"Sweet" Reunion

I don't know if I have spoken of my Mom's side of the family on here. My Mom comes from a family of sixteen. We were all very close growing up. We were always getting together for holidays and such. I have the fondest memories as a kid with my Mom's family. One thing that made getting together so fun, was that everyone in my Mom's family is a lot of fun! They are full of energy, have great senses of humor, are "real", and are very kind. They all have these wonderful attributes. I attribute them to my Grandmother. She is one of the most amazing ladies I have every known. One time her neighbor slapped her across the cheek, and she turned her other cheek for her to slap the other one, rather than striking back with her actions or words. She was a great example to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I am grateful for those attributes she passed to my Mom, making her so wonderful and therefore being a great example to me.

With that said, it is always a delight to spend time with my Aunts and Uncles. There are a few Aunts that I am particularly close too, because the lived in California and I grew up with them when I was little. That is my Mom's twin sisters. They are so full of life and have the light of Christ shining from them so radiantly it's infectious. One of those twin sisters, Aunt Laura, has always been so encouraging and complimentary of Ben and I. She always tells us how proud she is of us and our little family, and how proud she is of how we handle ourselves. She is always so positive. It's been a long time since we have seen her and her husband. The last time we saw them, they stopped by in North Carolina, when I was barely pregnant with Aubrie. They took us out to dinner, and came and visited our new home.

They were supposed to visit us last year, when they were planning a cross country RV trip. A week before they left, her husband and son got in an airplane crash (they are pilots), and her husband almost died. Her faith and strength through the whole ordeal was amazing. The doctors were amazed at his recovery. A year later they started the trip they had planned before the accident. That put them here the Tuesday before our trip to Hawaii.

They wanted to surprise my Mom, so I told my Mom I wanted to take her to lunch before I left for Hawaii. When we got to Mimi's I could see them in the bar area hiding behind menus. LOL As we were walking to our table, my Aunt grabbed my Mom from behind and scared/surprised her. My Mom was happily surprised. We had a great lunch catching up. They went absolutely crazy for Sophia, and as usual they kept saying how I hadn't changed, except for the better! After lunch I took Sophia home for a nap, and they went out for the day. They dropped by later that evening, after the kids activities. The kids absolutely LOVED her! They said, "Can we have her for a Grandma, too!" They kept saying how energetic and fun she was. They are right. She LOVED the kids, and had so much fun with them. She kept telling them what great kids they were.

She wanted the tour of the house and Boston volunteered. Boston was cracking us up as he was giving her the most detailed tour I have every seen, down to the bathroom cabinets that hold the toilet paper and food in the pantry. Boston said the next day how much fun he had showing her the house! ha ha After the tour, we put the kids to bed, and sat out by the pool and enjoyed the sound of the waterfall and the cool air, as we caught up some more. We then got a tour of their RV and said our goodbyes. It was hard to say goodbye to them. They are such amazing people. I wish that we all lived in the same area so my kids could experience the fun family times I had as a kid, and also so I could see them more!:)