I am so blessed! I truly have the best family ever and I want to share them with you!
At the head of our family is my dad, Tom.
He is the epitome of a good dad. Everything you can think of that a good dad does, he is. Because my dad grew up with animals (he had a pet fox!), we always had animals around whether it be dogs, stray cats that used to climb the screen porch, hamsters, fish and horses. My dad loves jokes. At Christmas, us kids would usually get one big gift that we could all enjoy. He loved to wrap it or present it in a way that threw us all for a loop. One year we got a four wheeler. He wrapped up the helmet and told us it was for us to use on our trampoline. (Can you imagine kids jumping on trampolines with helmets?) We all knew that didn't make sense and we finally put it together and ran outside to see the four wheeler with a bow on it! On other occasions, I've gotten random messages on my phone. One time he called to let me know that the rapper
Gucci Mane got arrested. (I've never even heard of Gucci Mane.)
Right beside dad is my mom, Cheryl.
Mom extraordiannaire. She was always an active part of our lives. I look back now that I'm an adult and can't believe all the events, practices, camps, games, festivals, shows, that she drove us to...and I never once heard her complain about it. And one thing I can say is that our house was always clean. Always. We were to make our beds every day. No exceptions. Even Christmas morning couldn't happen until our beds were made and our hair was brushed. She also taught me that to properly clean the kitchen counters, you had to bend down and get eye level with the crumbs. Then and only then could you really tell if you had gotten them all.
Second child born into the family (I was the first!) is my sister, Mandi.
We were your typical sisters who had our fair share of fights and arguments. I remember one time after a fight (don't really remember what it was about!) mom made us hug and apologize and then told us that one day we'd appreciate each other. There was lots of eye rollings going on, but oh how right she was. Mandi is my younger sister, but only in age. She got married first, graduated college first, and had the first grandchild. I look up to her so much. And, just like my mom said would happen, we are good friends now. Out of all my friends, she's the one I'd rather hang out with. One of my favorite things is when she gets laughing, she laughs so hard she squeaks and can't get a word out.
Rounding out us kids are my twin brothers, Matt and Clint.
I always thought it was fun being able to say "I have twin brothers". And it was fun growing up with them. We always had enough kids for games and could easily split into teams. At times they drove me crazy and in fact I believe it was Clint who drove me to say my first curse word. (Yes, I still vividly remember it) Matt is the prankster and always has us laughing at his latest venture. There was the time he tried to sell some old tires out in our front yard and just looped a chain through them and placed it around the fire hydrant in our yard. Mind you, the chain wasn't attached to anything...just laid over the hydrant. Or his most recent endeavor...raising goats. Yep, he's got about 15 goats. Clint, on the other hand, is infectious. His charm, smile and deep laugh are contagious to anyone he comes in contact with. He makes me laugh so much!
Those are the people that I grew up with. Our house was never dull. You could always count on an occasional flood in the basement, game of touch football in the yard, slamming of doors, smell of steak dinners on Saturday nights, hustle of trying to get all 6 of us out the door and on time to church, and a host of other things.
And I wouldn't trade it for the world!
Since then, our family has grown.
My sister's husband Pepper and their two kids, Megan and Evan.
My brother Matt, his wife Tera and their 3 kids, Blake, Brooke, and Bo.
Here's some extended family. My aunt Jean and cousins Raechel, Hannah and her fiancee Ryan. Also pictured is my brother Clint's girlfriend, Keri. (Psst...she will probably be more than his girlfriend!)
Then there's my grandparents, Mama-Lou and Ca-Ca. Yes, those are their legal names. No? Don't believe me? Ok, well, since I was the first grandchild, that's what came out and it has stuck for almost 35 years.
So that's where I come from.
My family.
.
.
.
and I love them!
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