It's been a month of weddings around my house.  My daughter got married two weeks ago, and my niece got married on Saturday. Her new husband, Stephen, is really a terrific guy. I mean, he called me his favorite aunt at the wedding! It's tough not to like someone with such impeccable taste. 

I've spent a lot of time thinking about families in recent weeks. About the families we're born into, and the families we create along the way.  I've thought about how much each person in a family brings to the table, and how each person changes the family dynamic a little, either with their presence or their absence.

Six months ago, our family was, by many standards, quite small. My parents had just three children and five grand-children, so even with the next generation adding to our numbers we don't exactly strain the seams on the house when we get together for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We're still small, but in the past six months, we've added two new spouses and a step-daughter, and we have two new babies coming to join the two great-grandchildren who are already here.  For a family the size of ours, that's a veritable population boom!

I guess one of these days, we might strain the seams of the house at the holidays, but I hope it doesn't happen too soon.  I like who we are now, and I like who we're becoming.