It’s Hard to Get All of Carolyn’s Cousins Around 1 Table at Family Gatherings!

Carolyn’s family defines family togetherness. Though we live a couple hours from them, we speak to them almost every day and visit often. Her parents live on and operate a cattle farm. Their house is up the hill from her childhood home and exploring those fields helped foster her love of the outdoors. Her sister and her husband live a short 4 miles away on the banks of the scenic river where the family spent weekends and summer evenings when they were growing up. Her parents have a river cabin about 200 yards away where we stay on our numerous visits. When we are all together, we spend time boating and swimming, playing cards, chatting, and doing chores together.

Carolyn's parents are excited with the prospect of another child in the family. Carolyn's dad, a carpenter by trade and a farmer by choice, jokes about having an extra farm hand to help stretch fences and chase cattle, but he can't wait to have another little one around to spoil and teach life lessons to. Carolyn's mom is a librarian who is excited to have another person to play cards with and help her with her jigsaw puzzles.

Carolyn's sister and her husband have a daughter who is looking forward to having a cousin to teach him or her how to swim and drive the four-wheeler as well as having someone to jump on the trampoline and explore the woods with.

Sundays at Wayne’s Brother’s House

Much of Carolyn's extended family (aunts, uncles and cousins) live within 10 miles of her parents and many of them also own property along the river. Though we see them often on the way in and out of town, our favorite time that we all get together is Christmas Eve. Then, we gather at her aunt's house to eat, reminisce about summers at her grandparents' house, see how tall all her cousins' children have gotten, and exchange presents.

Wayne’s brother is a police officer, and he and his wife live about an hour from Carolyn's family. When we go to visit, we often make a circle to see them as well. Their three boys enjoy Wayne's special collector's knowledge of G.I. Joe and his shared love of Guitar Hero and other video games. Sundays at their house usually means a visit from Wayne's mom and dad as well, so it is a great time for everyone to catch up.

During the summer, all the kids usually come to our house to visit for a week. We take them hiking, to the children's museum and the zoo, and to other places that they do not have the opportunity to experience in their own towns. This is a favorite part of the year for all of us, and we often start planning our summer adventures around Christmastime. We are all looking forward to another child joining the adventures!

Though our biological family lives a couple hours away, we have a close-knit group of friends near our home that provide our family-away-from-home. The people we work with are not only co-workers they are friends that we spend evenings and weekends with gathering at someone's house, going to games and plays and boating on the lake…and everyone is excited at the prospect of another child in the mix. Of course, Carolyn's best friend and hiking, backpacking, and camping partner is as excited as we are to have a future adventurer joining our family!

Our Home is a Corner Lot with Ample Room to Play in the Front and Back Yards

Our neighborhood is a wonderful place to grow up. Carolyn and Shaker, our dog, walk to the park down the street every day. It is usually full of children swinging, playing on the new equipment, or shooting hoops. Our neighborhood backs up to a wooded area that surrounds the state's Game and Fish Commission's headquarters and contains numerous trails perfect for a couple miles of walking and exploring when we don't have time to go to one of the state or city parks in the area.

The Gentle Slope of Our Back Yard is Great for a Wagon!

We are active members of our neighborhood association which has several block parties and old-fashioned socials each year and works together with the city to keep the neighborhood park clean and updated with exciting equipment. The neighborhood has about 30 kids of all ages that find safe havens to play together not only in the park but in the cul-de-sacs and low-traffic cross streets that run through our neighborhood. A walk through the neighborhood often involves stopping to talk to at least three or four neighbors, petting a few dogs, and getting in on a quick game of catch or helping one of the kids pull a fish from the creek.

We are delighted with our home as well. It is a traditional ranch style, and we love the easy, open layout and roominess of it. It provides us room to romp and play with Shaker indoors as well as outside in our large fenced back yard. We have updated every room and enjoy home improvement and landscaping projects. One of our nephews' favorite aspects of our home is the creek out back. We often go out and feed the fish, and it makes a great place for exploring in the summer when the water is low.