Monday, December 6, 2010

What I'm Thankful For - Family Edition

After Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house, our entire family went bowling to celebrate Nick's birthday. Bowling after Thanksgiving is something I hope we make a tradition (do you agree Mom?)! We had so much fun and it was something that allowed the adults AND the kiddos to have fun!

This was Tucker's first time bowling. When we walked in the bowling alley you could tell his little wheels were turning....."Balls everywhere!"

Tucker loved bowling! He got the concept right away, I mean throwing balls and knocking things down come pretty natural to this boy! And he held his own on the kid's lane! 7 pins his first time up, not so bad!But what he REALLY enjoyed was the Cosmic Bowling! You know, when they turn down the lights and turn up the music.
"This is what I'm talking about, Mommy!"(Sorry for the poor picture quality....this is what I get with my camera when you're trying to take a picture of something or someone on the move and Tucker and I were dancing in the shot above. That is why I'm asking Santa for a new camera!)

Daddy and Tucker
Our Family :)
I tried to get pics of everyone......

Bridgette's "strike pose"
The Birthday Boy (who passed his permit test and drove me home from Louisville the other day, on the interstate, less than a week post permit!)

Luke and Shelby

Mikie and Tatum

Holli and Tatum

The other 3 kiddos were too much on the move during bowling, so here's pics of them at Dad and Mom's from earlier in the day :)
O'mauriJoshua, Makenzie & Tatum (again)
And of course, Dad and Mom :)


I am SO thankful for my family! I am thankful for times of just hanging out and having fun with each other. I am so thankful that none of us live too far away from each other and we get to do that pretty often. I am thankful that we are all so close. I am the oldest of 5, and since I already gave away my age when I told you in Nick's birthday post that I was 15 when he was born, I'll go ahead and tell you our ages..... Me - 30, Bridge - 29, Holli - 26, Luke - 18, & Nick - 16. Growing up, Holli was the bratty little sister. Bridgette and I have always been pretty close. Holli would sit outside me and Bridgette's bedroom door as we made plans on a Friday or Saturday night and then tell Mom and Dad what our 'real' plans were. That made it a little difficult to get away with anything! But, it wasn't long before Holli grew up and became my best friend as well. I talk to Bridgette and Holli every day, sometimes multiple times a day. My brothers are my babies and I'm really close to them too. I love that I live close enough to make all their football games, banquets, award ceremonies, and anything else. As much as I think it would be neat to move somewhere much different for a bit, like California or the Carolinas, I could never live far away from my family. I love when I get a call from Luke that him and Shelby are stopping by after a date or a text from Nick telling me what his football coach told him at practice. I love that Tucker will grow up so close to his cousins. I love that we all tell each other "love you" when we get off the phone. I love that Luke and Nick never went through a stage where they wouldn't tell me they love me. I love that if I don't say it, they'll say it first.
And then there's Mom and Dad. Seriously, I don't know where I would be without my parents. Growing up, they were undoubtedly my number one fans, always supporting me. They always told me I could do anything and be anything I wanted and that I would always stand out in a crowd. They might seem like just words, but they gave me the confidence to follow my dreams and to let nothing stand in my way.
I will never forget the day I was leaving for college. Mom and Dad were helping me to pack everything up and we were loading up the car. Luke was 5. He had been following me around all that day but not really saying anything. Finally, I asked him what was wrong. His response, "Did you find a new family?" It still makes me cry to think about that. In his mind he just couldn't understand why I was moving out, where I was going. Why would I want to leave home? It shows just how important "family" is to us. Even at 5 years old, he understood the meaning of "family." My family is one of the most important things to me!
God, Thank you for blessing me with such an amazing family. Thank you for the memories we've made and the ones yet to come. I pray that I never take my family for granted. I pray protection over my family and that we always stay strong as a unit and always support each other. I pray that Wes and I are able to instill the same importance of family in Tucker.
-Amen

It's almost impossible to get a picture of our whole family. We have gotten SO big! The most recent one I have is from Mikie and Holli's wedding:

1 comment:

Mama Perks said...

Ok...seriously teared up reading this post! Not sure I realized that we are BOTH the oldest of five...um, can we say soul sisters? NOT to mention the fact that it's the same in our family...the two boys are the youngest! CRAZY! Anyways, I could have easily written this post bc I feel the same way about my family. We are really lucky to be so close with our parents and siblings, aren't we? And PS...that wedding picture of all of you is GORGEOUS.