I'm RELATED to those people?

One big family gathering.

Eric's cousin, Susie, and her husband, Jacob, live in Florida with their two adorbs kiddos - Truett and Brynn. We heart them. And we wish that they still lived in Salem. But Jacob's seminary is in Florida. So, away they moved. We are thrilled that they are where the Lord wants them. We just miss them here.

Praise the Lord that we live in 2012 and airplanes exist. It makes it easy for them to come home to visit. I mean, as easy as it gets for them, traveling across the country while wrangling a pre-schooler and a toddler, maneuvering through security, enduring a flight with two little people, and dealing with jet lag.

But, we are glad that they endured all of that so we could see their sweet faces.

Susie's mom, Eric's Aunt Janie, had a party at Salem's Carousel so the Compton side of the family could all see them in one fell swoop.

From 7:00-7:30 we had the entire carousel to ourselves. And, Aunt Janie had hired a photographer to snap photos of our family. Ommygoodness. We felt like the Kardashians. You know. Public place all to ourselves. Followed around by papparazzi. With the photographer, it all kind of felt like we were filming our own TV show.

As I tucked Marshall in bed that night, we talked about the party. And I mentioned how blessed he is to have all of that extended family. To be related to so many people who love him.

Marshall sat straight up in bed and shouts, "I'm RELATED to those people??"

After all of the family gatherings we've had-- holidays, birthdays and visits --Marshall had not really ever pieced together that all of his relatives were, well, his relatives.

Now, let me clarify. He was NOT saying that they are all so crazy that he can't believe he is related to them. Although, Comptons/Collins/Liedkie crew, maybe some of you feel that about each other (just kidding, right?). But that is not what Marshall was saying, and I don't want anyone to have hurt feelings.

We ended up having a long discussion about who is who, and how everyone is related, and what all of the women's last names were before they were Comptons. And, who used be be a Compton until they got married. And why he has second cousins. And first-cousins-once-removed (had to Google that one). And why he has aunts and great-aunts. Whew. Glad to have clarified all of that. So, Marshall now knows that this bunch of monkeys is made up of second cousins. But, aren't they cute monkey second cousins?

Thanks for flying "home" to Oregon, sweet Liedkie crew! It was a blessing to spend an evening of your trip with you. Come back soon!