Family

            So... many of you probably know my family, but I want to introduce you anyway =)
Oldest to youngest is Jeremy (on the left) married to Liz;  Evan (toward the right) married to Chelsea; Deanne (on the right); Jorgan (behind Jeremy); and me.  Dad and Mom are in the middle in case you were confused :)
    
Right now I kinda miss them so you get to read some of my babblings and memories!  This pic. was taken last summer on our family camping trip in Montana.  We just got done walking through a really cool Christian dinosaur museum. 

So memories... where do I start?  Jeremy has always been the big brother who would play Lego with us... help us with homework... put us in our right minds when we were being brats... he would sit and listen and talk about basically anything... one year we went sledding almost every day and the grand finale was our whole family including Dad and Mom went sledding on our hills.

Then Jeremy married Liz, who shares so many of Jeremy's characteristics.  She and I became fast friends.  We are so opposite in some ways and so alike in others.  When we were visiting them in Mt. last fall, it was just her and me for a few hours.  I was making apple muffins and acting crazy. She kept on making fun of me for being so hyper.  She always lets me do crazy things with her hair and we talk and talk and talk.

My first memories that stick out of Evan is when he gave me shoulder rides when I was little.  Later  I went to school with him one year and he would drive us to school.  I think he loved speeding around the corners just to get a rise out of me :) More recently when he was in the hospital bed after he fell out of a tree stand, I was standing there crying and crying.  He looked up at me and said, "It's going to be ok" and he was right.

Evan married Chelsea in 2012.  While they were dating, Chelsea and I would go and have adventures such as:  picking flowers, bottle feeding my lamb while swatting at mosquitos, playing with the kittens...  we had so much fun.  Now we ooh and ahh over adorable baby dresses because they are SO CUTE!

Deanne and I are nine years apart so when I was little I always begged her to play doll with me, of course she outgrew that mostly by the time I was old enough to remember.  We shared a bed so of course... we fought :) or Dea would get me riled up.  Or I would get her riled up!  Really though, we didn't get close until I was older.  If I had doubts about this or that she would share her opinions/convictions.  Sometimes on late night trips, we would listen to music and sing our hearts out in worship to God.

Jorgan (four years older) was the one that I played with the most.  We would play cops and robbers on our bikes or we would roll down the hill in a wagon, which thinking now might not have been a good idea!)  One time he was showing me how he could do a bunny hop on his bike and I burst into tears.  I told him that he was so good at everything, he could ride faster than me and do all sorts of neat tricks that I couldn't do.  He comforted me by telling that I could braid and he couldn't... :)

Dad and Mom were always the type of parents to sit down and listen when we had a problem; even though I'm sure they got tired of me waking them up in the middle of the night because I was worried about something.  Dad has always been a dreamer.  He dreams up cabins out in the woods and bookshelves on our already completely full walls.  I think I got my dreaming attitude from him.  Mom is more the practical, yet laugh until she topples over type of person :)  Even though we might not see the humor in things right away, we laugh about it later.  My parents have been wonderful role models for me in my life.

Those are just a handful of memories but I hope you enjoyed them!  I guess this post is a way to thank all of my wonderful family for being who they are and for making a difference in my life.