Home for 36 Hours

Aser flew in last night at midnight and leaves at 4:15 from home tomorrow morning. It was short, but wonderful and he was here for my side of the family Christmas party at my brother's house.

It is hard to get all the kids looking one direction for a picture. I have five kids in my family and four of us were there tonight. It is wonderful to have Kary, my youngest brother, there as we did not know if this would be a reality. We so miss my sister and I just hope she knows how much I still love her. I did see her briefly last February and am hoping that somehow I will run into her this Christmas. We are a huge group now and my nephews and nieces have started having kids too. Kary and I were 9 and 10 when our sibs started having kids so they are all adults now too. It is so cool that Malachi has young cousins( 2nd cousins) to grow up with. I also met a cousin that I have not seen since I was a young child and did not remember him. I have always heard about him but extended family things left us with no contact. It is so cool to meet someone with such a close family connection and see that there are so many familial things about them-- strange!

My kids just loved on their daddy and we are looking forward to Christmas. Malachi is very attached to his daddy and is at ease when he is around him. They are so cute together.



This Tuesday will be the first time I have had to hire a babysitter for Malachi. I feel very good about her as she knows him from the church nursery, but it is hard for me to leave him with someone other than my mom. I did have one friend watch him for a bit, but he has been around her lots. I am sure it will be harder on me than him, but I will be happy when this is on the other side of the calendar. My kids are in the Christmas program at school and I am the only one in our family that will be able to go and I want to be able to really watch and take pictures of them. M is not the quiet kind of baby that can sit through a program so I had to hire someone to come in...