I realize that I am incredibly blessed to be a Sommers girl.  I was born into an incredible family and, although it is not perfect, it is a forgiving and laidback and hilarious and interesting one.

My dad Tom is the Stat Man.  You would be shocked at how much information he can store in his head– it’s crazy.  He can literally memorize an entire Tuff Stuff guide, which should give you a clue to his hobby.  He collects sports cards, and his collection is really impressive.  Dad is the cutest man in the world, and everyone who knows him knows that if you get him talking about baseball cards, you’re in for a long conversation.  Even though I don’t personally have an interest in collecting cards, I enjoy hearing about my dad’s because of the way he lights up when discussing it.  It is the sweetest thing.  He loves our family so much, and he’s such a strong leader, and he’s so generous and SMART.

My mom Ronda is the best mom in the world.  She has just the right amount of– what’s the word?– butting in and backing off (although I think both my siblings would say she butts in too much, haha!).  I LOVE how laidback she is.  She is sooooooooo funny, and she’s so dedicated, and she loves the Lord so deeply and cares about us kids so much.

My sister Kristin is the queen of traditions.  Every holiday, she wants us to do exactly what we did the year before.  She has this incredible laugh that goes so wild that it actually is silent for awhile.  Kristin loves to read, and FINALLY, after YEARS of good suggestions, she is starting to trust my book advice.  I suggest a book or movie; she scoffs at it; then she reads or watches it and loves it; repeat.  Silly girl.

My brother Kevin is the charmer of our family.  He loves sports and people and is one of the most outgoing people I know!  Pretty much everyone loves Kevin.  He’s a solid, solid guy.  It’s been so fun to watch him mature over the years, and we are all missing him this summer while he works on the roads out near the North Dakota oil rigs.  He is SUCH a hard worker, and I admire him so much.

When we get together, our family usually ends up playing cards or singing raucous songs (or both).  We love to pick on each other, and we are really, really LOUD.  We all share a deep love for Jesus Christ, and that ties us together even more than our blood and our years of living together.  I have this memory from about five years ago: it was around Christmastime, and the five of us were driving around our little part of central Minnesota, looking at Christmas lights, and we had a soundtrack to a passion play on in the background.  Before long, we were all singing these songs about Christ’s death and resurrection, and I looked around at my family and thought, “This is special.  We all love God, and that doesn’t happen all the time.”

I love them.  Tomorrow I’m going to tell you about a tough time we went through together last summer.

An old one of us reading the Christmas story with Dad