Family

"Being part of a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life. No matter what."

This is the quote (anonymous? can't find source) I chose for a print for my parents. During the fall my family took the opportunity of being together on a beautiful day, to snap some loooong overdue pictures. The last family shot was from way back, when I worked at Sears Portrait Studio. Hadassah sees that picture and asks me which of her cousins are which, since they're so little. Maddy isn't even around yet! Nor Tim.

Due for pictures? Uh...yeah.

Care to take a little peek at the shots? Mostly done with a self-timer, and fiddled with in photoshop afterward, here is my family:

I am so blessed to be living in the same city as my parents again. It's great to see them so much more than I used to! Plus, Hadassah sure loves her sleepovers.

As for the rest of the group, I was blessed with an older sister, Tracy, who married William and they had four pretty decent kids. (ha! kidding - you're wonderful). My sister is 12 years older than me and it's always kinda fun telling people that. "Really?! Wow, that's a lot of years!!" It is. Here's the story as per how I remember it. My parents tried for 11 years to have another baby, decided it must not be in God's plan, gave away all their baby things and then discovered that, whatdoyaknow, they were expecting. I remind them once in awhile that it was a pleasant surprise. ;)

And that's the story of how my sister got a real live doll.

So anyway...we first took advantage of some fall color and then headed downtown under the Fourth St. bridge where I took a liking to the painted-over-graffiti walls, green "roof" and pigeons.

 

There you have it. Us.

It is a blessing to love. And be loved. Thank you, Lord, for family.