a family so similar...

This is Summer and Jon. 2 years ago, I started getting these emails from Jon's mom...saying that we are related and that their family is moving to Int'l Falls and they needed some guidance. Come to find out that Jon's grandfather and my grandmother are/were brother and sister. That makes us second cousins-who had never met each other.

Jon and Summer and their boys, Jake (6 now) and Garret (4 now) moved to town when Emmitt was just a baby. They moved on the same Avenue as us, just 2 houses away! It took us awhile to get connected. One day we sat down and started visiting and find out that Jon, who is a State Trooper, went to school at Moorhead State with Dave Karsnia! Dave Karsnia is a great family friend of Bear's and mine. Freakishly crazy, I know!

Jon is 33, Bear is 33. Summer is 30, I am 30. They had 2 boys, we have 2 boys. They added a 3rd child, a little girl-Gracie Lyn...we are not. Okay, pretty similar. Jake and Parker are further apart in age but play together the most. Garret sticks with Emmitt. Gracie just follows all the boys around and squeals. Emmitt ripped out her ponytail no less than 100 times on Saturday. Garret is special to me. He likes me. He asks about me. He was just diagnosed with Aspberger's and is a fantastic little boy.Saturday we ventured out during my boys' nap time and I took some family pictures for them. It was quick and painless and they turned out beautifully.

Summer and I have gotten really close. We can tell each other anything and laugh a lot. We parent the same way, we enjoy the same kind of wine...we have fun.

Jon and Bear have gotten really close too. They have a lot of likes and some differences that bring them together. Differences like Nascar versus Hockey and Frog legs versus a steak.

This family is so similar to ours that it is sort of crazy. They are family, real true blood family. It's so cool how things worked out for us to have our kids-third cousins-actually get to know each other!