Large Families Are the Bomb!

Last Sunday I got a rare treat.  ALL 9 of my children came for dinner.  It’s almost become a unicorn of a dream…..that we would all be in the same place at the same time.  Hasn’t happened in nearly 3 years.

I heard about the plan a couple of days before it happened.  They considered surprising me, but it’s no secret that I am not a fan of being surprised.  The few times I got a big surprise it didn’t go well.  I am still recovering from my 27th birthday party.  I’m 52 now.  So they decided to tell me a little in advance and I was glad.  My heart needed time to adjust.

Our time together was short….just 3 hours, but so sweet.  We basically ate fajitas and played games.  That’s pretty much our 2 favorite things to do.  Add in the giant bowl of chocolate candy I set out on the coffee table and it was a trifecta of evenings.

The 2 daughters who were traveling from out of town arrived at 7PM on Sunday night and had to leave by 10 to get home at a semi-decent hour.  So we packed as much fun into those 3 hours as we could.  We took a few photos to remember this by.

Since they are almost all the same size now you can’t tell who’s older….here’s the breakdown left to right.  Levi (9), Grace (27), Elijah (14), Hope (23), Jacob (25), Faith (21), Noah (18), Patience (20), Adam (16).  Whew!  That makes me feel old.

I took a few selfies while we were at it.  Me and the girls….

Me and all my boys…including the dog.

So many of you ask me about my daughter who left home a few years ago.  I haven’t shared much because I wanted to put the relationship with her first over giving out updates.  It’s been slow healing, but we have found a place of acceptance and love.  She is still a precious treasure to us and always will be.

The general update is she lives her life in a city 2 hours away and we don’t see her a lot, but we do talk and get together when we can. We have had some open, honest conversations.  She knows she is always welcome here and that we love her.  The big issues that she had after she left are behind her now and she is making her way in this big, grown-up world.  I’m proud of her and how hard she works and how sweet she is.  I expect great things for her future!

It was super nice to have everyone together.  I don’t know if this will happen again since our oldest is married now (her husband couldn’t come and we missed him!) and others are close to leaving the nest.  I just breathed it in and wished I could bottle it up so I could put the feeling of my little family being together in the diffuser when I miss it too much.

I’ll have to settle for diffusing Valor and Acceptance instead.

There’s a flip side though, to the kids growing up.  At 10:15 the two girls who live out of town left and went back to their own home and I am no longer responsible for anything they do.  That’s a load off for sure!  And the other ones who are adults but still living at home don’t really lean on me….they just do their own thing.  I can literally feel the pressure lifting off of my shoulders.  I do like that.  And the other great part is watching them be adults.  I don’t always agree with their choices, but that’s OK.  I don’t need to.  I get to see how amazing these people are and just enjoy being a small part of it now.

I am so grateful for my sweet time with my kids last weekend, and I am grateful for the next phase we are moving into and I am grateful that I still have younger ones to squeeze.  Levi, poor thing, will have to be pried from my death-like grip when he decides to leave.

Somebody better give me some grandchildren before that happens!  I don’t care how much pressure they feel….I need it!

Large families are th’BOMB!

Thanks for stopping by!

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