Thankful Thursdays - Family

I know, I skipped last week.  Sorry!  So to make up for it, this will probably end up being a longer post.  But only because we have SO MUCH to be thankful for. 

Jake and I are very lucky people, we come from great families!  We both have a set of parents who still live together and love each other (which is becoming fewer and fewer these days) and a younger sister each, and one brother in law.  We also both have big extended families and are pretty close with our families as well.  We live fairly close to both families (within 2 hours drive) and get to see them a lot! 

We are so lucky to have such a great family.  Our parents and siblings all live fairly close by (all are within a 2 hour drive, some not quite so far)  and we see each other fairly often.  One thing I love is having our family together.  It's so great to sit down at a table to share a meal, and look around at all our family.  Not only that but we have several "honorary" family members (Ms. Beverly) who just happen to live close by.  It is so nice to have an extra "mom" close by if I were to ever need one! :)  I mentioned earlier our big extended families.  Between the 2 of us, we have 25 aunts and uncles, and about 42 first cousins (and spouses).  I HOPE I didn't leave anyone out, but it's hard ot keep track of that many!  We are all pretty spread out and don't get to see each other too often, so we love the holidays when we can get together and catch up..  There is always a big group at any family function!  It is so nice to have this big family unit, so many people that we know love us and are there for us. 

And the other part of our family that I can't forget, is Daisy.  She has really been a blessing to us.  When we were looking for homes around Oxford, Jake had 2 dogs that lived with his parents (we couldn't have fit 2 grown labs in our apartment).  We (especially Jake) were extremely excited to have our dogs with us again.  But before we closed on our house, both dogs died.  It was very hard on us, we lost 2 family members.  Duke, the older dog, was like a brother to Jake.  After a few months or so, we decided we were ready to start looking for another dog. And then came Daisy.  She was ADORABLE and I fell in love with her the first time I saw a picture of her. (I also fell in love with at least 1 of her brothers and sisters, but Jake said we should do this puppy thing "1 at a time.")  I can still remember the day we got her, and I love looking back at pictures of her.  Watching her grow up has been so fun for Jake and me, and we love seeing her personality develop.  She is our first child and is spoiled rotten.  And I'm sure, even though there will be some adjusting, she will remain spoiled rotten!  She's just too cute to resist!

And the last piece to our family, our little "Butterbean" Anna Kate who will arrive this March.  I am so thankful that she has this wonderful family that she will become apart of.  All the aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents who are just going to love her.  We're so ready for her to arrive. These past 21 weeks have flown by.  And although I wish they'd slow down just a little (Mommy is a planner and she's not getting all her projects done fast enough), I'm glad they're not dragging by!  We are so excited about Anna Kate's arrival!  Anna Kate, we don't want to rush you too much, but as soon as you're ready to arrive, we're so ready to have you! :)