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Saturday, August 21, 2010

A Bit of Me(Me): Families


Danielle over at There's a Book hosts this fun meme every week to help bloggers get to know each other better. Come join us!

Here's this Week's Question:


 Do you come from a large or small family and how do you think it influenced your life?

Here's a picture of the family I came from taken nearly 25 years ago. Yes, that's me in the Micky Mouse sweatshirt, with all my 8 younger brothers and sisters. I have three brothers right after me, then it goes girl boy girl boy girl after that! My youngest sister was born after I had left the house and was in college. There's only one summer that we were all actually living in the same house together.


And here we are today, this picture taken at a family reunion just a month ago. Keep in mind, we had just been camping for three days, so we all look a little... shall we say, worn! Can you match any of these adults up with the kids in the above picture? I find it interesting that even though there's nearly 20 years between me and my youngest sister, we find that today we have lots in common. She is the one that got me started blogging. We both have the Josh Groban (and other celebrity) fascination. We love the same movies. We giggle together all the time over many silly things. Very fun.

Being part of a big family is so much a part of who I am that I'm not sure I even have words to describe it. I fulfill the "first child" role to the T. I've always been the bossy one, the organized one, an over achiever (back in the day, not sure that fits me now) and all the rest of the traits oldest kids have. It was fun growing up with a tons of kids, there was never a dull moment. Sometimes it made me crazy though, and I really got sick of tending everyone. But really it's a lot of fun.

My dad comes from a family of 12 kids, and each of those kids had families similar to ours. That means I have I think about 72 first cousins on that side. Now, can you imagine how fun those family reunions were when I was growing up? 

Now I myself have four kids, which some people may think is also a big family. Around here in Utah though, it's right down the middle average. As for me, I think it's just perfect! :)



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12 comments:

  1. Thoughts of JoyAugust 21, 2010 at 10:38 AM

    What an awesome post, Suey! I loved reading about you and your family.

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  2. Gwen@ChewDigestBooks.comAugust 21, 2010 at 12:37 PM

    I am an only child, so reading these posts about larger families if so cool! Foreign, but cool:)

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  3. Laurel-Rain SnowAugust 21, 2010 at 12:45 PM

    What an amazing family you have! You all still get together, which is great. Thanks for sharing.

    Here's my post:

    http://snowconnections.wordpress.com/2010/08/21/a-bit-of-me-me-two-plus-two/

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownAugust 21, 2010 at 2:22 PM

    You have a terrific family, immediate and extended family! It amazes me that your youngest sibling, your sister was born after you left for college! It's also fantastic that you are so close now!
    I love that you are happy to have grown up in such a large family and appreciate them, despite some of the annoyances and irritations while growing up. Those are normal and happen in every family.

    Thank you for sharing and posting photos!

    ~ Amy

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  5. CarolineAugust 21, 2010 at 4:08 PM

    Wow! Those are such great pictures to have. I'm from a small family, just one (younger) sister. I think that's why I really like reading books with families with multiple siblings, and seeing the individual relationships that someone can have with all of them.

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  6. LisaAugust 21, 2010 at 4:12 PM

    It's so interesting that you and your youngest sister are so close. My husband and his oldest brother are 14 years apart and they are really close. I guess once you hit adulthood, the difference in age really doesn't make that much difference; it's more about what you have in common.

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  7. melissa @ 1lbrAugust 21, 2010 at 5:15 PM

    Mmm, I love having lots of siblings! Reunions are such a blast, even if they are ridiculously noisy :)

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  8. Jan von HarzAugust 21, 2010 at 6:06 PM

    Wow great family pics. Me I am from a small family one older sister. She and I didn't get along at all when I was younger and we have very opposite likes even today. Thankfully we do get along better. I think bigger families end up being a lot closer and your family seems to support that. Great post.

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  9. UnknownAugust 21, 2010 at 9:18 PM

    I grew up in Utah myself, and I come from a family of six kids, I was the oldest too. I definitely fit the oldest child mold as well, and I find that role affects my romantic relationships especially...I get involved with men who want to do more "leading" and I'm like "dude, sorry, I'm not a follower, I helped raise 5 kids". It's interesting!

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  10. The1stdaughterAugust 22, 2010 at 2:08 PM

    I love this! I honestly wish I could handle (or even conceive) more children, because the though of always having these wonderful people in my life sounds fantastic. It's so neat also that you and your youngest sister share so much! Just so fun! Thank you for sharing!

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  11. alisonwonderlandAugust 24, 2010 at 10:07 PM

    What fun photos! Thanks for sharing them!

    I am also the oldest of a large family - I have six younger sisters.

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  12. Michelle Fluttering ButterfliesAugust 26, 2010 at 2:46 PM

    Wow, I had no idea. I absolutely adore this post and LOVE those photos. Especially the one with you in the Mickey jumper :) too cute for words. I always wanted to be part of a large family - my mom was one of 10 and my dad one of 4. For me, growing up, it was just me, my brother and my dad :( I envy you.

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