50 YEARS!

                                       All of us - Above!  Grandma & Grandpa 50years together below!

                                           The grandkids, in order of course.

                                       Half of the group exploring the Lava tube caves, while
                                  us moms went shopping in Bend, Oregon.

                                    Below are my true peeps - the 6 of us that married in to the
                                  Leaman clan! 

So I've been gone for over a week in Sunriver, Oregon, celebrating Dan's parent's 50 year wedding anniversary.  This was no ordinary family gathering, because in Dan's family, there were 6 kids, and now those 6 kids have 6 spouses, and between all us we've had 26 kids, and now even 2 great grandkids!  So you can imagine the magnitude of this event.  Spending this much time with the in laws made me realize how incredible they are as a group, where I fit in I'll never know.  They are actually superior to me in most ways.  Here are a few examples:

                          Leamans: They are all incredibly athletic, they spent the week volleying volleyballs,
                    riding bikes, & rafting down rivers. 
                          Me: The closest I got to participating in an athletic event was when I sat and watched
                     the Olympics in the evenings.  I almost broke a sweat worrying about China having
                     more medals than us.

                         Leamans: They have an uncanny ability to stay up till all hours of the night, partying.
                   They go to bed at 1 am, and then are ready to attack the day at 7 the next morning.  
                          Me: I was having anxiety attacks because I was not getting my 8 hours, and at
                      one point, I thought I'd have to be hospitalized for exhaustion, like Lindsay Lohan.

                        Leamans: They love and embrace small children, loud noise, and hard work.  I am
                   not kidding, they run around scooping up grandchildren, throwing them in the air, while
                  simultaneously cleaning the kitchen. 
                          Me:  I sit on a couch, feeling all worn out from sitting by the pool, and praying that
                   no children talk to me, including my own.

                        Leamans: They are happy, carefree, and fun people.  They laugh on the river rafts,
                   they play games until the wee hours of the night, and they go hot tubbing at midnight.
                         Me: The entire time I was on the river, I was convinced someone would drown, and
                   throughout the week I started having my annual back to school nightmares that it's the
                   day of the semester final, and I forgot to go to class all year.  I have a huge fear of being
                   unprepared, so I literally have these dreams every August. 

In all, I would just like to say this, opposites do indeed attract.  And 15 years of being around Dan's family, I am still in awe of their cheerful demeanors, their ability to be content wherever they are, and their hard-working heartiness.  I am so grateful that their genetics mixed with my frail, worry-ridden, nutty ones to produce hopefully balanced children.  And above all that I was grateful that we really do have one thing constantly in common - a love & a committment to Christ.  Listening to the history of their testimonies and the testimonies of the grandparents before them was absolutely an awesome reminder of God's goodness and His grace.  What a legacy of generations of godliness.  And for that I am truly thankful.....
       But now, now that I'm home, I'm going to get some sleep!