Family during the holidays

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
I realize I have been hiding for a while, but I have had issues I am still trying to come to terms with. That is not the point right now. I was at Starbucks this morning and I asked one of the baristas how her Christmas was. She said it was great because her family is all of about 4 minutes away. That got me to thinking about the holidays and family. I live in a military town, it is rare to have family nearby, but then again in this day and age, military or not most of us do not live near our families. I have one friend stationed in Germany who had to face the weather in Europe to come home for the holidays. I, however, live all of about six miles away from my parents (I know this because I will run to their house, get a drink of water and run home!). My parents are a huge part of my family. My boys go to church with my dad. My mom (the true matriarch of the family) drives my boys to appointments when I can’t because of work, watches them for me when they are sick (unless it is the stomach bug then they are all mine!). When I need some ‘me’ time, my parents invite the boys over to their house, and so on. This year my parents are going on a nice long vacation, all my mom really wanted for Christmas was to go out for dinner. She didn’t want to cook, she didn’t want to clean, she wanted to go out and enjoy herself and be able to get ready for her trip with nothing to worry about. So, that is what we gave her. Ok, it cost over $200, but for everything she does for me, it was well worth it to see how happy she was!
My sister gets to play a major role in my children’s lives. Ok, we live with her, she is like their second mom. We joke around about my younger son being her child. This kid has been caught so many times curled up in the bathroom in the middle of the night reading (we keep the bathroom light on), my sister was caught a time or two doing the exact same thing. A lot of his oddities are similar to my sister’s! My older son, is a (not so) little version of me. He tries a lot of the same antics I used to pull, and to bad for him, I know them so he doesn’t get away with them, but he does get credit for trying!
My family might drive me nuts on a regular basis but I think I would truly be lost without them. I kind of like living close to them (not that I wouldn’t move if the opportunity presented itself, but I am grateful for having them near).
I wish everyone a happy New Year!