I just wanted to write a post about how much I love and admire her. She and I are two years apart and practically all my childhood memories are of she and I playing together. We grew up on a street called Chipmunk and spent our life riding our bikes around the caldasac, setting up trading posts with the other kids in the neighborhood, dressing up like fairies and running through the woods behind our house, playing with our barbies in the creek, and setting up and sliding down the slip 'n slide everyday of the summer.
One of our favorite things to do was to re-arrange our room. We would work our little bums off pushing our furniture around the room just to see how we liked it in a different configuration. We both LOVED the feeling of waking up in our "new" room.
At Christmas time, we always wanted to have our own tree in our room. One year we decided to go out in the yard and cut one down. We cut down the perfectly sized tree for us, a baby fir tree about 4 feet tall. What we didn't know was that my dad had actually planted that tree on our hillside a few years earlier to help stabilize the soil from erosion. Ooops! We got in a bit of trouble- but I have to say it really was a beautiful all lit up with multi-colored Christmas lights.
With adulthood, I have gained such a respect and love for my sister Anna which runs much deeper than barbies and dress up. My sister has been such a wonderful example to me of service and strength. Just thinking about what she has been through brings tears to my eyes. Both of her sons have been born with cleft lip and palates. She has taken this hardship and used it to bless the lives of so many others.
Here is a post from her blog about her experience volunteering at Operation Smile while living in China. Anna also started a blog devoted to helping people understand cleft deformities better. I think my sister is amazing. I could write 100 more reasons, but I hear Jasper waking up and calling out "mommy!" I love you Anna banana. Happy birthday.
5 comments:
This was so cute and makes me so happy that Ella and Addie will have each other and hopefully just as many fun sister memories together :-)! I LOVE the Christmas tree story...I was totally laughing!
I loved that story about the Christmas tree. That sounds like you two. Happy birthday Anna!
Golly Sara Jean, you make me get all teary eyed and bashful reading all these nice memories. We really did have such a fun childhood together. And thanks for remembering the "good things" rather than the times when your big sister bossed you around.
You have a wonderful memory. We would come up with so many fun little activities the 2 of us wouldn't we? That is so fun you remembered that feeling of waking up in a re-arranged room. Remember the fun evenings we had playing kick the can with the neighborhood kids each summer night? Remember on Sundays when Mom and Dad would make us play with each other (we couldn't have friends over) and we would set up little stores in our room, or build paper doll houses, or draw our dream homes. I think we played lots with eachother anyways, but Sundays, I have the best memories of all of us kids playing together. Oh the memories.
Tonight Leah (Sherry) Wright came over and we were reminiscing and we remembered that time you came out to play with us down by the creek. Leah and I had "jumped" to the island and were trying to get you to jump. Only thing is that you were in your ballet clothes, and as you jumped, your ride to ballet class showed up (I think it was Kari Christensen's mom) and so you jumped back real quick but didn't quite make it and got all muddy in your ballet clothes. You were such a fun little sister Sara. It's interesting for me to watch Johnny and Jimmy's relationship and I am often reminded of ours.
I echo your love and admiration for Anna as well...she is a true dear. I have yet to meet another person like her. One of a kind pure sweet goodness!!
I'm loving the memories, that as your neighbor knew about and participated in so many as well! Barbies in the creek, haha! That's a good one.
Oh sigh! This is too beautiful to read and makes me miss Oregon and Chipmunk Place so much!
I love these stories. Write more!!
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