Friday, April 25, 2014

The gift of cousins...



18 of the 25 cousins... Missing Samuel in Heaven... Missing Leah and her hubby Will... Missing Hannah on the horse farm... and the Dodson 5:)


This was right after I told them all to say "Aunt Sara is the best Aunt in the world:):)


The funny face photos are always the most fun for them:)  
They had a ball, running crazy outside, volleyball for the big kids, and an egg hunt for the littles.  

Living within a short drive to see the majority of the cousins is a HUGE blessing... 

When we left for the seminary in 2006  we had previously lived less than a mile from my parents and 2 brothers... Leaving them felt like we were sacrificing something we may never get back... cousins make awesome friends... and I wondered how God could top living so close to all of your favorite playmates...

Those wonderings quickly faded as literally within minutes of arriving on campus the kids were asking to ride bikes with new friends, our upstairs neighbors... Never again will we live in such sweet play conditions with 200 kids right outside your door:)  It was a sweet time... 

God provided great neighbor friends, family friends and youth friends in Oklahoma.  The older our kids get the harder it seems like it is to move them... (We don't plan on doing that again... Lord willing:) I am sure that is totally normal... It was not an easy thing to uproot them from Oklahoma at all... 

 But God in His graciousness moved us so much closer to family and He is providing friends for all of the kids,  in special ways here in Illinois too and I am so very grateful... What a HUGE blessing to my mama's heart!

He continually shows us He cares for us and loves us...  And wonderful, special cousin time is one of those special gifts in life:)  

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Yes yes cousins are such a blessing! We just love all of ours. So wonderful to get to be close to your family again enjoy the sweet memories:)

Unknown said...

Oh by the way I did a post on making the blog book I know you asked me about it. It took maybe a week working 30 minutes a day to finish it and it's not very expensive. Let me know if you have anymore questions about it.