my family

I've spent a week with them.

Can you tell how much i love 'em?

I just can't get enough of my family!!! 

I want to introduce you to them...cuz well, i think the WORLD of them:).

 So here. 

Here's our whole bunch:) We're the originals. 

And then I got married to that stud standing beside me:) and now he's a part of our happy, crazy, loud bunch now too.

So that was everyone.  Let me get a little more personal.

This here is my cute daddy. 

Now, you ask, why am i holding on to his ear?
Little secret about me...I had a weird obsession with holding onto my parents' earlobes to help me fall asleep as a kid. Till this day of full grown womanhood, i still hold onto my own earlobe to fall asleep. (or my husbands;) lol.)

but for reals, now, this man is incredible. 

He is just the man I most most most admire. and love. and respect. and adore. so very much.

He is the biblical model of a father. 

in the words of Pastor Broggi, "A good mark of a good father is how he treats his wife."

Oh, and how he treats my mom. He's so loving to her. If you watch them for just a few minutes, you can see just how much he loves her and makes her so happy.

This is the lady that I want to be when I grow up.
My mom's priority all our lives was to watch us grow and raise us well.
She did it, not by being a career woman and focusing on work or making money, but by staying home and enjoying all those good, bad, and crazy moments with us girls.
She sacrificed working a job.
She sacrificed leaving her family in the Philippines.
She trusted that her priority of ministry, work, and love was for her family.
Proverbs 31 describes my mother to the tee.
Her love for the Lord.
Her commitment to our family.
She's also the cool one that buys my clothes:) She's got fantastic taste.

This is Ilene of muchlove_illy.

Yeah, she's as cool as her blog shows:).

She's my role model.

My fashion advisor.

My favorite big sister.
She and I can look at each other and know what the other is thinking about.
We were roomies for a year in Chicago before I got married. Often I reminisce about our year living in our 30th floor apartment of Chicago, often siting by the big window overlooking the city, while drinking coffee with whipped cream and sprinkles as we talked about everything.
Those were sweet cozy crazy fun times.
She can make me laugh probably harder than anyone else in the world.

 Ashley's our littlest sister.

However, she's not really little anymore. She's actually in highschool, driving, and dressing all cute and trendy. Dang. Wish I were her in highschool;).

This girl is my favorite little sister. 

We had so many years and summers of sharing secrets, driving around with music blaring, and going on sister outings. 

She's the one that I can be a big kid around and do stupid things with. 

Like acting out Hansel and Gretel in our backyard. last christmas. 

no, wait, did I just admit that?

She's so cool. I love her. 

Summers don't seem right without her around.

And this sweet puppy face is the baby of our family.

and my only brother. currently. till Ilene gets married.

This is Peyton Manning E. G. 

This little guys drives me nuts with mushy gushiness for him.

I'm crazy for this boy. 

When I'm home, this little guy is usually waiting outside my door, or snuggling with me on the couch, or sitting outside on the grass watching the cars driving by. 

I keep trying to persuade mom and dad that he should live in Iowa with me.

But that wouldn't fly. 

My family's too in love with him too.:)

and this man, is my family. We're our own little family. together:).

and every time we get the chance to go home to SC together-things are just complete.

I get to see him relax. enjoy himself. not have to do anything but have fun.

It's really cool how he loves my family too.

He's the only person in the whole world that I don't have to say "goodbye" to, because anywhere either of us goes,  we both go together. 

He's my best friend.

can you tell yet?
that I'm crazy about my family?
My parents did it right.
They gave our family the gift and the blessing of closeness.
All these years of consistent family times, family devotions and prayers, family dinners, etc...
is what brought our family to where it is today.
Bonded so close, that even with so much distance between us, we're close anyways.
and I'm proud of it.

Love ya'll.