Sunday, May 31, 2009

It's a Wonderful Life

My sister and her family were able to come up for a wonderful visit and as the saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.” How quickly time flies these days! We had a great time visiting and catching up and we spent EVERY minute we could together! Spending quality time with family is so important. Through thick and thin, family will always be there. I just had to share some pictures of us over the years...

This picture of the four cousins was taken 6 years ago while camping. You can see the love they have for each other and the fun! My how the girls have grown over the years and aren't they adorable! Now there are two more in the family with little Gaven and big sister Capri. Life is good and we are truly blessed!!

This picture of the four cousins was taken while we were camping at Fort Stevens in Oregon…our favorite campground! If you've never been to Fort Stevens and you love camping...it's a MUST! You've got the ocean, lakes, miles of paved bike/walking trails, etc.

Through the years we’ve had so many good times together as a family. The picture on the beach is from when my mom graduated from Ecola Bible School in Cannon Beach, Oregon in May of 2004. We all rented a house in Gearheart, Oregon and had lots of fun playing games and cooking meals together in the kitchen. We had beautiful weather and were able to spend lots of time on the local beach parks. Just this week, we found some old video footage of my sister-in-law and I having a chicken fight in the kitchen, as well and my husband and I. It was hilarious! Growing up as a kid, my brother and I would have chicken fights in our hallway. We would kill our knees and ram into the walls accidentally. We’re getting too old for these games now so we’re teaching our kids how to do them!


As girls, we’ve tried to have slumber parties, multiple coffee runs and girl talk whenever we're together. The cousins love the slumber parties and one day very soon Capri will join in the fun! Aren’t we cute!!

We try to do the slumber party/girl bonding annually with the girls and either do a mask, paint fingernails or soak our feet in tubs and let's not forget the girly finger foods we eat and the occasional chick/kid flick. Creating memories together...it's what's it is all about!

As the girls have gotten older, they look forward to doing this with us. It’s gone from just having fun being girls, to becoming a tradition to do this whenever my sister visits. The girls love being able to stay up as late as we'll let them!

It was great to have us all together and I'll be sure to get more photo's posted of our time together this time as soon as time allows (which I'm sure will be after school's out for summer)! This is a cute picture of the 5 cousins during our get-together last summer.

Be sure to take time with those you love! Create memories and traditions with your kiddo's. Enjoy the beautiful sunshine God has given us lately! Make the most of every moment. Live life to it's fullest! Laugh & Giggle together. Laughter is great medicine! Focus on the positive and good times and you'll see...It's a Wonderful Life!!

2 comments:

Jane Anne said...

I loved seeing the pictures and reading about your traditions. Makes me miss my family a bit but it is very inspiring. I am so glad you had a wonderful time with your sister (and family)!

The Laverty's said...

Hi JA! How are you guys doing? When your family is in town, you make the most of it and soak them up as much as possible! I'm hoping that my girls will live close to home when they get older...Maybe my sister moving to Kansas is teaching them a life lesson for WAY later on down the road when they get older. They always have such a hard time saying goodbye as I'm sure you understand. Take care!