Cousins: Forever Friends

I may have said this before, but it doesn't hurt to say it again. I absolutely love that my children have a lot of cousins whom they are close to.

 

The second week in February, we celebrated this amazing boy's 10th birthday. Malaki is my first nephew, the boy who made me an aunt. I cannot believe he's already 10.

We first celebrated with a dinner at his favorite restaurant, a local Japanese steakhouse where they cook in front of you. Below is Cohen and the birthday boy. Although there are quite a few years in between them, they are the best of friends and actually play quite well together. I love their friendship and I pray that it lasts as they grow older, despite the age gap. First cousins are definitely something to be treasured.

We finished the celebration of this beautiful boy's 10th birthday with a fun bonfire. He is such a silly boy!

I am sure you all have seen those hilarious photos where people recreate their old photos--Malaki and I had to try one out too. He's much heavier now. ;) He has really turned into a remarkable boy.

Last Sunday, we took the kids to the circus, the second annual cousin's circus day. The boys wore their matching shirts from last year and the girls wore cutesy clown attire too! The only thing missing from last year was my middle sister and her kids. These cousins are as close as they come! They spend a lot of time together and lately, it has been without squabbles, which I adore!

My little clowns

We had a blast! Below is me and my "sissy". The girl I used to call dogbone when I was a kid. It was a compliment, I swear.

A few days later, I got off on my lunch break to have some fun at the park with my kids, my sister and her kids. :) We always have a great time together.

Below: Cohen, Azlynn and Anzley feeding the ducks. They are 10 months older than Cohen, but he's bigger than they are. LOL!

My sassy girl was so giddy when she was feeding the ducks. It was presh.

Sisters, again.

See?! She was so joyful! Maybe we should get some ducks... and a lake.

Sweet, sweet cousins. Cohen, Chyenne, Anzley, Malaki and Azlynn.

Me and my Malaki.

Beautiful cousins! It is always fun to see their personalities in a group still-shot. They are all so very different from one another, despite how close they are.

On Thursday, my mother called me and asked if I wanted to meet up with her, my niece and my nephew (the middle sister's kids) for ice cream. We happily obliged. {My middle sister had a meeting after work, so since our mother keeps her kids, we met up with her}

Cousins. Built-in best friends.
Kadence, Chyenne, Korben and Cohen

Now, these cousins do not spend nearly as much time together, but they definitely still act like family.

These two girls are two peas in a pod, even though they are so very different.

Chyenne is very girly and Kadence is very...not girly. She likes girly things but she's definitely a tomboy at heart.

Apparently my sister bribes Kadence into doing things or eating certain things by telling her that Chyenne does that or eats that. Hilarious.

Korben is at a fun age--he absolutely adores Cohen. Much like Cohen adores Malaki. It's a cycle.

I hope they share a lasting friendship as well. Cohen is so excited to teach Korben things, especially how to build blocks and ride dirt bikes. He even wants to teach him how to play soccer and shoot bow and arrows.

I hope my children understand how blessed they are to have family as best friends.

My children are greatly blessed with many first cousins, all fairly close in age: 2 cousins from my middle sister, 3 (well 4 including Hannah) cousins from my oldest sister, 2 cousins from Colt's little brother. In addition to that, they also have distant cousins who are close too!

 

I love the bonds they share with one another. I love watching their friendships grow. I hope they always have each other, for ever and ever.