A Visit From Our Cousins!

Want to see more scary pictures of me without any make up? Of course you do! These photos were too fun not to post, and I figure Camryn's beauty compensates for any lack thereof on my part. It was so wonderful having my sister and her beautiful kids with us over their Spring Break. We were so excited that they chose to spend it with us, despite the stresses of traveling with a toddler - you guys blessed our socks off! I also got to spend Camryn's birthday with her, for the very first time! I wanted to make an extra special cake for her, and had so much fun doing it!

Here we are - the cake is baked and ready for decorating, and Cam is helping me pour the icing into the icing-thingy-whatsit.

Meanwhile, Kelly is very curious about what on earth we could be up to:Cam, Hannah, and Kelly gather round to keep me company and marvel at my cake decorating prowess. Clearly, they are easily impressed! (Note: I do not customarily keep hamster cages on my kitchen table - DESPITE what my mother thinks about my housekeeping skills in general! We had to move it downstairs so he wouldn't keep Jen and Kelly up running in his wheel all night long!)So, here's the deal. My sister has been working very hard on resolving Kelly's attachment issues. She has done an amazing job, I'm truly in awe of her. Kelly is now at the point where she wants her Mama, and that's the end of the story - move to the back of the bus, Auntie! This is a great thing and speaks volumes about Kelly's attachment - but what's an Auntie to do when she only sees her baby niece a couple of times a year and is desperate to connect with her? Well, naturally, she feeds her baby niece icing from a tube.

For the record - anyone who feeds me icing can be my friend, too:Oh yeah, you bet she likes it - check out the smile Auntie is getting:Um, you girls might want to lay off the icing:Voila, the finished product:Not to be outdone, my Mom decided to try making friends with Kelly by giving her a huge bottle of juice. Okay, not really - but Kelly did think it was extra special that she got to sit on the kitchen table and pretend to drink a huge bottle of juice. Listen folks, we have a very limited amount of material available to us - if she thinks it's fun, we'll go for it: My two girls could not have hand picked a more wonderful cousin. Camryn is so patient, kind, and generous every minute she spends with them - though they are so many years younger than she, and I know this can't always be easy. She is such a great example to them, and they adore her. I must say, I join them in that sentiment - I adore you too, Cam!
My husband is ambitious, and sometimes it really pays off. When he told my sister and I that he wanted to get some shots of Hannah and Kelly together, we exchanged glances of shared pity for this foolish man.
However, he did get some really sweet shots of them and we were so glad he took the initiative to give it a try:

Now what can I say about this young man? Frankly, I can't imagine a more impressive guy. I am crazy blessed to have the kind of relationship with him that I do. We crack each other up, and have serious life discussions as well that I enjoy more than I can say. Caleb has an amazing sense of character, integrity, empathy -- and one wicked sense of humor! His wife is going to be a VERY lucky lady, and I am a VERY lucky Auntie!

On their last night in town, Joel took Caleb and Josh out to do some star charting. They had a great time, and I was so happy that Joel really got to spend some time with Caleb. He has heard me rave on and on about him for years! The next day, Joel gave me his verdict - he thinks that Caleb is an amazing guy, too! Caleb, it's unanimous - we're having your plaque engraved and will send it forthwith.

You know what is especially cool about cousins like Caleb and Camryn? When they leave, I see some of their traits have rubbed off on my kids. Now, anyone who is a parent knows that this is going to happen when your children spend extended periods of time with someone else's children. And we've all experienced times where that wasn't such a good thing. But seeing Caleb and Camryn in my kids is always a good thing, and it makes me smile to hear Emma handing down Cam's words of wisdom to Hannah - or when Josh jumps up to help in the kitchen the way he sees Caleb do.

I sure do love you guys! Keep up the good work!