{Picture Taken: 6-17-94}
{Picture Taken: 04-01-11}
My sweet sister gave a beautiful seasonal cookbook a few weeks ago. It features recipes using typical seasonal fruits and veggies. And let me tell you, they ALL look delicious! And this is the recipe in particular that I have been eyeballing. I love spinach and pie so this is the perfect combination of the two. :)
It came out perfect! I used my aunt's recipe for the pastry crust instead of the recipe in the book. It was flaky and cheesy with just enough bacon to keep you shovelling it in. Perfection!
Emily, Sophie, and Mia painting their pumpkins. 
My lil man ridin' his tractor
Nathan having his turn too. :)
Girls showing us their modelling skills
After we made it out of the maze.....
Webb and Burdell kids
We had soooooo much fun!
I am very thankful for the relationships that I have with my sisters. Often times they are the ones who know me best; the ones who make me truly laugh; and they tell me of my faults. So, in this post I would like to share with you a bit about the three special people in my family.
I'll start with Nicole. We have known each other for nearly nineteen years and I can honestly say that it's not until the past eight years that our relationship has taken on a deeper level. I trust her with my thoughts and emotions because I know that she will tell me when I am being unreasonable or simply over dramatic. With that being said, I am ever grateful for her understanding me and taking most everything I have to say seriously. She will never laugh at me or tell me I am stupid or ridiculous. She is so witty and hilarious, I love and respect her so much-and one of the best things is that she thinks I am pretty funny too :)
One of the things I am loving the most about her is her incredible example of a God-fearing wife and mother. Each day she dedicates to the tasks the Lord has placed before her: to care for her blessings and love, respect her husband. Continually she pleads her grievances or concerns before the Lord and not man; she is finding her satisfaction and joy in Him, even in a day when feminism, "Me time", and "the plight of children" can so easily get in her way. She sets the Lord before her and follows Him alone. I pray that when I am married, God would see fit to bless me with the same dedication, devotion, patience, and joy that I see in her.
Mica has become my partner in crime, best friend, nertz champion, sleeping and movie buddy. Even when we were seven and five, she has let me go on my own creative, slightly disturbing imaginations. She even let me nickname her "Charis" not because it means "grace" but because it was the closest word to "carrot" that I could think of; I allowed myself the far more dignified name, "Jenny". But on a more serious note, the relationship Mica and I have has grown significantly in the past five years. When we were living in California we shared a room about the size of most peoples bathroom and a closet the size of a pantry, so we came to know each other very well after that. In the beginning it was a bit of an adjustment, I'll admit, later on though, we came to learn so much about each other. The sort of thing that can only take place in a shoebox of a room I suppose :) Now we can talk about most anything or stay completely silent. We have developed a sort of wordless communications: a look from her and I know it's time to clear the room or...well, just give her some time alone. Likewise, a few hours together on a certain morning and she knows not to ask me a certain question until later...much later. After having a deep, in-depth conversation about marriage and courtship, I asked her if we could just stay single and become old spinsters in a cottage by the sea instead of getting into the intricacy's of marriage and going our separate ways. She said no.
Caro is just very funny; we are so similar in pretty much everything. Neither of us are good in arithmetic and lean heavily on the creative side. As the baby of the family she has gone through quite a lot: four mothers for most of her life, suddenly being displaced by a certain green-eyed girl, then getting compost duty and learning the art of cleaning the kitchen after supper. It's been difficult but since we are so much alike, I've been ableto help her adjust to her new lot in life. We have been through a lot together and it has been so wonderful to talk more with her and spend more time together, as she is now thirteen. Although we still talk about the times when she would be locked in the bathroom on the train-five minutes before our stop. But that is another story, of which you will have to ask her.
So, I hope you don't have the impression that I am saying my last goodbyes or anything like that :) This post was merely to share a bit about three of the people that I cherish the most.
Happy Birthday Nicole! I thought about using "To my elderly sister" as my title but thought twice as I value my life more than my humor (No, the fact that you are half-way to fifty has nothing to do with it).
