amelia meets more family!

our trip to nashville back in june had "family bookends". we started off seeing family, and we ended our trip seeing family. let's start at the very beginning... (a very good plaaaaace to start!)


after a day's drive, we were so happy to see my great-aunt norma and great-uncle clarence! as usual, norma had a table full of delicious food ready for us, complete with a texas sheet cake. if you do not know what that is, your pants probably fit you much better than mine do! oh man, it is good stuff. in our family, it is my grandma's and aunt norma's signature dessert. i grew up on it, and i don't know very many people who've even heard of it. shame, shame. ANYway, we spent a day or so with norma and clarence, and it was such a blessing. they have always treated me like one of their own grandchildren, and now they love my kids like they are their own great-grandchildren. (growing up, i was always amazed at how much they loved me even though i wasn't "theirs", but it hit me that karina's children and i will share the same relationship that norma and i share... and of course i will love those babies like my own!) when norma wasn't cooking for us, she was holding my baby.



or feeding my baby.



or rocking my baby to sleep.


while norma claimed "baby duty", clarence entertained the older kids with the dog and toy cars in the garage. looks like the dog needs to give my kids lessons on smiling for the camera. :)


we loved every minute of our time with norma and clarence. i have no doubt that norma will be my first comment on this post. :) she is quite the blog follower! i have affectionately called her "aunt email" for the past several years, but i may need to update that to "aunt facebook". :) we love you, clarence and norma! thank you so much for your precious hospitality!!

after the wedding weekend, we ended our trip by staying a night at my brother's house. the kids were so excited to see uncle ryan and his cute little dog! my mom and my brother actually watched the kids so i could enjoy christie's wedding empty-handed, so they got lots of time to chase lucy louise around. poor dog- i hope she has recovered by now! i was really hoping to have more time to hang out with ryan during our visit, but the day just got busier and busier. hopefully it won't be another year and a half before we see each other again! in a fluke moment of clarity and rational thinking, i had the kids pose for pictures THE minute we walked in the door. usually, i realize as we are packing up that i didn't get that picture i wanted... and by then, the kids are not feeling much like photography material. i'm sure there was some food that i used to bribe them, too. but i like to think it was my fine-tuned plan. haha. here are the kiddos with uncle ryan (who they called "uncle brian" half the time, confusing his name with their daddy's!). i love this picture of them....


my grandmother also got to meet amelia and play with the kids for a little bit. the kids had fond memories of spending time with her over christmas, and they were thrilled to see her again. (so was i!) i think she gets worn out just by watching them play and go crazy, but it seems like she enjoyed her time with us. this picture is pretty much priceless!! (can you tell that my mom was standing to my right trying to make the kids smile?)


amelia was perfectly content sitting with grandmother and playing with the edge of this table... had this picture been taken this week, she would have been gnawing on that table like crazy!


our cousin betsy came by for a quick visit as well... we had fun catching up and laughing. sorry, betsy, i think your eyes were closed in every picture. :( but i had to post at least one of us together!!


and here's me and my brother! it has been a long, long time since we've taken a picture together. so i'm glad we got this one. thank you, ryan, for letting us stay with you!


the kids loooooved playing on my brother's organ. it was a very close race between the organ and the dog for "most entertaining object at uncle ryan's house". i'm sure the dog was voting for the organ!



it looks like caroline votes for the organ, too. play it, sister!



don't let this look fool you. it surely didn't fool my parents 28 years ago!


i was so thankful that we were able to spend time with family on this trip. it was pretty busy moving from house to house every few days, but it was surely worth it. i would load and unload that pack-n-play a hundred times if it meant an evening with a loved one. and ok... i guess i'll take the texas sheet cake, too. :)