Monday, December 24, 2012

Family

There's something about having a houseful of people, all who are related one way or another.

Tom's sons made their way to our house today and they brought with them two wives and five kids. The capacity of our home increased by nine. It was awesome.

The kids, who are all five and under, had so much fun with Alyssa and Olivia. They ran from one end of the house to the other.

We kept up our tradition of having pizza on Christmas Eve, a tradition begun ten years ago when Tom and I first celebrated Christmas together, back when Jeremy was 18, Jessica was 15 and Dustin was 14. It's amazing how they've all grown and matured and built families of their own.

It was great to watch J and D with their kids as well as each other's kids. They were also great with A and O.

Olivia, especially, was excited about the visit. She woke up this morning and declared, "I'm going to show my brothers the tap shoes my gram gave me."

It warmed my heart to hear her call J and D her brothers. Obviously, the girls aren't growing up with their brothers, but family is family and I want them all to understand how important it is to remember that.

We're all connected and it's an amazing thing.

And even more amazing? Olivia didn't show much jealousy at all when I held four month old Noah or nine month old Isaac. She's growing up and maturing and I know how lucky I am to say that.

I think this trip was the greatest gift the boys (I know, men) could have given their dad. He was in heaven as he took in a houseful of his kids and grandkids.

The only one missing was Jessica, who is recovering and getting better every single day. We missed her even as we celebrated those who could be here.

Ahhh, family.

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