a brink time

when i was growing up, the brink family was never really very close. i'm not entirely sure why, maybe it was because my uncle and his family didn't live in michigan, or if it was because my dad was quite a bit younger than his siblings, or it it was because my grandpa had died when my dad was in his early twenties. it was probably a combination of all those things and more. anyway, it often felt like the only thing keeping the extended family together was my gramma.
she passed away a little over a year ago. we miss here very much. the oddest thing happened when she left us: our family came together! ever since then our family has been growing closer and closer together. at our wedding everyone was there and had a great time seeing each other! in honor of the one year anniversary of gramma's passing, we all got together at my cousin katie's house. diana and i arrived a bit late (thats what happens when it takes three hours to get home...) but had a great time seeing everyone! my uncle and aunt were in from out of town, so we got to see them too. it was a great time just catching up with everyone and remembering gramma- i'm sure none of us would mind doing this every year. or more often than that!
(more pics: 1, 2, 3)