Most of my side of the family lives very nearby. It’s not uncommon to run into my mom walking her little dog; we played at our neighborhood pool with some cousins earlier this week, and we’ve been by my aunt’s twice this week to see the puppies she has right now.

(Two day old puppies!)

But Ken’s side of the family lives on the south side of Atlanta, which is not far enough to require an overnight stay but too far to visit as often. We went down to visit after church on Sunday because it was my father-in-law’s birthday. (See Ken’s birthday portrait of his dad here.) It was also Raymond & Cuc’s anniversary; they married on Raymond’s birthday so he would never forget his anniversary. That cracks me up. 😉 We don’t have what I consider “enough” pictures of them, so we wrangled them into the living room for a few photos.

I have two mothers-in-law, since Ken has a mom and a step-mom. I love them both, and they like each other, too. In fact, Ken’s step-mom Cuc has a hair salon, and she does Ken’s mom’s hair! Wouldn’t it be nice if all complicated family relations got along that well? (Cuc is also the source of all those cute new shoes I got this week!)

This side of the family has been quite a cultural experience for me. Cuc is from Vietnam, and has only lived in the U.S for about fifteen years. Her two grown children from her first (arranged) marriage live here as well, and are both married with children of their own now. We took part in her son’s (Ken’s step-brother’s) wedding a few years ago; since he married a Vietnamese girl, they had a traditional Vietnamese wedding. I wish I’d understood everything that was said, but the wedding was lovely, and so very different from Western culture. Ken’s step-sister’s husband is from Kosovo, which adds another cultural element to our family gatherings; last Christmas, his mother was visiting for several months, and joined our get-together, but she speaks Albanian and almost no English. The young kids all speak at least two languages; four-year old Ana speaks English, Vietnamese, and Albanian!

Love this photo of Brandon, Ken, and Raymond; three generations of men:

And since we had all three kids in one place, and someone else to click the shutter, we handed Ken’s dad our camera to take a photo of us!

Jamie

Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »