mega family weekend

ahh. 5 days off work, that's nice. There's nothing quite like the sense of not actually remembering when you were in the office last. I really should do that more often.


There's also the part about Thanksgiving, and lots of family being around and in town. that was pretty cool too. It was all family, all the time this weekend, and I loved it. Thursday we picked up my brother and sister in-law from the airport, it's been about a year since they visited.

The plan was to go to my grandmother's for Thanksgiving dinner and my sister was coming into town later with her little boy, my mom was going to drop her off straight from the airport.


My sister has been able to make it for a visit fairly regularly; this Thanksgiving, last year around my birthday, and then she was in town for my wedding, and the summer following when she had her first baby. Each of the last times she has been in town for a major event, she has been about 8 months pregnant. This time around was no exception...it's becoming something of a joke, tho she says that she and my brother in-law are done "for now". Considering that her 2 youngest will be about 13 months apart, she could just mean that they're waiting an extra couple months before trying again, we can't tell...




But this is the first time that I got to meet Lincoln, who just turned one about a week ago. The bummer was that Noa, his older sister couldn't make it, they didn't have enough money for 3 plane tickets, since Noa's 2 1/2, which means she's obviously too big to sit on someone's lap and not take up her own seat. And it was sad that my brother in-law couldn't make it either because of that, it's just that Noa's way cuter...


Thanksgiving was fantastic, lots of family, aunts and uncles and stories, and jokes. My dad and my aunt Olivia still act like my little brother and I do, which apparently means that it never ends, ever. But it they seem to enjoy it, so why not?

Friday was the Rock and picking up the neice and nephew to come with. I know a lot of Rockers have met them, but since I have the pic handy, this is Eboni and Elijah, in case you're wondering who the new kids are that don't seem to look like anyone else at the Rock:





I think this is their first long-term exposure to church, and they really like it, so we'll probably keep it up as long as we can. It's taught me lots about parenting skills and what all is required to care for kids their age, but that will perhaps be for another time...



Saturday we had Andrew and Amy and Rachael and Lincoln to our house to play games, my older brother Jonathan was invited with his clan, but they couldn't make it. Then we all got dressed up and headed back to my grandmother's house for hors d'euvres before the "main event". My grandmother is turning 75 in a couple of weeks, and decided that to celebrate she was going to take as much of her family as she could to Chanhassen Dinner Theater to see their production of Grease. Not one to turn down free food, theater, or opportunities to see family, we've been planning on this for a couple months now. We got seated at several different tables, ours happened to be at the top tier, with another table of family right below us, and a third across the aisle from them. Sitting with Seth, Rachael, and my dad and step-mom, of course my first thought was of what I could possibly launch at the other tables without getting into too much trouble...

Now, this is my dad's side of the family; he's oldest of 6, and my grandad had a terrific sense of humor which he did a wonderful job in passing it along to his kids. Not that their mom wasn't great, it's kind of a Walker sense of humor in general. Take for example, uncle Roger:



He was sitting within arm's reach at our table, definitely a candidate for co-conspirator, but also one with whom you must watch your back. I handed him a cherry tomato to toss across the aisle at his brother, and it ended up back in Rachael's lap instead. And I think it was that same tomato I found in my cup of coffee at intermission. I'm told that was my cousin, but I'm sure she was only acting under orders.




I don't know if it's part of growing up, but for a long time I've been shy around my aunts and uncles, not really sure how to relate to them. They've been the "grown ups" and I'm just the "kid". When we were little it was easy, there was tickling and toys and games and stuff, but since about high school/college I really couldn't get away with that anymore. Since graduating, and especially since getting married, I really want to learn more about my family - who they are, how their families work, what they like and are passionate about. It's a little harder, I only see them around special occasions pretty much, but I can at least take the time to try when we're all together. It's very easy to play with neices and nephews and let the adults talk amongst themselves, but I always end up feeling like I'm missing out. I appreciate my family, I love how much they enjoy each other's company and have a good time, and inside jokes and all the other sibling things that I like about my own brothers and sisters. They're pretty great, I'm glad that I got a couple chances to hang out with them this weekend.