My family ROCKS

My sisters and I had the rare opportunity to visit our parents at the same time…that hardly ever happens.  But my mother, who is an amazing and highly-decorated theatre teacher, had tickets to opening night of her latest production so my sisters and all of our children showed up to support her.  (I’m hoping the locals have recovered from our invasion by now.)

Look at these women (excluding the blonde chick on the left.)  My mother is in red, (I have to point her out because she looks like she’s 40).  My little sister, Gina, is in the cream jacket and my baby sister, Krista, is in the black shirt.  Do you see the pressure I live with surrounded by these beautiful people?  And I’m the oldest, to boot.  Dang it all.

Amazingly, these women are not only beautiful, they are also exceptionally smart and talented.  But I think the best part about us all is that we have each other’s backs no. matter. what.  There’s no girl drama with us, we love hard and we love unconditionally and there are few places we’d rather be than together.

And oh, our babies.  We love us some babies.

We’re missing my Sutton who’s 21 and at college, but the rest are:

Reagan (15), Keaton (13), Bailey (13), Hayden (9), Ashlyn (11), Cade (8), Landon (6), Dayden (4), and Peyton (3).

I could eat ‘em up, I tell you, eat ‘em ALL up.

These four boy cousins are seriously outnumbered so they make it a point to hang together.  Even in the theatre.

But that was fine because all us girls took up several rows ourselves.With some goofy girls on the end. Of course fren-emies, Peyton and Dayden, had to gush a little.  (We were just happy they were getting along!)

We even got to see our dad, aka Poppie, who wasn’t told his picture was being taken,

  and our brother Ryan, who knew all too well.

Two of the most handsome men you’ll ever meet, both with hearts of gold.

Weekends like this one are like a shot of adrenaline to me, they help me make it through the weeks/months ahead until we’re together again.  I realize that sometimes I need home and I need to be with my “first” family; people who I don’t have to be anything but me with. 

Because these people, the ones that know me warts and all, they’ve been there through the muck and the mire of my life.  They took my calls, they showed up every time, they lifted my burdens and they carried my dead weight when I couldn’t move an inch more.  They were there in spite of it all.

And I’ll love them forever and ever.

Amen.