Building Family Traditions

"We are family...we are family." Ok, not many readers can relate to that song, but when I started this post, it sprang into my head. We are all about family. Our 4 daugthers, 4 sons-in-law, and 8 (right now) grandchildren are our delight! I looooove getting us all together. One son in law one time said that every time someone sneezes we get together to celebrate! Not true, but kind of expresses our family sentiment. The fact is that all of us have VERY busy lives, and our family gatherings are less and less frequent.
One of our annual events is the July 4th lake house gathering. It is a time that we all look forward to and we have a blast. Aspen says that we go to "Mamo's other house". (I wish). The older children enjoy talking about the years past, the different houses we have rented, and special times we have had. I love that we are building traditions and memories that the grandchildren can remember.
This year, we were able to rent the boat that was at the lake house and were able to pull the kids on the tube. Different groups went out, but every time anyone took the boat out, Katy, Aspen, and I were on it
The three little ones, Hudson, Aspen, and Kylie swam in the shallow water in front of the house for hours and hours. . As Emily said, all three of them talk all the time and are bossy, but they enjoy being together so much. They are THE CUTTEST things together.
I love every thing about being at the lake.

When we got home from the lake, Les said that he thought we should buy jet skis. He began a diligent search, focused 2 days entirely on finding some. I really had nothing to do with this, but I have to admit that he did it for me and the grandchildren. He doesn't really like the water. And here we are.