It really stinks when your two very best friends live on the other side of the state or in another state entirely. It also stinks that they are sisters and get the chance to see each other way more than you get to see either of them. But what makes it a little more bearable is the committment we made way back when a certain someone (ahem, cough, Jen, cough) moved to Idaho. We decided that we'd do our best to see each other at least twice a year. That meant I'd go there, and she'd come here once a year.
Most years I've been lucky enough to get to see my girls more than twice, usually 'cuz one of us is having a baby and we need to celebrate. (Although this year it was due to a scary illness we're all glad is over.)
Over the holiday weekend I was so excited to get to host these two girls and their brood of kiddos. They spent the first couple nights with their "Seattle Mom", Mercy, but since they were just up the road rather than hours away, we drove the 45 minutes to spend the day together.
And Sam, since your mom didn't get a chance to take too many pictures, I'll share mine here.
The first thing Miss Jen wanted to do was hold baby Dani. It was a great reminder to her that all the pain and suffering she is going through (poor poor girl with a body that doesn't like being pregnant) is worth it in the end.
Amy even got a chance at Dani, despite having three of her own kiddos to wrangle. Super-Mom indeed.
Don't you just love it when other people love your children? I sure do.
We got the chance to celebrate these two and the occasion of their birth. Ice cream cake was requested (and later regretted) by the pregnant one.
Noah and Daisy were given the chance to blow out the candles, although for Daisy that meant a lot of spitting.
This girl knows how to eat ice cream!
We brought some toys to Mercy's, but sharing is still difficult for our Daisy. She and Noah had to take turns with the popular pink bus, and even though she was reading, Daisy wasn't going to miss her turn.
We were thankful for Darin taking them outside for a while!
And he got some great pics of Mr Noah while outside too.
Classic Noah grin.
After his nap, Sam joined the fun outside too.
Lucky for me, I got to tag along with the twins to their special birthday dinner. Darin took Daisy home (who later ended up getting to spend the night with her Aunties) and Dani and I enjoyed a delicious dinner and wonderful conversation.
But before we got to go, we had to put Sam, Kate & Glory down for bed. And that, of course, required a bed time story. This picture perfectly captures the chaos of it all.