family & friends

Our Thanksgiving weekend trip to Knoxville was the BEST adventure we could ever hope for!

the Hightower family ♥

It was important for Jason to make the trip - for many reasons.

Perhaps the biggest reason was so he could hug his grandmother, who celebrated her 90th birthday last week!

But more than that, it was to see ALL his family - all together.

Aunts, uncles, cousins, brother, nephews & niece...

Speaking of those nephews & niece - Hamp & Sam were SO excited to see their cousins!

In fact, the only photo that I was able to get of all the kids standing still was a side shot from our family portrait session with photographer Jessi Ringer (beautiful, beautiful family photos to share soon...)

Otherwise, these guys were busy playing foosball, building forts, making up plays, or building a bridge across the creek in the backyard!

Another big reason to trek eastward for the weekend was the mini-high school reunion that was being planned... Jason really wanted to see these people. He loves them so deeply and is so touched by the support they have shown over the last several months!

The gathering was wonderful - full of love and plenty of inappropriate jokes. (thanks, Lance.)

And I was able to see this:

25 years and they haven't changed a bit...

The photo below, however captures the essence of why we live, why we fight, and why we travel.

To sit around the dinner table with our family that is spread across several states - with uncles and aunts and cousins we don't see often enough; with brothers we love and miss dearly every day - to eat, laugh and know that we are family.