Cousins

While some may have tons of cousins, my kids have one.  Yup that's right - one!  They live about an hour away from us and we got to see them recently.  Our kids absolutely love little Emma Claire.  She is a year younger than Haleigh, and so Haleigh feels the need to "mother" her.

Emma Claire especially liked Haleigh's princess figures.  They fought over them like sisters.  I'm thankful we don't have that to deal with right now.  One girl is enough for right now!

Ray and Stephanie are expecting their second baby, so we will soon have two cousins.  Rumor has it the baby is a boy, which the boys are super excited about!

A visit with cousins

Last weekend we went to visit some friends and then traveled to old Kinston, NC to see Ed's brother and family.  With the cooler temps, it turned out to be a great weekend.  Both nights we just sat outside talking, and I was actually cold!  (Very different from the heat we are feeling now!)


The kids enjoyed being with their only cousin, Emma Claire.  She is absolutely adorable.  She loves people and is pretty laid back.  She is a Martin.  


It makes me wish they lived closer.  I grew up with a big group of extended family that did many things together.  I think we had around 20 grandchildren, most being between 18-25 now.  So I am on the upper end, but always really loved our get togethers.  We celebrated holidays together, went on vacation together, had dinner at each other's houses, spent the night, and even were just friends.


I've always wanted that for our kids, but the reality is that just isn't really going to happen the way that I would design it.  But that's ok.  For whatever reason, the Lord is not designing either of our families to be in the same "phase" of life at the same time.  


Emma is a year younger than Haleigh and I know they will really enjoy that as they get older.  I also continue to pray that the Lord will put others in our lives that may not be family, but will fill that void in our lives.


Here's some pics we snapped of our families.

Micah decided to put a toy crab in front of his face right at the camera went off!

Cousins

Just call me Aunt Katie

Well its been a busy one around here.  Last week was my 30th birthday, so Ed and I went away for a couple of days leaving my mom and dad with the kiddos.  So I'll update on our weekend next time.  But I wanted to share with you the latest bundle of joy in the Martin family, and its not mine!  Ed's brother and wife had their first little baby on Saturday, so we drove down to Durham yesterday to see her!  We now have three Martin women with birthdays within one week - Haleigh, Me, and now Emma!  So let me introduce you to Emma Claire...

Ray holding his daughter