"in-Law"

In preparing to write this post, I began looking at various definitions of the word "family."  Here are some that I came across in my exploration courtesy of Webster, Oxford English, and Dictionary.com:

• a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children
• any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, cousins
• a group of persons of common ancestry
• the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children
• a group of people related to one another by blood or marriage
• a person or people related to one another and so to be treated by special loyalty or intimacy
• all the members of a household under one roof
• a group of people united in criminal activity!

Looking at the photo above and reflecting on these definitions I must say that, yes, we are:

• parents and children
• some are related by blood
• some do have common ancestry
• all units have two parents raising their children
• we are either related by blood or marriage
• we do have a special loyalty to one another
• for four days we did all live under one roof!
• criminal activity?  Define criminal...

I took the photo above this past weekend of my family; one might say the in-law side of my family because when I describe most of these people to others, the term "in-law" is attached, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, father-in-law...  I guess when I think of those words, "in-law," it is the legal binding with my hubby that made these wonderful folks my family so literally, they are my family "in-law."  Now, my intention isn't to glamorize our family; after all, we do all have our idiosyncrasies.  Beyond those, however, I must say that not only do we fit those dictionary definitions listed above, we are more.  We are:

• parents and children who laugh together
• some are related by blood and those who aren't are treated as though we are
• some do have common ancestry and others joined in to mix things up a bit
• we are parents completely and totally committed to raising our children together
• we are related by blood or marriage and by great food
• we do have a special loyalty to one another and truly enjoy being around each other
• we survive living under one roof on occasion despite our individual nuances and make the effort to do so time and again!

Now that's a definition for family!

I had so many photog ops over the weekend and acquired enough blog fodder to feed my posts for the next month or so!  I hope you enjoy just a few that I have chosen to share in this post.

My three kiddos at the third highest point east of the Mississippi River - 6643 feet!

This shot is a photo of my two homes.  Dead center is the stateline between NC and TN.

Screenshot from Google Earth of the ridiculously curvy road to get to that crazy elevation - one that my stomach did not appreciate!

Enjoying one of life's simplicities on the walk back down the moutainside.



This family shot includes my two cousin {in-laws} that were the catalyst to the whole family gathering!



{the in-laws}
This collage of photos was taken by my sweet neice and fellow photog enthusiast.
We celebrated my in-law's 50th anniversary while there.  Wow!  What an amazing accomplishment!