Cousins

Yes, Jenny, I am posting this picture regardless of how bad anyone in it thinks they look. :) It's SUPPOSED to look silly and I think it turned out very well.


Tonight Kendra and I had an awesome evening as we shared a fondue dinner with my siblings, cousins, and our spouses. It's been 13 years since I saw Jenny, but by reading her blog I was somewhat up-to-date on her life. Blogs are good for something! Guess I'll have to get plugged into twitter to keep up with everyone?

Though many of us lived in different states (even different countries) over the past decade, the stars aligned for us to have one evening together (without any kids) to talk and laugh and eat. There is something very refreshing about being around people who have known you your entire life. It's even more special when they are blood relatives. I wish we had a full week out in the mountains to relax and catch up, but I'm content with a few hours of basking in the familiarity of cousins.


My sincere thanks to the spouses who endured our stories of family dogs from the past and memories of when we were kids. You never realize how many inside jokes exist until there are spouses present who require a full debriefing afterwards just to "get" half of the conversations that occurred.

Also my apologies for the crumby picture quality. The dude who took the picture practically walked across the parking lot to take the picture so I had to crop it down.

Anyway, my mom (Nana) is doing a great job of keeping up with the 4 Webbs. All of the extra cooking and cleaning up is demanding. Beyond that she is even able to keep up with their playtime, which wears out even the most active individuals who dare to be a part of the excitement. Easton verbally asks for the "car" swing and his imagination is expanding faster than the universe itself.


Easton and Layla are spoiled with Papa's full-sized slide and swing. Going home to our little plastic, indoor slide will seem woefully inadequate. Several times every day (when it isn't raining buckets) they play on the slide and swing. Layla is highly coordinated when it comes to physical abilities. She hangs from the monkey bar and climbs the wooden steps of the slide with ease.


I marvel at her concentration and smirk at her serious nature. It's my job as a parent to cultivate and guide, but she is who she is and I can't wait to find out what she is able to accomplish in life.


Easton LOVES his sister. Makes me all warm inside just seeing his happy face as the twins hug.


We walked with Aunt Joanie and her clan across a bridge directly over the local mall traffic. Easton is enthralled by all motor vehicles. However, even though cars and trucks were whizzing by, he still took time to give Layla a big hug. How's that for best friends?

The 4 Webbs spent an evening with my sister and her family at their house. Easton thought it would be nice to "sing for his supper" by mowing the lawn.


and I showed Eli and Silas some TaeKwonDo moves:


Joanie made it well worth our time by allowing us to join them for a wonderful dinner and (my favorite) chocolate cake with chocolate icing!


We are happy the twins are able to spend so much quality time with their cousins. I'm jumping around chronologically, but there are so many adventures every day we are here it is difficult to capture them with one post. I'll save the rest of our evening with Joanie and the trip to the zoo for the next post.

See you soon!