family forever.

Family is something that is very important to me. My family is very supportive, loving, nurturing, and accepting. They are not perfect, as no family is, but they are pretty amazing. I come from two sides of very loving families. The Wilson family and the Carpenter family. This post is pretty much dedicated to the Carpenter side due to the fact we had a family reunion yesterday.

There is great significance to this day, as it would have been my Meemau's 95th birthday. Two years ago she celebrated her last birthday here on this earth, and it was the day before she left this earth. The past two years have been very hard for me as I have lost one of the most important people in my life. She was the grandmother that I never had [due to both of mine passing away when I was one]. She was the rock in our family. Every holiday was spent at her house. Yesterday my cousins and I reminisced about the good old days when we were all younger at Meemau's big white house on Dale Drive. Food was a big part of it. As we indulged in a delicious feast yesterday, it took us back to the way things were--first course, always dip and chips/veggies; second course, the main meal[which always consisted of a delicious meat, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese, bread, etc; then the last but not least course--dessert. Now at Meemau's house--dessert was always brought out last--never put out with the main course. It was something we had to wait for. Which is what we must do with all good things. There was certain protocol at meal times--as in kids go first--haha---and NO DOUBLE DIPPING! I will not name names, but we did have some double dippers. We still love you though--you who shall remain nameless. Yesterday we kept some of Meemau's traditions alive. Three course meal that we all had way to much of that included mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, bread, and of course we had dip[Thanks, Mere!] and a slew of desserts[Thanks, Aunt Laura!] And to wash it all down--Meemau's famous punch[Thanks, Aunt Debbie!] The only things that had changed were the location, and we were missing that one very special person, Meemau. But she was definitely not forgotten. [This was the last picture I took with my Meemau--April 2009]

We are all getting older, several of the cousins are in college, some have already graduated and are working, several are married, and a few have kids. It's funny to see who is now taller than who---and find out about that special someone who might be "the one"--it was so great to be together and spend time and catch up on what we are all doing. First of all, my dad is one of 6 kids--so that's quite a few aunts and uncles--plus I have 24 first cousins---not including spouses and children of some of those! So needless to say there was a full house. Of course, we cannot forget our beloved Grandad. Who is always there to give you a big bear hug, tell you he loves you and he's praying for you everyday. We also had our favorite "great" aunt Kay--who knows all the "dirt" about the cousins and the hilarious stories that some of us would like to forget. Yesterday was a wonderful day to be with my family and remember and treasure the memories from the past as well as making many new memories.

I love my family. I am so thankful for them. I would not trade them for anything in this world. I only wish we were all closer--but it does make those times we are together very precious and I look forward to the next time we will all be together!

[Cousin girls: Amber, Erin, Meredith, me, Meghan]