Last Weekend

"We're knee-deep in children!"

 My niece's observation was pretty accurate; it was a full house:

2 sets of grandparents, 2 pairs of parents, and 11 kids.

Thankfully the weather was nice so the big kids and dads could be outside.

The women, babies and old-folks stayed indoors for the most part participating in a endless task of feeding/rocking/consoling/snoozing (and not just the little ones). 

We celebrated this little girl's birthday

and enjoyed meeting the two newest members of the family

(although it doesn't appear as if the feeling is mutual).

For the foreseeable future, poor Josie will be labeled "The Big One" as throughout the day there was a chorus of, "She's huge!" or "She's so much bigger than the twins!" (no matter that she is 3 months older, was born at a normal weight, and as is generally typical of healthy children, she has grown since birth).

Here's a breakdown of the grandkids:

Abby - 9

Andrew - 7

Nathan - 7

Stephen - 6

Peter - 5

Matthew - 3

Eliza - 2

Jonathan - 3 weeks shy of 2

Josie - 3 months, 3 weeks

Lucy - 3 weeks

Miriam - 3 weeks

I'm so thankful for our family and the simple gift of getting to be together.