sisters {tuesdays unwrapped}

Trish and I.

Me and Trish.

Trish and me.

Tracie and Trisha.

Tracie Marie and Trisha Marie.

The girls.

One, not two.

This is my sister.  Trisha.

And she means the absolute world to me.

We’re 11 months apart and basically grew up as one person.  Twins almost.  {I’m on the right in the photo above}

We were each others best friend.  Always there.  When no one else was … we were.

My mom took special care in nurturing our relationship.

Even though I was older, I depended on Trisha something fierce.  I needed her advice, her respect, her admiration, her confidence.

There wasn’t … isn’t … anything I wouldn’t do for her.

But then I felt cheated.

Jipped.

She grew up too fast.  Had a baby at 19, married and moved out.

Leaving me alone.

I wasn’t prepared to lose her in that way.  Too quickly and torn from me.  We still had secrets to share … growing to do.

Alas … it happened.  And I had to accept it.

We stayed close and I loved her son something fierce!  Then another son.

And then my marriage.  My baby.

And so we grow.  And so life goes.

And here we are 40 years later.  Adults.

Her firstborn now grown.  A man.  An Army man, to be exact.

My sister?  Mom of a Hero.

Brett was deployed last week … to Afghanistan.  And he just got word that his deployment will be longer than he originally thought.

My heart is breaking for my sister … my friend.  I know she’s upset, worried, anxious.  I would be too.

But I’m also proud.  I’m proud of her.  Proud of Brett.

She’s loved that boy and encouraged him more than any mother I know.  She’s bared the brunt of so many hurtful situations … all in the name of motherhood.

Isn’t that what we do though?  Isn’t parenting all about sacrifice?

Trisha, I’m so proud of you for how you’ve handled so many difficult situations in your life.  I don’t tell you often enough.

I love you Trishie Bug … as much as I did when we were three!

{thank you Beki for redesigning this inspiring necklace so I could tell my sister how proud I am of her}

This post is linked up with Emily at Chatting at the Sky

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Posted in family, family thoughts, tuesdays unwrapped

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pumpkins … already?!

CJ was out of town for a few days this week … so the girls and I found ourselves looking for a bit of action.  Enter, the pumpkin farm.  Can you believe it’s that time already?

It was a brisk, Wisconsin afternoon … so we were pretty much the only ones there … which was just fine with us!  We were freezing … hmm, wonder if the ice cream their eating has anything to do with that?  :)

Okay, and see this photo of Hunter squeezing her one eye closed and pointing?  This is my absolute favorite face of hers and can’t believe I finally caught it on camera!  I want to squeeze her to pieces when she does this!

Anyway, we had a great afternoon … and I got a few caramel apples outta the deal … all-in-all … success!

Okay, and look. at. this!!  As I was taking the photo of Piper, I had a flashback of taking the same photo years earlier.  I hunted it down … six years ago!  She was a mere 18 months old!  Seriously, where do the days … years … go?

I pray this Fall season is off to a great start for you and full of pumpkins, apples … and of course caramels!  :)

Posted in family, family photos, outing, piper

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2009 wisconsin state fair

Really?

Only in Wisconsin … at the state fair … would you find a sign like this.  And people who were actually partaking of the chocolate covered product.  Um … ewww!

Is it possible to eat your weight in sugar and fried food?  If so … we did.

Don’t ya love the teenager?  This is honestly a classic shot of her!

All the girls {minus miss teenager} had fun on the jumpy, jump thing … twice!  Also did the rock climbing wall and the ‘baby’ had a pony ride.

Couldn’t resist a little reminiscing … here’s Piper & Wynter at last year’s fair {enjoying a cream puff}.

And … Piper at 1 year old … enjoying her very first cream puff!

The fair has been a tradition of mine for a long, long time!  My first job was at the fair … selling tshirts.  Yeah.  But man, it was good money.  Cash.  And when you’re, what, fifteen? … it was awesome!

Thank you state fair for all the awesome {cheesy} memories!

Posted in family, family photos, field trip

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father’s day bliss

Ta-da!  Told ya I’d do it!  :)

And they were yummy too!!  I did everything with a mix {brownie mix, cake mix, pre-packaged sugar cookie dough.  even the frosting was the already-prepared-squirt-out kind}.  YUM-EE!!  And CJ loved them.

We had a relaxing and blessed Father’s Day … hope y’all did too!

Here’s the hubs with his kids … I sure love this man.  He’s an awesome father and an even better husband.  All he ever wants is for me and the kids to be happy.  Sometimes I take him so for granted … I suppose we all take each other for granted more times than we care to admit.

And that’s why I’m super thankful the Lord has laid marriage on my heart as my current bible study topic.  It’s been a much needed reminder of the little things we can do and remember each day to keep our marriages in a place of respect, joy and high regard.

I love you CJ … happy Father’s Day!

I snapped this one of Huntie today and couldn’t resist sharing.  There’s something about this girl that shines … and we all love her to bits!

{p.s.  a little photoshop magic took care of the above mentioned frosting off her sweet little face!}

Posted in craft, creative, curt, family

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happy {belated} birthday trisha!

So I totally missed singing my favorite lil’ sis her birthday song this year.  I’m so sorry Trish … here goes …

Posted in birthday, family

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