All Because Two People Fell In Love...

Caleb and I went out to dinner Friday night with Elliana and Ethan. Caleb and I love going out on dates just the two of us, but going out as a family creates a completely different feel. It's a lot of fun, and a lot stressful. Especially because we have VERY active children that don't like to sit long for ANYTHING. Ha!

While we were focused on containing the chaos and trying to keep the noise level and messes down, a very sweet elderly woman walked up to us. She commented on how cute our little ones were. I just smiled and said "Thank you." She started walking away and then turned around to say "My husband and I have 28 great-grandchildren!" She was beaming with pride. I Congratulated her and told her she was very blessed. She was a beautiful woman, one that had aged very gracefully, and was obviously proud of her family and the life she has lived.

Then I got to thinking. Not many people live to see their great-grandchildren, let alone 28 of them! I looked at Caleb and thought to myself, I wonder how many of our grandchildren or great-grandchildren we'll get to meet. It's hard to imagine now when we're in the thick of growing and raising our own small family. Still, it was fun to think about.

This lead me to think about how my family-the family I grew up with, has already grown so much.

My sisters and I have a tradition of surprising our mom with family photos for Mother's Day every 3-4 years. It's a fun tradition, and this year was extra special because our very talented friend Becky was photographing the family. As always, we had a blast and she did a FANTASTIC job! These are just a few of the favorites she shared on her site, we haven't even seen all of the photos yet.

Over the years my family has grown from this:

To this:

That's 4 sisters, 4 husbands, and 6 little ones all ages 7 and under. And my 2 younger sisters haven't even started having children yet.

I can't help but wonder what this family will look like 10, 20 or 30 years from now.

Or what families will grow from these 6 sweet faces:

Whatever the future holds, I'm so thankful that my parents fell in love, and that they have their own growing family to show for it.

And I'm also thankful for Becky. For taking such beautiful photos that we will cherish for years to come. I can't wait to see the rest!