Late Christmas gathering celebrates extended family

This past Saturday, my mom and I went to the Twin Cities to spend time with some of our extended family.

Mom’s side of the family decided to get together for a late Christmas. Mom and I had a lot of fun seeing all of our cousins and other relatives.

The oldest people in attendance were in their 80s, the youngest were 15-month-old twins.

Since we only see most of those people once a year, Mom and I stayed at the party until the very end.

You can see the family resemblance in some of us. For example, my mom and one of her cousins look more like sisters than cousins!

In fact, my mom and her cousins acted more like siblings than cousins when they were growing up.

Mom lived right down the street from her cousins when she was a kid, so they played together all the time.

Mom, who is an only child, says that when she was growing up she had “the best of both worlds.” She could be at home where things were usually quiet and relaxed, or she could go visit her cousins and be near other people her age.

After the party, Mom and I stayed overnight at my grandma’s house.

While we were there, Mom asked Grandma for some old pictures she had of our ancestors.

The pictures were of Mom’s Grandma Grace, her dad’s mom. One of the pictures also features Mom’s great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother.

When my mom and her friends go on their quilting retreat this weekend, Mom is planning to begin a quilt in honor of her Grandma Grace.

It was fun to see relatives that we don’t see that often. I enjoyed spending time with them, and I hope we can all get together again soon!