Just between my dad and his wife Deb (who both also happen to be two of my best friends), and my mom (another one of my best friends) and her husband George, and all of us kids, there are now 18 of us. 13 on mom's side, and 12 of us on Dad's side. (7 of us are shared between the two!) We are all very close and don't even use the term "step" parents or sibling because of how negative it sounds. So I have a VERY large family... which only adds to the excitement that the holidays bring!
I get REALLY excited to go visit my family down in Texas. Last year was the first year that I didn't get to spend with my family on Christmas day. It KILLED me! So needless to say, I've been counting down the days until December 25 of this year for a long time! IT'S THEIR TURN TO HAVE ME AT CHRISTMAS! I'm SOOOOOO excited! We leave Illinois the 23rd after I sing at a candlelight service, will drive through the night and get there just in time to begin our deeply cherished family traditions.
I don't know about your family, but mine tends to be a little on the crazy side. And I mean the good kind of "crazy" ...for the most part. =) We tend to have spontaneous dance parties in the middle of random parking lots. (see picture below) A few practical jokes have been played here and there. Tickle and/or pinch wars. We have outtings completely devoted to shopping. There's the spaghetti noodle eating races. Green Tea drinking contests.The girls break out in spontaneous Disney princess songs while the boys look at us like we're nuts for knowing every last word. We make up songs. We make fun of each other. We're a family of pastors and ministers and lovers of God but we still just can't help but to break a few of the rules.... and we usually find it hilarious when we do. Eating out with my mom and sisters usually means loud laughter and lots of stares from people who are annoyed with us. (yeah, we're THAT group of people). Eating our with my dad and his family means a table for 10... well now 11. (I'll explain in another blog.... and NO, I'm not pregnant!) Just having a mom, dad and 7 kids all walk in to a restaurant gets enough stares... needless to say the roaring laughter that comes from our table.
Now we have a precious 7 month old to add to the mix and I can't wait to see the joy that he adds to this holiday season!
We've been through our fair share of storms and trials but when it comes down to it, every last one of my parents, siblings, bonus siblings, and in-laws bring joy to my life. My family can make me laugh like no one else can. I mean they freakin' crack me up. I smile from ear to ear when I go browsing through our ridiculously large database of pictures. These are priceless memories which no one else in the world may care about, but to me they are my life line. They are what get me through my homesick seasons way up here. The saying stays true... you mess with one of us.... you get all of us. (and that's a lot of people, so you better just stay clear.) =)
So, we are 21 days away from all being reunited! TWENTY ONE DAYS!
We are all very passionate people. So when you get us all together there is lots of love and lots of laughs.
I can't wait to spend this Christmas with them!
