A big family

I come from a relatively big family. My dad is one of 4 and his sister has 7 children, all about my parents age. So they all have kids and those kids have kids themselves. I've only ever known a big family. Darrin's from a bigger family himself - 5 kids total. I love it. I love everything that a big family is about. I love that when you have a "Small family get together" it's like 50 people. I love that at my wedding, we invited about 300 people and the majority of them were our families. We couldn't leave anyone out. We chose to do things a little cheaper, just so we could include everyone that would want to be there. I love that things have to be simple, because with so many people, you'd go broke trying to do anything else. I love the crazy mess of kids. And the fact that everyone watches everyone else's kid because they're all loved the same. :) I feel like when we're with our family - I can sit back and take a break.

Today we had a little family shin dig at my aunt and uncle's house for my cousin and her family who are visiting from out of state. Not too many people came - maybe like 25 or 30. I think I counted about 12 kids from newborn to about 8 years old. The majority of them girls and everyone hung out outside while the kids ran around and played. They didn't need anything special - no toys, no video games, no bounce houses (although, bouncers are always fun and a plus!) - they just played together. They ran around chasing each other and playing "Football" which really was someone grabbing the ball and running while everyone else tackled them, falling down in a big heap of giggles. I loved watching Rylee and Jake play with their cousins. So many cousins. I remember when I was young and we had a mess of cousins running around the backyard. And now my kids are doing the same thing. It made my heart happy. My aunt and uncle have horses, so some of the kids went out with dads and uncles and whoever would take them to see the horses. I watched the girls all sit on the corral's gate while it swung open and shut. The guys chatting about horse stuff, the horses flinging their tails and the dogs running around the corral. My memory was going crazy with fun flashbacks of the exact same scene just years ago. Those memories are the best. My aunt commented a couple times about how great it is to see the next generation running around and playing together. It IS great. Really great. And it reminds me why we want to have a bigger family. Because there's just something about a lot of kids, running barefoot in the backyard and enjoying the simplicities of life. There's something about the love and bond between siblings, between cousins - and a lot of them - that just can't be explained. Like the bigger the family grows, the more love is found. I guess too, it makes me realize that more kids really ARE a blessing. Sometimes I think "oh my goodness, we're going to have 3 kids, 3 years old and under!!" And then I look out and see all these children, all close in age - playing so well together and having so much fun. They don't need a lot of money, they don't need a huge house or fancy clothes. None of that matters to them. They just need each other, a backyard and some time to make some great memories.