I love my family, quirks & all!

Sometimes I forget how much I just love being with my family. It seems like sometimes far too much time passes between get-togethers. It's in those lulls that I forget.

We had a MASSIVE birthday party this past weekend or as Curt calls it "Christmas in September." You see, we've got ENDLESS birthdays in the month of September. On my side of the family, there's Mom, Summer, Josie, Ryan, Jimmy & Alison. Then, on Curt's side, Cara celebrates her birthday in September, and Carla's is October 1st, so basically September! Ha! And, throw in Jenny's birthday in the middle of it all, and, well... you can see why it's kind of a crazy month for us!

Normally, it seems like there's a birthday party every weekend in September. Somehow, though, this year we ended up with one big bash at Rob's house on the 29th... Alison's real birthday. :-) I hadn't seen the family in forever. We're normally pretty close, I think, compared to a lot of families. We're quirky & cranky as all get out, but, hey... that's one of the things that's almost endearing to me. It's weird. I know.

I took tons & TONS of pictures on Saturday.

Kyden. Not a birthday boy, but standing by a birthday boy's leg. :-)

Camden. Also not a birthday boy. He is, however, still a little red-headed maniac. :-)

Summer. She turned 13!!! THIRTEEN! My gosh, where does the time go!?! And, mascara? Since when does mascara add about 5 years!?!
A quick one of Emma. This stool was in the very back part of the yard, and I thought it would be great for pictures. Emma was the closest & most cooperative, so here she is! (And, yeah... that's the same outfit from the garage shoot.)
Ryan... hitting the big double digits at a whopping 10 years old. :-) He's a big Dallas Cowboy's fan.


Josie turned four this month. I love that she carried this load of "treasures" around with her for a good while outside.
This is Luke... he'll be having a birthday this month. :-)
A little fun with light during the pinata.
This one's my favorite of the two. :-)
And, this photo... this photo doesn't have a whole lot going for it, I don't think. There isn't really a clear & standout subject, though Emma is supposed to be the subject. I just love it, though, because it invokes in me feelings of appreciation for my family, of good times gone by. I went with a slightly more vintage conversion on this picture just because that's how it makes me feel. For a minute, it makes me feel almost child-like again... no adult worries, you know? We used to have picnics all the time as children with the whole family. I just love seeing the gang in the background of this photo just doing what we do... interacting, taking pictures... whatever. I hope that as my girls get older, they'll have the same fond memories... You know? Does it make any sense? Either way, I love this mess of a photo. :-)

Heather & Kyden... love the glowing hair! :-) Haha! Isn't he the cutest, though!?!
Another of Summer... she's really so beautiful.
And, Alison! My goodness, what can I say about Alison!?! This girl is looking GOOD! She's lost some weight due to a weird illness... reverse pharyngitis or something. Haha! Who knows... Either way, she seems to be feeling just fine, but losing weight. Sounds like something I might be interested in! Haha! So, for Katie & mom... here you go! Look how TINY she is! She looks like Steve... so tall & skinny!

So, yeah... it was fun. There are more pictures, too, but it's mostly just family pictures left, and those take more time to process. I'll get to them soon, I hope.

Somehow, I don't have any pictures of Jimmy. What was I thinking? Sorry, J.Bo. :-)

Happy Birthday, everyone! I love you all! :-)