A Flurry of Activity

November is Birthday Month. In my extended family there are 16 birthdays, two of them are my children's, and one is a grandchild's. December is only slightly better. Add Thanksgiving, Christmas, and anniversaries into the mix and we have a very active two months.

We celebrated DD#3's birthday at my home since she was in town for a visit. All seven grandchildren and 5 adults made for a chaotic celebration around the table. DD#3 was a good sport about it, even when her birthday cake was decorated in "fall colors," aka the orange left from Halloween, on a chocolate cake. I made small cakes for each of the grandchildren to decorate themselves.

We make it a point to get all the cousins together as much as possible when they are in town at the same time. Family bonding is difficult in this day and age when families no longer live down the street from each other, or even in the same town. My four children were born on 3 different continents. The grandchildren were born in 4 different states and one foreign country. Times have changed from the days our ancestors lived and died in the same town, sometimes even the same house. There are distinct advantages to both ways of life.

Most of us will be together for Christmas again this year. We plan to make memories to hold on to in the future.