My sister and her husband are living in Arizona and they came to the midwest for a wedding and graduation this summer, and packed all kinds of visits in, too. They came up to Traverse City on a Monday for one night to my daughter's house. I had to work, but I came after work. I was lucky that my daughter watched A. for me that day, so all I had to do was show up for dinner. Afterward we met A's Daddy at the local ice cream shop, but they were packed and hosting a benefit. So we went into TC and found a cute little ice cream shop where we all had a great family visit and some good ice cream treats.
We went to the fair again with A's step-siblings. They got to go on the rides and had a great time.
Here are a couple of random shots of A. with Baby Kimmie.
Too Cute!
And too silly!
And finally my visit to Indiana to see family. It was Western Days Festival in August. I knew several of my siblings were going to be there, so A. & I packed up for a whirlwind weekend with family. Turns out I was able to see my 4 brothers and 2 sisters, 10 nieces and nephews, some spouses in there and there were 9 great nieces & nephews.
This is the youngest group--the oldest is a teenager and the youngest just turned one this summer.
This pic is a little off-center, but these are the cousins who were there, missing 2 girls who came later.
These are my siblings with 2 spouses. We are arranged in birth order starting on the left.
And here is the bunch of us who made it to Indiana for the weekend. Emily and Lindsey had to work, so they came later, but missed the pictures. My oldest brother came from Michigan City with his daughter and 3 grandsons. My youngest brother came from PA with his 2 daughters. My middle sister came from AZ, and her 2 daughters who live in Chicago were there. My FL brother came with his wife as part of a 3-week summer trip out East. His 2 boys were here, one with his girlfriend and their small daughter. We gathered at my sister's house with her husband and daughter. My younger brother, who I stayed with, lives close by and brought his 2 granddaughters. His oldest daughter came later. My oldest daughter combined a trip to Chicago with this visit and was there with her husband and 3 boys.
A few random photos:
A. can't stay away from little ones.
Sisters!
My sister got to be good friends with little Ella.
This is a good friend from high school who is also close to the family. He was up north for a tennis tournament (he's a tennis ref). He surprised us and stopped on his way back to Alabama.
Then my brother and I took the kids to the Festival to ride the rides.
It was HOT!
I tried to take a few random pictures of the family when we were sitting around, but they weren't flattering, so I'll just add the one that was. Emily finally made it and A. was happy to see her.
It was so good to see so many family members together. This was a fast and furious visit for all of us. I told everyone that I felt like I was at something like one of those speed dating things where you only get 2 minutes to talk to someone and then buzz, you have to move on. But I was able to speak to and hug everyone, so it was well worth the effort!
We stayed at my brother's, and his granddaughters were there, too. The girls played well together and really didn't want to leave each other.
It's been so much fun spending time with family. As you can see, I spend most of my time with family. They are so very important to me, and I cherish each and every one.
No comments:
Post a Comment