faces I love

Rich was gone for the last week (SEVEN days), at camp with the children.  The first few days were depressing, but I have found that if I only keep busy the time will fly and we will make special memories, even if we are missing four family members.  All in all, David, Caleb, Seth, and Sarah, and I really did have a fun week. 

 

On Wednesday night, my sister and her husband came over, my brother and his wife came, too, along with the little cousins.  We had a pizza dinner and roasted marshmallows outside in the fire pit.  It was a gorgeous night, cool and lovely, the air smelling fresh like grass and trees.

 

"The best and most beautiful things

in the world

cannot be seen or even touched,

but must be felt in the heart."

Helen Keller

 

 

 

Shanda, Amanda, and Melissa

I've been working on updating photo albums and we looked at pictures and sighed over how fast time is flying by.

My brother, Nathan

Uncle Jason and Dave went in the woods and collected dry wood for the fire and got a good one started for us.  The marshmallows were a big hit, even three year old Sarah roasted her own.

my son enjoying his 20th marshmallow, or maybe just his fourth?

Amanda being silly

Jason and Amanda

Nate and Melissa

Right after I took this picture, Sarah's marshmallow shot out of her mouth!

~trying to roast the perfectly golden marshmallow~

Uncle Nathan, and Davy

the little cousins on the dock

Nate and Melissa with their children

with Seth, Sarah, Caleb, and Dave, my treasures and pals this week.  We survived a broken window, the freezer being left open all day, and a hole in a leg. 



Jason and Amanda with two of their three children



 

I think it is important for adult siblings to continue spending quality time with each other through the years, as we all grow and change. It's fun to catch up and get to know each other again.  When I was a little girl, I loved going to family gatherings and running wild with my cousins.  I feel proud to see the next generation, my children and my nieces and nephews, doing the same things together around the playset, the ponds, and fire pit roasting marshmallows.  There is always a part of me that still feels like a kid when I spend time with my own brothers and sisters, as we laugh and act silly together. 

It was a wonderful night and the next day was exciting, too.  Amanda, Melissa, and I took the girls to the American Girl store.  I'll share pictures from that adventure the next time I blog. 

".....our hearts are conscious of our treasures."  Thorton Wilder

"It's not what you look at that matters, but what you see."  Thoreau