Family

Today was a GREAT day. I have a new niece! Today, we officially got to welcome Laina Kate to our family. My cousin Allie, and her family, adopted this sweet girl from Rwanda. (you can read more about their entire journey here) We have been waiting for this little girl for a LONG time. I have been so excited about this baby. We all have. Many, many people have spent many, many hours praying her home.

Well, Laina is now OFFICIALLY a Brannon. Which makes her OFFICIALLY a Schweizer as well. This little girl has NO clue what she has gotten herself into. Ha. Most people had a few cousins to grow up with, and a few Aunts and Uncles. Not me. On my dad’s side of the family (The Schweizers), I am the proud owner of 2 parents, a brother, a husband, a daughter, 7 aunts, 6 uncles, 28 first cousins, 3 cousin in laws, a sister in law, 3 nephews, and now 2 nieces. (okay, the nephew and niece thing may confuse a few people. We-the cousins-decided it was MUCH too confusing for the Greats to know who their Aunts/Uncles were because there are SO many of us all around the same ages. So Iain would have Aunt Kelsey, but then to Addie she would just be Kelsey, so we made the rule that Haylee and up are OFFICIALLY Aunts/Uncles to the Greats. Made it easier on everyone. So I consider Iain, Cory, Isaiah, and Laina nieces/nephews) Did you keep up with all that? That’s 56 people. You may be thinking, sure that’s lots of people, but they never all see each other. Wrong again, my friends. When we were growing up, most everyone lived close by each other (except us) and we saw everyone on a very regular basis. Most of my favorite childhood memories are at “The Big House” in Florida. Sitting in the sunken in living room listening to my Granddaddy play guitar and sing to us, playing with my cousins, swimming in the lake, getting tormented by the Uncles, trying not to get killed by the Orange Dodgeball. We are a pretty close knit family. We get together a minimum of once a year. Memorial Day weekend everyone packs up and heads to the “Property”.  However, then we have multiple birthdays people attend, graduations, weddings, Thanksgivings, Christmas. To be such a BIG family, we are VERY close. I LOVE that Addie, as well as the rest of the Greats, will grow up with SO many “cousins” her own age. We really make an effort to get the 6 of them together on a very regular basis. I HOPE she stays as close with all of them as I have with mine, and I’m sure she will because that’s just how our family works. The Schweizers are loud, funny, loyal, sarcastic, supportive, and quite a bit crazy, and I imagine little Laina will fit right in with all of us.

So, welcome to the family Laina Kate. We love you!