Relatively Speaking...

I am always posting photos of my youngest nieces and nephews, but I've never told you about the rest of my family. So here's a little history...

Once upon a time, there was a man named Everett and a woman named Mary Ann who had 5 children -- Sherrie (right center), Becky (middle), Mark (far left), Julie (left center) and Corey (far right).

===> Pay close attention - we have two Marks married to Sherries in our family, and both my husband Mark and I have sisters named Becky, one of whom married a Mark... (It gets confusing even for us...)

Sherrie (that's me, I'm the oldest) married Mark (eventually) and gained a step-son, Erik. He was 13 years old when we got married. He is now 18, and just got back froma year in Thionville, France as a foreign exchange student with Rotary International.

My sister, Becky, married Dana and had Brooke, who is a chiropractor in Byron, Minnesota...

Brooke has a daughter - my great niece!

Becky and Dana also had Laurel, who is married to Mike, and lives in Ocala, Florida. They're expecting their first baby in November!

Then the other Mark and Sherry (I warned you...) had Michael, who lives in Valporaiso, Indiana. Here he is with his girlfriend, Abby. Michael has a great sense of humor and keeps us all laughing.

Then, the other Mark and Sherry had Christopher. Chris is an incredible musician who lives in Hunington Beach, California with his wife, Alysha. They are expecting their first baby in March.

Next, Julie and her husband, Jim, who are missionaries to Brazil, had Josiah. He is going to be married to Nikki this December. They are both students at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa.

Then Becky and Dana had Cole, who is in college at the University of Northern Iowa. His girlfriend, Randi, and he sing beautiful duets.

Soon after, Jim and Julie had Joy Anna in Brazil. She is a great baker, and both works and attends college in Owatonna, Minnesota.

Her younger sister, Jennifer, just graduated from high school in Brazil, and will soon be relocating to study at Ironwood Bible Camp in southern California.

My brother Corey is 16 years younger than I am, so there was a long gap before he grew up, got married to Kaye, and had the cute little niece you've seen in so many photos.

Her little sister came along 2 1/2 years later.

Last but not least is their little brother, now 1 1/2 years old and a real corker!

But there's more! (I am so blessed!)

When I married my husband 4 1/2 years ago, I not only gained a step-son, but a wonderful mother-in-law, Susan (in bright blue in the picture below), an awesome sister-in-law Becky D, and a terrific brother-in-law, Mark D, who sadly, passed away 3 years ago. We still miss him.

I also got three new nieces and nephews!

Elizabeth, a school teacher from Tulare, California, is third from the left.

Rachel, who is a great dancer and choreographer, just got a new job teaching PE and dance, and bought her first house.

Their younger brother, Stephen, a sophomore at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California, holds a special place in our hearts because he went to Scotland with us last summer.