Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Road trip: my beautiful sisters (and Instagram wrap-up)

We are so relieved to be out of the car and back in our own house here in Texas, and we missed our friends here so terribly.  Looking back through all of the pics from our trip though, I can't help feeling a little homesick.  Anytime that I go back to my parents' house to visit, there are often various flare-ups between all of the various strong personalities in my family (and yes, I am definitely a big part of that!), but this trip was absolutely the most peaceful, productive and loving that I have experienced...probably since I got married.  It was amazing.

My entire family...wow

One of the coolest parts of going back to visit is getting to know the people my younger siblings are becoming.  When I left the house, my youngest 5 siblings were approximately 1, 4, 6, 8 & 10.  It's amazing to get the chance to get to know each of them a little better every year, watching them change and grow up, and finally being able to relate to each of them as friends (...rather than someone I just babysat for all the time).  Pretty much there's no way around it: my brothers and sisters are turning into -- have already turned into -- some of the coolest people ever.  Also, I feel like I've grown a lot as a person in the past year or so, which made it so much more possible for me to really appreciate them.

This trip I especially focused on spending time with my mom and my 4 sisters -- we even all managed to all meet up for lunch one day for our collective favorite sandwich (bagels and lox) (!!!!!!!), gave ourselves fun manicures (RACHEL!!! My quirky fashion/fun twin!), had a few super-late-night "sisters only" parties (can't wait till Rachel is old enough for those!), and I felt more connected to them than ever.

All of the ladies of my family (please notice how quickly it all deteriorates.....):
All the women of my family
Joy, Rachel, Grace, my mom, me, Allison (Jonathan's wife), Hannah

All the women of my family

All the women of my family

All the women of my family


As I was hugging my sister Grace goodbye at the very end of the two-week visit, we were both crying and I told her that this had been the very best visit ever.  She said "Yes, this has been!  I think it's probably because we've grown up so much, and you've stopped being such a bitch!"  We both started laughing WHILE crying, because it's even more fun to do those two things at the same time...and because it's pretty much the perfect quote, encapsulating the most important part of this trip for me, emotionally.  They've grown up, and I'm not such a bitch anymore.  Have I said how much I adore Grace??

What I would really love to do at this juncture is share with all of you a hysterical video of Grace dancing to the Beatles.  But I promised I wouldn't (I'm watching it again right now though all by myself, and I'm laughing so hard I'm crying!).  So instead, here's the rest of my Instagram pics from our trip that I haven't shared yet, and a few extras....

My littlest sister Rachel (....who is actually about 4 inches taller than me.  Oh well.)
Oldest and youngest: my littlest sister Rachel

On the road...
flower love

Car knitting
Knitting on the road (Knotty Gloves)

(Knotty Gloves project details here)
Knotty Gloves: cuffs

Sunflower field at a rest-stop
On the road: sunflower field

On the road: sunflower field

A Rachel/Faith manicure and a cup of french-press on my parents' front porch
Coffee on my parents' front porch

Sisters night in....cherries, white wine and martinis
Sisters night in

Junk Food and Trashy TV Party with my sisters:
Sisters night in

Greg, Hannah and me, drinking red wine out of metal canteens, telling stories and being way too loud outside our motel rooms (the night before Jom's wedding)
Drinking wine out of canteens outside our motel

The first picture we've ever gotten of the five of us sisters together (unless there's one of us much younger?? I'd love to find that!)
All five sisters
Lined up in order of age (!!): Rachel, Joy, Grace, Hannah, me.

All five sisters

All five sisters


And finally....back home to Texas.
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My heart is full, and overflowing.

(All pics of our trip together in one place here in the Flickr collection)

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Road trip: My Big Fat NY Wedding

The weekend of July 29th, we were very excited to be part of my brother Jonathan's wedding to his wife Allison in the beautiful Thousand Islands region of upstate NY.

The super adorbs "little" part of the wedding party:
Jonathan and Allison's wedding

Jonathan and Allison's wedding
When Jonah tried on his tux, he immediately busted out with "I'm sexy and I know it -- OH YEAH!!"  I'm still laughing and shaking my head over THAT little bit of something....

Jonathan and Allison's wedding

Jonathan and Allison's wedding

Jonathan and Allison's wedding

Jonathan and Allison's wedding

Jonathan and Allison's wedding

Jonah with my "littlest" brother Joel
Jonathan and Allison's wedding

Jonathan and Allison's wedding


Road Trip: NY

This Thursday, I will be 12 weeks post-op.  I am doing well, and the children have been helping a lot -- much more than expected, actually.  The underlying muscles that were pulled back together are still sore, but I'm no longer on any pain medication, and feeling much more like myself.  I will eventually blog about the whole ordeal, but for now: photos from our summer road trip!

Each summer we get about 2-1/2 weeks to drive back East and visit family.  It's a two-day ordeal to get there (12 hours of actual driving time each day, not counting bathroom breaks, gas, food), and very stressful, but each year the children are a little better at traveling -- thank goodness!

the many faces of our road trip...

the many faces of our road trip...

the many faces of our road trip...

the many faces of our road trip...

On this trip, we started out by driving to my parents' house in upstate NY, and helped prepare food for my brother Jonathan's wedding.

Cooking at my parents' house for Jonathan's wedding

My parents' raise Golden Retrievers as a side business, so there was a fresh batch of 2-week-old puppies.  So cute!

2 weeks old
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3 weeks
My parents' puppies

I was there to help them eat their second "solid" food meal -- there was a lot of whimpering and walking through the dishes, but a few of them realized it was food.
my parents' Golden Retrievers

We had many small adventures together with my parents and siblings, but most of all, it was wonderful to spend time with the family that I almost never get to see.

Grace, Rachel and children
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My nephew:
my parents' Golden Retrievers

Grace, Joy and I prepared a song for Jonathan's wedding....
Practice for Jonathan and Allison's wedding

OK, for serious, here's what we actually ended up with:




Next up: my brother Jonathan's wedding weekend!

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