Double the Fun

The older I get, the more I realize how lucky I am to have such a loving and fun family that I actually like to hang out with.  I hear about the struggles other families have trying to get everyone together for family events.  I read of kids who don´t like their parents, siblings who constantly argue and compete and parents who would rather go on vacation without their adult children and it only takes a moment to reflect on my own family to realize just how lucky I am.  

I seriously love my family; I love spending time with them and think they are the coolest thing since sliced bread.  We truly have a great time together and, unfortunately for Martin, we spend a lot of time together.   Dinners at least once a month, family vacations every three or four months and a big vacation what seems like every other year.    Holidays and traditions are especially important.  Last year, when new traditions required our family to celebrate the holidays on Christmas Night instead of Eve, my parents and family were more than willing to rearrange schedules to ensure we were all together.

And this year, with my brother in Hawaii for Thanksgiving and me in Germany for Christmas, we doubled down on the fun to ensure the traditions continued.  We enjoyed Thanksgiving Turkey twice, once with Cody before he left and once again on Thanksgiving Day up at the Lake.  And the famous Crab and Ravioli Christmas Eve Dinner, inclusive of homemade pasta, ravioli filing and sauce, cracked crab, spiked eggnog and snowball ice cream was enjoyed 11 days early so that Martin and I could participate in the festivities.   The tradition will continue, with the same exact meal on Christmas Eve, but knowing how important it was to be there as a family, I don´t expect any complaints about the repeat performance.