It's All in the Family

Kudos to my cousins Aimee and Jen who recently graduated high school.  I've always been amazed by the fact that they share a birthday and a set of grandparents, but have different moms and dads.  Very early on I dubbed them my twin cousins.  Both are amazing young women with much to offer the world.  God's blessings on them both as they forge into the lives that lay ahead of them.

Jen lived a little further away growing up so I don't have as many stories to tell about her, but Aimee...  Aimee lived a mere 40 miles away and I was old enough to babysit her and her brother.  During their annual daycare vacation week, I would go up and stay with their family and help out with the kiddos.  I have fond memories of making mac and cheese with PBS children's programming in the background, putting Aimee's hair into adorable little piggy tails for the first time and her face lighting up as she flicked them back and forth with her fingers because she liked them so much, playing in the backyard, going for walks, and so much more.

I was preparing my children for our summer vacation plans and mentioned that we would be traveling around the area to attend a few graduations, including Aimee's and Jen's.  My boys love try and figure out the connections within our extended family so they immediately tried to start to figure out "who" Aimee belonged to.

"So she's your cousin, right Mom?" asked Ray.

"She is my cousin, which means she's your 2nd cousin."

"So Grandma Cookie and New Grandpa are her grandma and grandpa too?"

"Yup."

"So one of your uncles is her dad!"

"OH!  Does she go with the uncle who gave us the four-wheeler?"

"No, that's Uncle Bob.  He is Alyssa and Jen's dad."

"Does she go with the uncle who took us to Chuck E. Cheese?"

"No, that was Uncle Dan."

"Is it the uncle who let's us camp in his yard?"

"No, that's Uncle Tony."

"The uncle who gave us the toy motorcycles for Christmas?"

"No, that was Uncle Bob too.  He gave you the four wheelers, and train set, and motorcycles, and bunk beds, and swing set.  Aimee is Uncle Scott's daughter.  Scott and Laurie gave you guys all the games and big bag full of bats and balls and outside toys."

"Oh yeeeeeah!  I guess that's why they're called GREEEEAT Uncles!"

I had to laugh.  I also had to realize how blessed I am to have an amazing extended family who loves their great nephews so much, even if they do spoil them immensely!!!