Family

Poor Cole wiped out yesterday. Even after some stitches and some major road rash, he's back on his bicycle and doing well. I think we were more worried about his riding a bike so soon than he was! While he rode his bike, I rode the Kubota and kept a close watch on him.


Kenley is teething now and spends a lot of time inside. She loves the water, but we don't want her to be burnt! She is really into "going for walks" around the house, which is what Miss Ashley spent a lot of time doing today.


We always take a picture like this every year. I haven't changed much, but Shelby and Brandon are definitely growing up!

This picture just puts me at ease. There is something about the front porch on the farm that brings all of us together. Mar just happened to be standing outside, so she struck a pose for us. We were on our little adventure and remembered all the conversations held there...good and bad!

This is the Kubota. We love driving it around from house to house, and it's perfect for driving in areas that are safe from traffic, not to mention a great place to toss a bike when the little ones get tired. This one is a "eco-friendly" one, but it still has the power and comfort of the other ones. Please ignore the dirt...someone got stuck in the stream and was saved by the four wheel drive.


Now, on to the blog...

Today was such a joy. After work today I got to spend my afternoon with my family. Most of you know that there are a lot of us that live within two miles of each other, so when you add in 95 degree weather, a pool, and a few of us, a good time is inevitable. I initially wanted to stay inside and nap, but my sister was adamant about getting outside and enjoying the heat. I figured that I spent a lot of time with my family yesterday between the bonfire and a cookout, but I gave it a try. Plus, I was a little worried that my cousin Cole would be begging me to bring "Mr. Phil" over for a round of baseball on the hottest day of the year. Needless to say, I am SO glad I listened to her. I haven't had the energy to do much more than a half day's work lately, so I figured I wouldn't be able to keep up with my family. I come from a family of power shoppers, BlackBerry lovers, and girls that can be ready to walk out the door in ten minutes if it calls for it (which was very obvious while Cole was getting stitches yesterday!) We ended up spending 10 hours together! We covered a little bit of everything from rescuing a kitten, giving swim lessons, taking a long walk/bike ride/drive, swimming, and even driving around with the top down at 9 at night. Definitely a day to remember.

It wasn't as much as what we did but what was unsaid that made my day. In our society, my family is highly atypical. We still get together multiple times a week for unplanned reasons and do it willingly. Sometimes we get together to watch TV, whereas other times we are hosting 150 for Easter. It is such a blessing to have a family that still values spending this much time together and helping each other as much as we can. I've always heard that it takes a village to raise a child, and it is pretty self-evident that we are the definition of how that works. We took a lot of pictures today, and almost all of them make me smile. For at least one day, I forgot how sick I feel and remembered that teething babies are the cutest, even when they have drool everywhere. I also learned that regardless of what my family goes through, we always stick together. This will never change.