Fox Family Gatherings - Part One

I have a large family. Five siblings, five in-laws, and eight nieces and nephews. My parents are still together after forty-two years (!) and we all get together as a whole family at least once a month. Barbeques, birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Independence Day, Christmas, Easter, cherry picking, and much, much more. It's always such fun. I honestly never really understood why people dreaded getting together with their families so much. We're extremely lucky, too, in that we've always lived very close to each other. Two hours, tops. (This was thrown for a huge loop recently when my sister met and married a wonderful man from England and moved there. We noticeably don't really know how to handle that little reality and I am for sure living a slightly lonelier life without her here. Love you, Suzie!) The two years I spent at school in Virginia were fantastic, but it was hard getting used to not being home for births, birthdays, and family outings.

My niece turned four in March and Birch and I went down to Santa Cruz for her party with pony rides, a pinata, and cake! (The next day I went into labor.) The party was so much fun, especially watching the kids trying new things and playing all kinds of games. It makes me (and Birch) so excited for Keats to get just a bit older so he can run around with his cousins laughing and playing, too. Don't worry, we're enjoying him just as he is right now to no end. Like my sister says about her little girl, "Today is the cutest they've ever been." I love that and it's exactly how I feel. Seriously, having kids is awesome. Now that Keats is here I feel completely justified in my impatience for him to be born. The near weekly advice of "savor the pregnancy" from various random sources just makes me laugh now as I stare into Keats' beautiful eyes. Even during those extra hard moments (and days/nights) I don't, even secretly, wish I were still pregnant. Not just because my pregnancy was hard for me, but because here he is: the reason I got pregnant in the first place. Birch and I actually held off getting pregnant for several months because we wanted to take the advice of our families and friends and have some married time with just the two of us. That year was fabulous, no doubt, but we both feel like this is what we really wanted and a large portion of why we even got married at all. 

But anyway (stay on target), Birch and I of course lusted after the ranch and did a little walk around the stables. Birch is scared of horses, actually, but he's starting to get over it and they like him well enough, too. We won't be able to afford horses when we buy our dream, but we do plan on having goats, chickens, perhaps a couple of sheep, a couple of ducks, and definitely at least one more dog.

Memorial Day was fast approaching and we were getting more and more excited about setting off on a Fox Family tradition of cherry picking up in Brentwood, California. Emails made the rounds and a time to meet up was set. Off we went in droves, picking all the cherries we could imagine eating (and in some cases a few more than that). Some dreamed of pies, others the easiest popsicles in the world. Birch and I of ice cream (more on that another time). Once again I proved to myself that taking pictures while holding a baby is difficult and sometimes impossible to get the shot you want, but I got a few.

Next up, a whole bunch of July birthdays. My goal: handsewn presents. Better get crafting!