God's grace, cousins and the gift of laughter....

This beautiful woman with me is my cousin, Kim...she is actually married to my cousin, John...but she is one of my very dearest friends as well...and she laughs.

By God's grace, Kim was feeling well enough for Ron and I to take the kids over for a visit. Kim has a very rare auto-immune disease called relapsing polycondroitis and is on high doses of prednisone and chemo...and she laughs. She has always laughed at life as long as I've known her...I have so much to learn from her! She has always looked at life and family as gifts...to be enjoyed everyday, no matter what. And, there is no one that Kim laughs more at than herself...she is truly joyful. Even thru this ordeal...while lying in bed fighting nausea, losing her hair, trips to the hospital...she counts her blessings...and finds something to laugh at. She is amazing and I admire her so much.

Here she is (with the oldest of her 5 children, Maria) wearing a hat and 'dreadlocks' someone gave her...and she insisted on wearing them for the picture. We laughed so much all night!

Here is my dear cousin, Kathy....she lives a couple of hours away, so it is a treat to spend time with her...and if you can tell from the picture...we laughed!!!

Here are Sara and Maria...they are only 3 months apart in age, and we have so many pictures over the years of the two girls, I had to post this one.

Here is Timmy with Ronnie...Ronnie looks up to him so much and Tim is so sweet and kind with Ronnie...he really takes an interest in him and enjoys spending time with him...they had a nice visit.

And, here are all the cousins, minus my Meghan, who was home sick and missed the visit....which we will do again very soon, God willing! We all had such a great time...I forgot to get a picture of Ron and my cousin John watching the Penguins hockey game...between music and hockey...they enjoy spending time together as much as the rest of us do! Family is too important NOT to make the time for...and the memories that are made are so precious! Next party...Maggie's birthday! ~Sue~