Some of my family live near each other, but some are nowhere close to us. I have family in the UK and Australia as well as other states within the US. Usually, we get to see each other every 2 years ~ if we're lucky. Every other year, as many of us as possible descend upon San Antonio, catch up, and celebrate the season together. This year, the family that made it were: Mum, Dad, Nana, Grampy, my brother and sister-in-law, my sister and her 2 kids, and my husband and myself with our two dogs. Quite the full house. We wished our other out of country relatives could be there, but I'm sure we'll get to see them again in the near future.
We went down Tuesday night after work. That in itself was quite the feat. We had to take a power nap in the car because we were so exhausted. It is roughly a 5 hour drive from our house to my parents on a good day. It was not a good day.
On the Wednesday, we were exited to be in San Antonio. After we got our dentist appointments over with that morning (I'm a wimp when it comes to dentists, and I have so far refused to change to someone up north. Don't judge), we enjoyed hanging out with family, taking walks with our dogs, and just relaxing in general.
My nephew and niece adored our dogs, and I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual.
My husband doing jazz duets and improvising with my nephew.
On Thanksgiving, we exchanged presents before Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner, we hung out, played games, and just generally let loose like you only can around family.
Crowns courtesy of our Christmas crackers.
Can't have Thanksmas without a Christmas pudding!
We Jenga-ed Jenga, built Stonehenge, and then found the true reason it fell down: giant pug attack!
The next night, after a day of being in a food-induced coma, we went out to eat to celebrate my brother and sister-in-laws' 10 year anniversary. We were joined with a few more family members who live in San Antonio. We went to the restaurant where they had their rehearsal dinner, and, coincidently, my husband and my rehearsal dinner was at the same restaurant.
Waiting for some ridiculously good Mexican food.
On Saturday, we headed up to Austin to see my other siblings (technically step-siblings, but I think that sort of labeling is unneccessary. They're family. Period.) and their families. That's when things started to get really ridiculous. In total, there were 6 siblings, 5 sibling-in-laws, 6 nephews and nieces, 2 parents, 2 grandparents, and 3 dogs (ours were left at my parents' house, so this does not include them). It was a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and seeing how much my nephews and nieces have grown. It's a rarity that all 6 of us, plus families, get together. We really should try to make it happen more often. It's so much fun!
The siblings, plus their families.
Our last day there was Sunday. My Mum made an amazing Sunday roast, and then we were the first ones to leave, since we had the longest to drive. It was sad to go, but I look forward to doing it all again in the near future. Chalk this one up to one of the highlights of my year. To me, family is everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment