Family Gatherings

We celebrated the Weinand family Christmas today. Sadly Emma had to stay home but she coped fine. They have three dogs all hunting dogs. They are having trouble with the young one being aggressive to other dogs. i was glad they were honest and kept Emma home. I feel bad for them as they want to keep Ruby but they can;t take him by other dogs other than those he lives with because of his behavior. They are seeking some advice on how to deal with this. The dogs were mostly secluded to the bedroom due to the many little children and it was just plain crowded in their home but came out once to go outdoors. Sure cute dogs.

This is a picture from my childhood. It is an early family reunion. My Grandma Anna's sisters all had their families gather yearly. At first it was the farm where they all grew up but later sometimes was at a lake or other locations. I am in the front row. Look at the right (I know it might be fuzzy) You will see my wonderful little sister and I. It was the highlight of our summer. It was our only vacation. We would only be gone one or two nights but we loved it. My mom often bought us new pajamas that matched as we would stay with relatives. We also often got new outfits. We didn't have a lot of money so this was really great - and they weren't hand me downs either.

At the Weinand celebration we were missing some who were out of state and Greg's parents and sister Sharon have all died too young of cancer. Still we had a good time....

I thought about how priceless it is to have family. My mother's family all grew up in a small town. She was the surprise baby when they all were grown up and most had moved away from their small town so I never knew any of them much at all. Not any of my cousins. In my Dad's family we had some roots, many our out in California (hi Karen) but they would visit..somehow I felt more connected. Though there too my cousins lived out of state....

Well my point is today I am thinking how nice it is to have family. I don't even see my nephews and neices as much as I would like and now they have children...but when we gather it is just so nice. The wedding reminded me of that also.

So tonight I am counting my blessings. i have family. My extended family, my siblings, my grandchildren, and my children and their spouses. When i am discouraged I need to hold on to that fact. Today was a better day though I have had a headache all day...no amount of medicine will knock it out. Any tips ha ha.

Hope you have friends and family to support you in life...to share your joys and be their in times of struggles. I did miss Emma though as she is my family now also....Mary and Emma