma Budge's house in Burley in the summer and swimming in the local pool--looked just like it and it does.  Then the conversation continued about our memories of driving the 12 hours to Grandma's house. 

Everything we do bring up some memories of family...like the Kevin Bacon link.  You can link everything back to family.    I am thankful for my strong family link--from Idaho to Oregon to Utah to Arizona and all the way to heaven....