my youngest sibling

My sister, Abby, is celebrating a birthday today. She is eleven years my junior, but what I would have given to have her unassuming poise and maturity eleven years ago! Shoot, I still don't have them. 

Last weekend, since Abby and family were in town, my mom and brother-in-law hosted a "surprise" party for her {um, she knew}. 

LOVE these boots Jamie got for her.

Pearl enjoyed the cake.

George did not like when I took a green marker out of his mouth.

Owen and Milo actually played together like old pals. It's about time! 

Pearl honked and honked Mark's nose.

Abby is guest blogging today at a very cool blog.  Go take a look.

shabby abby

My sister is giving away a Shabby Apple dress.  Go check it out.

jan 30

Molly is great about taking these boys outside on long Sunday afternoons {when mom needs a break}.  They like nothing more than being out of the house.  

She piles them onto this little bike and they ride around the patio, completely content.

What a nice sister: patient, thoughtful and full of energy.

Of course, the older kids encourage the boys' "I'm one" tricks when mom comes out with the camera.

Thank goodness for siblings.

quilt for baby z

baby z's birth day is not until next month.  but with a deadline in mind (aka a baby shower), i was able to get this quilt done pretty quickly.  expectant momma is one of molly's leaders at church. 

the fabric is more nicey jane.  the quilt pattern is yellow brick road.

 and look at that cute bow my sister made.

the lighting for these photos was not good. curse my skills.  

p.s. check us out here from someone with fabulous skills.

try this

TUMBLR

Do you TUMBL?  Check out my tumblr link on my sidebar (a little ways down).  

Don't know what TUMBLR is?  It's a place to post inspiring images and ideas that I don't want to forget.  It's a blog that requires almost no effort and where reposting someone else's images is easy, and maybe even encouraged (just don't forget to create a link-through picture, to give credit.)

My sister Abby got me into it, and I love following her on TUMBLR and seeing the cool things she finds.  Then sometimes I repost them so they'll be stored in my TUMBLR so I can look back for inspiration any time.

Try it.  Then we can follow each other.

emily

happy birthday to my lovely sister, emily! emily is

thoughtful . pretty . smart . giving . generous . grounded . supportive . family-minded . gospel-centered . easy-going . well-read . politically-vocal . financially-wise . beautiful . witty . popular . stalwart . fun . musical . forgiving . sympathetic . brave . courteous and kind. she married well, has beautiful and smart children, and loves to serve and share. she has graciously shared her friends with me and let me into her circle of popularity. this girl has many many friends. and although she just had her fifth baby a few months ago, she didn't bat an eye at driving the whole family 11 hours to see us for thanksgiving. when i need her, she is there. no question. proven time and time again. what are YOUR favorite things about emily?
happy birthday emily! we love you!

more

short-lived balloon fun.

tandem slip-n-sliding.

hula hooping.

pregnant. not pregnant. pregnant.

reunion

smooth sailing. wipeout. {they were ok. it just looks bad}

freestyle.

water fight.

watermelon contest. party of one.

hula contest.

tribute to michael j.

sack races.

super jumping elliot.

three-year olds in charge of the water.

sisters.

abby grace call me ace

this is abby. today is her birthday. abby is 25. she is very beautiful. she is very smart. she is oh so thoughtful.

she is my sister. i am so lucky.

this is not abby. but she could be mistaken for her twin.

{abby also has a great singing voice.}

happy birthday abby! we love you!

December 15

Today is Emily's birthday. She is smart, savvy, beautiful and kind. A wonderful friend to all, a great sister to me, and she plays a mean saxophone. Happy Birthday Emily. We love you!

earlobes in need

My sister's sister-in-law, Angela, is hosting and producing and sponsoring a 12 days of Christmas giveaway. 12 pieces of lovely jewelry! It ends in just a few days so hurry over and enter to win. She is really talented.

90 bucks

When my sister, Emily, was about 15, she found herself needing some new clothes and a new do. I remember being appalled when my mom GAVE HER $90 in which to buy these items. That was a lot of money circa 1990! Since I had my own money from summer jobs, I pretty much paid for my own clothes and didn't get such nice handouts.*

My brother, Neil, made up a rap about Emily and her new found cash. {Yeah, it was that big a deal at our house.} He chanted,

"She gots ninety bucks for a haircut and clothes"

{"gots" is rapper lingo.}

She got a cute new cut and some swanky clothes and she deserved it.

Especially since I wasn't very good at sharing my clothes with her. The long and short of it is I always think of the Emily Rap when I get my hair cut, as I did this last week. stacked with bangs. And for much less than 90 bucks. Thanks Leisel.

Neil or Emily, do you remember the rest of that rap?

*um, I'm going to hear about that one.

I'm in love with my new scanner

circa 1979. Were YOU even BORN yet?

stendig

Abby + Jamie also got us this timeless Stendig Calendar. I love it! I am so excited to put it up. I can't decide: Maybe it will go above my sewing machine, or maybe in our bedroom. Wherever it goes, it's a welcome and grand piece of pop-art. I'm on a hanging mission today...

owl

Abby made this sweet owl for Owen for Christmas. He loves to kiss it goodnight. Isn't it cute. And isn't she clever!

December 15

Dear Emily,
Happy Birthday! In keeping with my poetic tributes to the Craigs, here is an acrostic poem just for you {in remembrance of 2nd grade as well}:

Everyone's friend
Money manager extraordinaire
Indecent UPS exposure
Living the Provo dream
Young, hip and stylish

Hope your day is GREAT! We can't wait to see you at Christmas!

Love,
Sarah

happy trails

a few more for the road.

Today the Craigs are on their way to Happy Valley. I am quite sad at their departure. I will miss so many things about my sister and her family: last-minute-get-togethers, Sunday dinners at her house/my house/mom + dad's house, birthday parties with the Craig kids, baby showers, talking on the phone (yeah I know I can still do that, but...), sharing baby gear, letting me hang out with her cool friends and in-laws, having a sister close enough to do my ironing if I so need it, etc. etc.

Let's look at the farewell photos for a little pick-me-up:

Dinner at Carraba's - me, emily, shauna (longtime friend), pepper (friend from college)

mark and steve telling funny stories

Sunday dinner - neil, diana, emily, steve

owen, nana, emily, norah - eager to leave norah?

OK, that's just not going to cut it. We're coming up in two weeks!