Boys, Boys & More Boys!

We often laugh about the fact that we ended up with so many boys in our families. Tom grew up, after the death of his Father in WW2, being raised by his Mother and her sisters and extended family. Lots of ladies.  And, for most of his early adulthood, lived with his first wife, Anne and their two daughters. Again, mostly ladies.  The next generation, however, is loaded with boys!  We now have one 6 year old boy and another (13) on the way. Tom is blessed with 5, yes, 5 grandsons.  My sister Amy has two 20 month old twin boys.  Our family gatherings are now full of testosterone!  What a switch.  Of course, we have some wonderful nieces also, but the balance has certainly shifted.

We traveled to Virginia this weekend to celebrate the wedding of my youngest brother, Adam to his new bride Kristin.  The setting could not have been more picturesque.  We were atop a mountain in Big Island, VA overlooking the blue ridge mountains.  the sun was bright and the clouds were scarce.  It was a truly lovely day.

Kristin & Adam Jewell

Tommy w/ Aunt Kristin

Tommy w/ Uncle Adam

Then, we traveled to Lawrenceville,VA to meet (in person for the first time) Tom's newest grandson, Jaxon Farmer.  We had a fun time (especially Tommy) visiting with his daughters and their families.  Tommy loved getting to see his two "big sisters" and his nephews (two of whom are actually older than he :-)  I don't think those boys stopped talking for two seconds the entire time they were together.  I learned that it IS NOT just my son who can't seem to stay still in a chair! LOL  It was very reassuring to me. :-)

Mason, Berkeley, Tommy

Jaxon (lower corner)Tommy, Berkeley, Mason, Jacob, Judson

It was the perfect way to celebrate our good news of pre-aproval from China.  We are so blessed and we can't wait to share this great family of ours with our new son soon!

The Rylands