thank-full

memorial day weekend was full of family fun. for the first time in a long time, we were all together - mom, dad, my sister, her husband and little miles, and my brother, his wife and their two kids, gretchen and jacob, along w/ my dad's mom. there is always a little anxiety going into a weekend spent in one house with 9 adults and 3 kids under the age of 3. but it really was such a great time. i'm so in love with my niece and nephews - such great kids. my niece (2 1/2) calls my nephew "miser" because apparently that's what "miles" sounds like to her...and i love it. and jacob, he is 6 months and couldn't be happier just hanging out. love those kids.

the thank-full part comes not only from having such a great family, but even more so because my brother was in an accident about two hours after leaving my parents house on sunday. the kind of accident that when you hear about it, or see the vehicle afterwards (which fortunately i haven't) you think "it's amazing they all made it out alive". the minivan he was driving flipped end over end and skid on its top down the middle of I-64W just west of Lexington, KY. thank-full because they all walked away. my sister-in-law had some stitches and a few other scrapes, my brother had a nice scrape from the road on his shoulder, but the kids were completely fine, just a few band-aids for gretchen and that was all. deep sigh. just praying that my brother can let go of the guilt of being the driver and accept the gift that they are all ok and learn to be thank-full for every moment. it's my little brother, and i just want to take care of him.