Dropping Back In

Crap. I hate when this happens. I just found this entry that I was working on quite a while ago that never got finished or posted. That isn't cool.

I seem to have quite a bit of problems with keeping up with my blogging. I drop out for a bit and then drop back in for an even littler bit. Things have been fairly busy here, but not busy enough to be an excuse for not blogging. It doesn't seem to be just me though. It seems that quite a few of my family and friends are taking a bit of a blog break. I guess everyone needs one from time to time.

We had a great holiday season including Thanksgiving. Throughout the three holidays (and a little bit after) we were able to have all of the siblings except for Ted come to visit.

Thanksgiving we had Glade and his family here. That was fun. The girls love to be able to play with their cousins. Ryan is always so good to them and really plays with them quite a bit. They love that. Besides Neal and Ryan, all of the other cousins that they get to see regularly are much younger than them, so it is nice for a change to get to play with the older ones. The girls do enjoy playing with those little ones too though. They always have fun with Garrett and Eric. It was fun to look over the Black Friday sales with Laura and get ideas for Christmas presents. It is always nice to talk to Glade and reconnect. I am so horrible about staying in touch with my siblings. I really need to do better about that.

Christmas time brought Gus and his family and Raysha and her family. We hadn't seen Gus's family for quite a while, so it was really great to get to see them. Gracie has grown up so much since the last time we had seen her. She was so fun. Sydney and Susannah just loved playing with her. She loves to sing and it was so cute to hear here singing "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" at the dinner table. She is so good at remember the words. "It's a Grand Old Flag" was another one that she sang that was just so cute. It was really good to be able to hang out and talk with Laurie. She is really awesome. Gus is so fun to be around too. He is so funny and a great younger brother.

It was great to see Raysha, Derrick and Scottie. Out of all my siblings, they live the closest so we get to see them more often. I love having at least one of my siblings close enough for that. The girls have really developed a great relationship with Scottie. I love to see them play. Scottie is the one that has helped them develop their excellent ability to play so well with their younger cousins. They amaze me with their love of playing with the younger ones. Scottie is such a great kid and he is so fun to have around. We hadn't seen Derrick in a little bit, so it was great to catch up a bit with him. I sure enjoy having Raysha around to talk with and hang out with. We have a great time.

Shortly after New Years we were able to have Suzi and her family come and visit. Raysha and Scottie also joined us too. Suzi, Levi and Kassidy moved just over a year ago and I have really missed getting to see them. This time they came to visit with their new addition, Kaybree. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love babies. I sure had fun playing with Kaybree and, of course, getting to hold her. Kassidy is growing up so much and she looks like a little girl now and not like a baby. I love that change in kids. It is so sweet to see them as babies but I also love seeing the way that their personalities are shaping. We didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with Levi because he had to head back home after just a few days. I'm pretty proud of him and how great he is doing in school. It was a major highlight of the whole holiday season to be able to catch up with Suzi. I sure miss being able to see here at least a little more regularly.