10 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 10

Today I am thankful for my wonderful family!

It seems only fitting that I conclude this post series by focusing on the most important people in my life - my family.  The older I get, the more they matter to me!  Our family has really grown through the years - there are now 17 people in my immediate family!  That sort of boggled my mind a bit!!

Sometimes I get questions like, 'wait you have an older sister?' or 'your brother lives in Minneapolis?' so I thought I'd do a little who's who blog post.

• Mom & Dad - My parents still live in my home town in North Dakota, about 4 hours away.  They are in the midst of building a lake home which they will retire to eventually. I look forward to this because they have worked SO HARD and really deserve some R&R.
• Chad, Emily, Kolin, and Anna - My eldest brother lives south of Chicago.  I've had the chance to go visit them on my own and those are my favorite trips because I get them all to myself!!  Kolin will be 5 in January, and Anna was born this September.  Kolin is a boy, through and through.  He loves anything with wheels!  Anna has pudgy cheeks and is a happy baby.  I can't wait to hold her this weekend!!
• Kevin, Julie, Andrew, and Matthew - My 2nd oldest brother lives in a western suburb of Minneapolis.  I lived with Kevin and Julie at one point, so am especially close to them as a result of that.  They made countless meals for me and have done so much through me through the years!  Andrew turned 6 in June.  He has the softest heart and used to refer to me as "my Lisa".  Matthew turned 3 last April and is the comedian of the family.  He has the most expressive facial expression and is just hilarious.
• Emily, Jason, James, and Charlie - My older sister lives about 30 minutes from my parents.  I get to see them quite a bit at the lake each summer.  My sister and I did not get along when we were younger, but have become closer as we've gotten older, especially this past year.  James is my Godson and he turned 7 in July.  He has fallen in love with reading and is now reading chapter books, which makes me SO EXCITED.  I am the book-giving aunt who tries to instill a love of reading, so it makes me so happy that he has fallen in love with reading already!  Charlie was born in May and is the sweetest, smiliest baby.  He is going to be a mover and a shaker as he has been rolling over since he was just a couple of weeks old!
• Abby and Ryan - My youngest sister and her husband live in Tucson, AZ.  I got to spend some one-on-one time with them this past January when I flew down for a visit.  Abby and I have a REALLY tumultuous relationship when we were younger, but have since grown very close, especially since she got married.  I was the over-bearing, over-sharer-of-advice for many years, but now I have backed off and that has really helped our relationship!  I miss having them close, but also appreciate the fact that they live in an area that is great to visit during our bitterly cold winters!  

 So that's everyone!  2 parents, 4 siblings, 4 in-law, 5 nephews, and 1 niece!  15 of the 17 of us will be together (Abby & Ryan are not able to make it home for Thanksgiving).  I am so excited to see each and everyone!  My brother will be hosting Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow and I will host dinner on Friday night, so we have lots of time together to look forward to - AND EATING! 

For my American friends, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!  I'll be back with a recap at some point next week.  I am REALLY going to try to be better about taking photos this year!!