My Best Memory of 2016

December is here and it's time to look back over the year and reflect on all the good and bad that came our way. To be honest, this year would not even be in the running for "Top Ten Years Ever." It's been a difficult year for our family, for our country, and for our world. But that's not how I meant to start out. I meant to reflect on good memories, so let me do that.

My dad is one of four kids in his family. He's got an old brother, a younger brother, and a younger sister. When I was young his parents lived in Texas a few hours' drive up the road from us. Not too long after we moved to Virginia, they followed us and bought a house a few blocks up the street.

The rest of my dad's family was more spread out: California, New Jersey, North Carolina, England...But we still managed to get together for special occasions. I have always enjoyed spending time with my cousins. There are eight of us when we get together. The age range spans about 12 years, which seems like a lot when you're young, but not so much now as an adult. I didn't see my cousins as often once my grandparents died. Life was busier in general and we didn't have the patriarchs to gather around.

About 5 years ago, though, we decided to start having family reunions. We've held three now and it's been so much fun to get to know my cousins again, but also for my kids to get to know their kids.

This past summer, we all got together in North Carolina. My dad and his siblings (and spouses) were able to spend time together talking and catching up. I got to spend time with my cousins and all our kids got to get together. We throw correct genealogical terms out the window and go with what seems comfortable. Therefore I'm "Aunt Rabia" to my cousins' kids and my kids refer to them as their cousins. My kids only have one actual cousin, so I'm happy for them to gained these cousins and to feel so close to them. The kids range in age from 13 down to 6, except for an infant born last year. I've got the second oldest (by a few months) and the (almost) youngest, so it's a span that I'm used to and it means they get along well and are at similar stages. There are nine of them altogether; four girls and five boys.

We spent some time at the lake. We went hiking. We took over a pizza joint and made Uncle David sit at the kids' table. We went swimming. We went shopping. We wandered around downtown Asheville and watch the street artists. It was such a nice time to spend together with family and it is truly my best memory from 2016!

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week 13 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:
Baking In A Tornado
Not That Sarah Michelle
The Bergham Chronicles
Spatulas on Parade
The Diary of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver
Dinosaur Superhero Mommy
Never Ever Give Up Hope
Simply Shannon
A Little Piece of Peace
Confessions of a part time working mom
The Angrivated Mom Blog
Climaxed

My “Secret Subject” is: It seems like 2016 has been a bit of a tough year for everyone. To end on a high note, what was your best memory from this year? It was submitted by: http://climaxedtheblog.blogspot.com