girls

Let me just start out by saying that I love my boys.  Like I am completely head over heels in love with them.  That being said, it just breaks my heart that my little Lily doesn't have a sister.  I grew up surrounded by women: an amazing mother and sisters, wonderful aunts and cousins. 

 Such support.  Such love.  The more I watch Lily grow up and reminisce back to my childhood to determine any similarities or differences, the more I realize how incredibly blessed I was.  It's the biggest temptation to move to St. George - family! 

We were in St. George for two weeks in April.  The first week Liz was there with her family, along with Amanda and her kids.  So. Awesome.  Cousins all over the place.  Amanda and I took our kids to the crack and I decided to try to get Lily and Jack to do it.  Jack was too scared; I gave up on him.  Lily was quite nervous as well but I picked her up and told her to be brave like Rapunzel and sometimes when we do scary things they end up being fun.  So Lily, Brooklyn and I ended up going up and down, and Lily loved it and was so excited when we finished.

I also got to bike with Liz and Jared in Snow Canyon.  Here we are at the top.  So gorgeous!  I love that ride, it feels so good to finish. 
Amanda and I met up with Amy and Meg for a birthday lunch, where we decided to go get Dixie Nutrition frozen yogurt for old time's sake.  On the way we decided to go check out Grandma and Grandpa's property in Middleton.  We laughed so hard we cried remembering how we would spend all of our time in Grandpa's irrigation ditch, the "Pond", which was a concrete structure covered in moss and crawdads, but we were thrilled to have a place to go swimming.  So crazy!  Mostly we laughed at what our parents were thinking, as we don't remember showering very often. 

Here we are in the grapevines that Uncle Steve still cares for.  I lived on this property during my 8th grade school year and would spend a lot of time hiking the red hills, listening to Jon Schmidt and John Lennon on my walkman.  Now most of that land is developed, and the (real) pond I would sit by and pick cattails at has been turned into a park that I plan on taking my kids to. 
I feel so renewed after a month filled with time with my mom, sisters, sister-in-laws, aunts and cousins.  Even though Lily doesn't have any sisters now, I hope she realizes the strength that comes from sisterhood with those around her.