My Big Ass Family

At Easter we took a big group picture. 51 people and yes I can name them all. Even the cute yorkie.

Angelica, Louella, Melody, Sophia, Liliana, Felix, Betty, Romeo, Gus, Matthew, Isabella, Cassandra, Joaquin, Karina. 

Gabriel, Karina, Javier, Matias, Jose, Angie, Ruth, Mercy, Ruth, Leo, Arnoldo, Concha, Erika, Jose Jose, Martin, Adan, Cassandra, Elissa, Joey, Patricia, Jovan, Andres, Felix ,Miguel, Mary, Nicholas, Selina, Josie, Arnie, Carissa, Luis, Mercy, Kelly, Chris, Monique, Nick, Grace, Grande. 

And here is the thing, this photo is missing almost half of us. That's right there are about 40+ people missing from this picture. That's right, this is just about half of our family. My Mom has 7 sisters and 1 brother and that means that from the day I was born I have had a big family. I was the second grandchild and since then we have just keep growing.......and growing........and yes we are still growing. The thing that really makes us different is that even as we grew and moved and we have stayed close. We still celebrate holidays together and get together as much as possible.

So what's it like to be a part of a family like ours....

• LOUD! yes it's at loud as you would imagine it would be. Lots of laughing, singing, talking, babies crying and giggling. 
• BUSY. Our schedule is always full. With so many people there is always a birthday, holiday, baptism, communion or graduation party happening for someone. 
• SUPPORT: one of the best parts is that you have a whole big group of people always cheering you on. If you ever need someone to talk to, bounce ideas of off, or just hang out with there is always someone there for you. You have a built in cheering crowd of about 100 people. As you can imagine we can be a loud bunch at things like graduations. 
• LOVE: there is a heck of a whole lot of love. So much powerful love. And we are also an affectionate bunch. Every gathering starts with hugs and kisses to everyone there. Trying to leave a party on average takes about 30 minutes. All four of us have to say bye to everyone with even more hugs and kisses. 

I hope one day soon the moon and star and planets will align and the whole entire family will be in one place at one time for one amazing picture!