Brian’s Extended Family

Brian has two older sisters who live nearby with their husbands and two children each. Brian's parent's still live in the same home he grew up in within a few miles of where we live now. We get together quite often to celebrate family birthdays and sometime just to hang out. Games are something we play quite often when together. Each Christmas Eve we gather at Brian's oldest sister's house to hang out and play a game as a family. This past year it was Family Feud. Also, each Christmas the family gets together to head down to a local shopping district that is all lit up for the holiday so the kids can visit Santa. We've been going since our oldest nephew was just a baby. We will then walk across to a local upscale hotel that has a fountain where the kids will sit and throw pennies into their wishing fountains. We take this opportunity to take family pictures at this time. This is one of our favorite things to do each holiday season and cannot wait to add another child to the festivities! In the summer, we enjoy going camping as often as possible at a lake a few hours from our home. We boat, tube, ski and just enjoy each other companies. We are very involved with Brian's sisters and their families attending our niece and nephews sports events, school events and what ever might come up. I think we are unique in that we truly enjoy spending time with each other. Brian's parents are both retired, but enjoy doing things for their family when they are not taking off on road trips.

Jennifer’s Extended Family

Jennifer has one older sister who is married with one daughter. They live about 12 miles from Jennifer & Brian. Ironically, our youngest nephew on Brian's side and niece on Jennifer's side are both in kindergarten at the same school, same teacher. Jennifer's mom lives close by as well, less than a mile. We get together often on family birthdays and holidays. Jennifer and her mom have a close relationship, sometimes like sisters, and talk quite often. Jennifer's mom does take care of Paige when she is not in school and the possibility is there for her to take care of our child as well when we are working.

Our Home

We live in a suburb of a metro city in the state of Missouri. We purposely chose our neighborhood due to it's proximity to Jennifer's mom and location to everything we like to do. Living in the same area we grew up in was important to us. Our child will go to the same schools as we did. Our neighborhood is small with only 78 homes in the subdivision, also with only two entrances/exits to our neighborhood. Unless you live in it or are visiting someone who does, there is really no reason to drive into it. It is a diverse community in that we have young couples, families, and retiree's living in the neighborhood. Everyone is extremely friendly. In past summers, we've had neighborhood block parties and not a day goes by when there are not kids out on their bikes or playing in their yards.

Inside Our Living Room

While we do not have a neighborhood pool, Brian's oldest sister had one at her house that we'd spend time at during the summers. It is a California split, with a basement that we intend to finish in the next few years. We have a nice large corner lot that will be fitting for a swing set we cannot wait to pick out and play on with a child. This house was chosen knowing it would be where we would raise our family.