With Family Like Ours

I was talking to my sister today about friendships.  During the course of the conversation she said something along the lines of ‘people with lots of friends, don’t have a family like ours’. I’m paraphrasing, but the general gist of it is true.  I really belong to a great family, and even though I have plenty of friends and acquaintances outside of my family, I always know that family will come first.  (No offense to the rest of you). 

Most of my family lives right here in the Magic Valley. North, East, South, West. It doesn’t matter which way I drive, I’m bound to run into family one way or another.   My mom and dad are less than 20 minutes away –close enough to call when I need anything at all. Dad recently drove over just to fix my closet door. I repaid him with a pie my sister made for me. Speaking of sisters. . .   my sisters are less than 5 minutes away. I have two little sisters-- built in best friends --  even when we fight we still know who to call when we need something. One sister recently got married and so now I have a brother (in-law).   My aunts, uncles, and cousins also live with in 20 minutes drive in several different directions. We have cousin nights once a month and we rarely miss a birthday party for any extended family members.

Some of these pictures are kind of old, but I still love them! 

 

      

 

   

 Don’t forget the IN-LAWS! I have the best in-laws ever.  My mother and father in law are also about a 20 minute drive away, which is close enough to visit and I need to make a point of doing that way more often.  When I got married I also inherited three brothers and two more sisters! Then Tiara went and got married and that made one more brother. Whew!  It’s fun to be part of a larger family. My favorite times are when we are all out at Mom and Dad Schwab's, crashed on the couch, watching movies or playing board games.  It’s comfortable there, and I like it a lot. The only thing that would make it better is if some of them didn’t live in Albuquerque because it is really far away. On the other hand, I’ve never been to New Mexico and now I have a reason to travel there. Thank goodness for Skype. (Which we’ve been using for about a week now, and I have a feeling that it is going to change my life.)

   

      

 

So, not to make a long and sappy post even longer and sappier but I sure do love my family!