Blessings...

Every night when I kneel to pray, I thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me with an amazing family. Most people my age tend to be married and have children of their own by now but, for whatever reason, I haven't had that opportunity yet. Because of that, my parents and siblings are all the family I have and their children (my nieces and nephews) are the love of my life. I could never be more grateful or feel more blessed to be an aunt to 20 children.

Today was my youngest niece's blessing day and I had the opportunity to attend. It was a beautiful day and she was absolutely precious. She is definitely a blessing from Heaven. Here she is...


And here she is with me...


When I was talking to a different niece afterwards, I mentioned to her that none of them are allowed to grow up anymore. Nobody can ever get older than 10, I told her. The reason for this is because I want my children to grow up knowing their cousins and if they keep getting older, my kids will never know them. As I was telling her this, my nephew walked past and shouted,

"If you ever HAVE kids!"

*gasp*

"MEAN!" I said. "That is just mean!"

"But it's true" he replied.

He's right. It is true. Maybe I won't ever have my own kids. But every night when I kneel to pray, I still thank Heavenly Father for the 20 kids I already have. Why? Because they bring me more happiness than I could ever ask for. They are funny and honest and when they throw their little arms around my neck and give me "squeezes", I know they love me unconditionally. You can't ask for more than that, even when they are mean.

My niece may have been blessed today, but I feel blessed every day.