Back from Texas

We just got back from Texas yesterday. (I plan to post pictures on Facebook later today.) My parents, my sister, Kara, and I all went to Texas for new year's weekend to see my cousins and their kids. This is the family who lost their mom (my dad's sister) to leukemia almost two years ago and who lost their dad to cancer this Thanksgiving. We didn't talk about them much (because that's what they needed), we mostly laughed and fell into our dynamic of being friends. I come from a family who LOVE to play cards, and the game of choice with them is Phase 10. We taught one of my cousin's daughters how to play and it's fun to bring it down to another generation. She actually did so well that she beat us!! :-) We laughed and ate cookies and brought up old memories and made new memories. All my cousins kids played with Kara the whole time. We would basically get to someone's house and I never saw Kara again. She disappeared to play with the kids and their dogs. She can feel my comfort and ease and love around them and she is just so cool and outgoing and loves them so much. While two kids are younger (4 and 6), the rest are older (11, 13, and 14). They still all played with her the entire time - it was so sweet.

We all had a great time - we just love them so much - but now it's good to be home. After an awesome Christmas, and a great New Year's weekend, I'm ready to get back to regular life. The decorations are put away and Kara's back in school and back in swim lessons.