We Are Family!

(I started this post on Sunday...it's now Wednesday & I'm getting around to finishing it!) Last week in Texas was Spring Break, so we all decided (sort of at the last minute) to take a road trip! Shelby was in Salt Lake City for a conference so the girls & I were free to go...no since in sitting at home when we could be with family! On Wednesday we headed to the Hill Country, where my oldest sister Angie & her family live. My mom, dad, sister Kathy, her husband Andy, their three kiddos Luke, Mary Katherine & Caroline, along with Ivy Jane, Georgia Claire & I packed up & headed out bright and early Wednesday morning & made it to Angie's house late that afternoon. We spent three nights & it was a lot of fun watching all 7 cousins playing together. No one fought or had trouble getting along...they all seemed genuinely happy to be together!

I forgot my camera but my new iPhone took pretty good pics! The weather was great so we spent a lot of time outside. Caroline, Ivy Jane, & Gabe (along with Paw Paw in the background)...

Mom, Angie, Kathy & me...watching the kids right bikes, scooters, & skateboards in the street. (I MAY have gotten out in the street a time or two on a skateboard!)
Will...SO strong, crazy, fearless, a miracle. He has not been sick at all this winter & is looking GREAT! You would never know he had one lung or that he has had numerous surgeries in his lifetime! Such an inspiration...
Thursday morning we got to pick strawberries! I grew up picking blueberries & peaches at our family farm every summer from the time I was 5, but I had never had the experience of strawberry picking! It was so much fun & the "strawbies" as Ivy Jane calls them or "strawbeddies" as Georgia calls them, were DELICIOUS!
Gabe LOVES Georgia. And look at those BEAUTIFUL berries Mary Katherine is holding!
I think Georgia loves Gabe, too!
We made a trip to the James Avery headquarters & retail store where Paw Paw bought his 4 granddaughters a special gift. You can't really tell, but Ivy Jane's necklace says "Little Sister" in a heart...
And Georgia Claire's necklace says, "Big Sister".
They were both SO excited about their necklaces! Ivy Jane calls them a "nessick"! SO cute!

We were able to stay at a friend's guest house that just happens to have several acres & a creek perfect for playing! Georgia Claire & I found dandelions...
Caroline & Georgia have become best buddies. They enjoyed eating their lunch on the back patio!
Aunt Kathy put Ivy Jane's hair in pigtails for the first time ever! I love this picture...the pigtails, the play gun & the rubber boots...
Will, Paw Paw, & Georgia!

And the picture of all pictures...the lucky 7 in order from youngest to oldest...all 8 years & younger!
The trip was great, but we were so glad to get home! There truly is no place like home! I love my family & I especially enjoyed watching these sweet kiddos playing together & having so much fun!