We are a blended family with 5 wonderful adult children, 1 amazing Golden Retriever, 1 Goldfish, 5 grand dogs and 2 grand cats. Getting everyone together for the holidays or anytime during the year is an impossible feat! We have a daughter in Colorado, a son in New York, a son in North Carolina and a son and daughter still nearby in Iowa. We pray for them daily, talk with them most everyday and love them beyond what words can express. Cell phones, FaceTime and texting make them feel not so far away and bonded in family ties. They tend to call while they are driving home and catch us up on their day, giving us the highs and lows of what’s going on in their lives. When the call comes in, we drop everything and answer and just enjoy the moment together in conversation. We love to hear their voices and share in their day. The two younger ones are my bonus kids that I love dearly. I feel very blessed to have them in my life and to witness what a wonderful father my husband is. He loves to laugh with them, tell jokes, give advice (wanted or not) and just spend quality time with them. We dream of having the whole big crew together with their significant others, dogs and cats for the holidays…we know this is a big dream and the reality of it happening slim to none. We prayerfully put this dream in Gods hands and if that is to be it will be. Until then we feel blessed to be together anytime we can. Last year we almost pulled it off with Christgiving, where we combined Thanksgiving and Christmas together. We were blessed to have everyone and their pooches, minus our son in New York, at our home. However, with Facetime we got him and his girlfriend with us! The day was wonderful! We celebrated Christmas with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in the background, played games with fun prizes, ate the traditional Thanksgiving meal with all of my parents’ and grandparents’ recipes and opened presents. The holiday cheer and spirit was amazing! My advice to blended families: be flexible, patient and kind when blending a family especially during the holidays when so many pressures and demands for time are high. We truly are blended, blessed and bonded… we pray the bond continues to strengthen in God’s perfect timing and in His perfect way. Wishing our readers a joyous Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas… or Christgiving!!
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