More families. . .

Two of my younger sisters, plus my BIL, niece and nephew came down on Sunday for a cook out. We all had a great time although I forgot to take photos until everyone was ready to leave. It has been an unusually hot summer and Sunday was no exception. I think it was in the 90's, however we did have a burst of rain in the afternoon. Once it stopped we had heat and humitity - not the nicest weather but still better than a blizzard. LOL

The tall blonde, Zoey, is standing between her dad, Jeff and mom, Carol. I happen to know that Zoey has many, many pants with no holes. I'm learning that this look is in style and that I am not.

My nephew Joey spent a lot of the day drawing a cartoon based on Avatar (he's actually pretty good) and as you can see, drawfs his mom Cathy. (Of course at 5 feet, it's not all that hard to dwarf her. LOL)

Anyway, it was a fun day and nice to catch up with everyone.

Families. . .

My husband's three sisters & their spouses, as well as one of his brothers came down over the weekend for a visit. What a pleasant day we had.

As much as we love living in Columbus (and we do love it), we are a couple of hours away from our closest siblings. Sure, we can call, and for those who use computers we can email. Still, it's not the same as visiting face to face. The reality is that those who live close to one another don't necessarily visit back and forth all that much either. Proximity seems to imply that a quick visit is possible so it can wait until later. We all think there will be plenty of time to visit. . . . . . tomorrow. Well, "tomorrow" came and it was a good day.

It was an enjoyable day (except Oscar, our hairless Chinese Crested, was a bit grouchy.) Fortunately, family members were kind enough to tolerate his cantankerousness, and everyone seemed to enjoy a lazy, kicked back visit. We did the usual. . . ate, talked, caught up, laughed, looked at photos and said "we should do this more often."

Who remembers us as youngsters better than our brothers and sisters? Who knew us as a young bride or groom and watched us grow into decent young adults, respectable parents, empty nesters and yes - senior citizens? Who else knows the best and the worst about us and still loves us? Who else understands not only our strengths but also our weaknesses and still accepts us with open arms?

After everyone left to go home, we reflected on the day. Although we don't see everyone as much as we would like, we were reminded how lucky we are to be part of this family.