Family Gatherings

We all gathered on Tuesday for the funeral of my grandfather, Max Hamilton. He was the great-grandfather to all the Amazing Merritt Grands. While we gathered for a sad event, it was incredible to see the new wave of children that this family has been blessed with. Along with the Merritt Grands, we also saw the kids of the Merritt cousins, Carly Weiden, and Lee & Amanda Weiden. Their kids are Brady, 2 1/2 years old, and Brynley and Kellen, both 5 months old. I'll try to get their pictures for everyone to check out.

All the kids were running around, laughing and playing on the large dance floor at the Moose Lodge. It was interesting to compare and contrast each kid. Like, Jameson and Brady are a year apart, but Brady is almost as big as Jamo. That's not because Brady is huge, but that Jameson is puny. That is not the case with Kellen and Brynley. They were born a week apart, but Kellen has at least 5 lbs on Brynley. I think he's going to be driving soon! The funniest part of the day came when Brady found the microphone. Yikes, was that loud, and incredibly entertaining. It's good to laugh on a sad day - my grandpa would have appreciated it.

Another thought. Amelia, Jameson, and Hadley are all such sweet children. Amelia and Hadley most of the time - they are always melting our hearts - but Jameson's sweetness is more unexpected, and more of a gift. Nana recently had surgery on her finger, and one morning the dog jumped right on her hand. Jameson poked his head in Nana's room, and very quietly said, "Nana, are you OK?" And just this morning, at 3:00 AM, Jameson came into my room to sleep and said, "Mommy, I need to hold your hand." I would have cried if I was more awake... We held hands until the alarm went off at 6:00 AM.

I wish that all the kids could stay little forever. I'm not ready for homework and sports, for girlfriends and proms, but I know it's coming, and sooner than I expect. I want that little boy who holds my hand in the middle of the night to be like that always. I want him always to say, "Mommy, guess what? I love you all the numbers."