....And then there were more...

We started with two. It didn't take long for us to add three more to the mix, making us ongfamily5 for quite a long time. Before we knew what happened, we had added 3 more to the mix. In 2010, the first little person arrived on the scene, bringing our grand total to 9 human beings.

By the end of 2016, we all crammed together into a delightful getaway house in Gig Harbor, Washington. I looked at the little human beings who now outnumbered the adults. It hit me that we are in the process of creating our own tribe. We have reached a grand total of 17 human beings- 8 adults and 9 children.

Ong Family Reunion 2016*

Picture credit: Melissa Letham, Photographer

Our time filled up with fun gingerbread house building, games, just sitting around talking while holding one or another little one. Often times we were running after a 'getaway' baby, or trying to calm down two or more kids upset about something or another. It didn't matter what we did, as long as we were doing it together. One family had flown in from North Carolina...another family jumped into their vehicle at the end of our time to drive across 27 States in around 3 weeks. Still another family flew off to Hawaii shortly after our get together. We treasured the 2 days we were all in the same place at the same time. We are also thankful we were able to get a lovely family picture taken. (thanks to....Melissa Letham, Photographer, Tacoma, WA)

*Faces blocked out due to privacy issues with foster care.