TSConnection.org - Families and Step Families

It's summertime and life is footloose and fancy-free. The children are out of school, the weather is sunny and bright, and your home and neighborhood stand ready to embrace activity.

The porch is poised for parties, the backyard is braced for barbecues and the family car is ready to cruise down the highway on those car trips in search of summer outings and family fun. This season is all about experiences that you and your family can share, including a variety of community- and church-related activities.
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My daughter calls it Treasure Time. It's the three hours between 9 a.m. and noon every day when I take my three kids--a baby, a toddler, and a preschooler --and disappear into the woods for a hike. It's the time when I drop everything and become a train conductor, chugging hillside chanting "I think I can, I think I can' with the caboose; or a beautiful mermaid dancing along the ocean shore, Swaying gently to the sounds Of the crashing waves. It's my children's time, and there's nothing in the world they'd rather do than walk three miles on a wooded path with their mom. It's the time when I dedicate my attention solely to them and envelop myself in their games.
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Baysville is a crossroads village in the Ontario lake country, about three hours northeast of the city of Toronto. It's a pretty place, with a few shops, an ice-cream store, a rustic restaurant, a row of quaint old houses, and a bridge. The bridge is actually busier than any of the town's roads. It overhangs a waterway leading into the big lakes of central Muskoka, and in the course of a single summer's day a couple of hundred vacationers will pass underneath it.
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Mark Christie was making a lot of money flying around the country as the business manager for big-time athletes like NBA star Ray Allen. But five years ago, when Christie went on a business trip instead of going to his daughter's christening, he decided to give up the fast lane and dedicate himself to his family.

"I was always traveling and living a fast-paced lifestyle," says Christie, 39, who owned the sports business management company, Players Club International, from 1992 to 2000. "I was about to lose everything. Now I'm a real value-driven guy."
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Michaela Angela Davis

It would be fair to say that Ezra is one of the great loves of my life. After all, it was through him and our daughter, Elenni, that I learned the lesson of a lifetime--that we each have power to transform fear of the unknown into unconditional love.

I was attracted to Ezra the moment I saw him. His shoulders were broad, his chest was lean and chiseled, his skin was the delicious color of apple butter. A gifted actor with a smooth booming voice, he wore impeccably groomed locks and moved with the easy grace of a prince. The only problem was he had a girlfriend. Well, Ezra broke up with the girl, and we quickly became a couple. But his infidelities soon led to arguments and a cloud of mistrust. We had a classic on-again, off-again relationship.
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I have a large family who are very close. My mom is one of 11 children and my dad is one of 14. I have 43 first cousins and 92 second cousins on my mom's side alone. Here are tips on how we stay a strong family unit.
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