Reunion!

For the first time since we said good-bye in August, I got to hug my sister.

For one blissful week, Mikaela and I were in the same state.  

For seven blissful mornings, we woke up in the same time zone.

For nearly 168 hours, we couldn't stop smiling, and together with Mama, Sarah, and Joel, couldn't stop laughing either! (Thanks for the entertaining game of Uno Dare, Joel!)

Scroll through these pictures and tell me if you've ever seen a happier bunch!

Coffee is wonderful when you're not sure what time zone you're in and the plane you've just flown in on but were not supposed to disembark from is grounded with steering troubles.  A side trip to St. Louis wasn't in the original plan, but it is now!

We're faking it pretty well here, but our fingers are about to fall off from frostbite awaiting our train in DC in ten degree weather!

Sarah and Mama, happy to have a seat on the Metro after an exhausting travel day!

Could our smiles be any bigger?

Throw some cupcakes in, and the smiles just might grow.

Then add some adorable pandas, with whom we absolutely fell in love!  We accidentally saw a bison on our way to the pandas, but that was entirely unintended.  The pandas were our sole mission at the National Zoo!
Why, you ask?
Well, did you know Bao Bao, the baby, is the most coo-worthy critter in the world?  
Did you know four women could stand for an hour in front of panda bears and still wish they had two more hours to spend?  
Did you further know there is a 24 hour panda cam on the National Zoo website so you never have to be without your daily dose of panda?
(As I've enjoyed informing people, we did accidentally see a bison at the zoo, but other than that we went straight to the pandas!)

Up next, the National Cathedral at sunset.

Washington DC aglow.

Mama caught this amazing photo!  The cathedral was an amazing, beautiful place.  We were even gifted with hearing a casual rehearsal for the evening concert, and medieval instruments resonating through the sanctuary held us completely captive!

Aren't they the cutest couple?

On Saturday, Joel finally got to join us, and we went to a Sight and Sound musical production of Moses in Lancaster, PA.  Phenomenal is too small a word to describe it.  

Comparing it even to a New York Broadway musical, Sarah still informs me this was better. We cried and laughed. We were awed by the massive production at the same time that our hearts were touched by the depth of a single moment brought to life and the power of God's work through Moses.

Afterwards, we were able to meet up with a long-time friend, Leah, who lives nearby!  Lunch and an afternoon together was an unexpected delight!

Over the next few days, various girly activities occupied our time, beginning with helping Mikaela organize, clean, and shop for maternity clothes:

Auntie's dinner date...need I say more?

Face masks with the requisite "creepy ladies" picture!

And tea with the queen but of course!

On our last night in Maryland, we had a "jam" session in Joel and Mikaela's living room. Mikaela and I were on violin, Sarah on piano, and Joel on guitar or penny whistle.  Hymns and fiddle music were the order of the evening, and we had so much fun--it felt like we had never been apart!

To top off the festivities, we had a soda-testing party.  Yes, that's chai cola and coffee soda, but our favorite was the butterscotch root beer.  Yummy!

On our final day together, we took reams of pictures,

fulfilled our desire to actually go up in the Washington Monument,

and took more pictures from the top!  Notice the helicopter in front of the White House in the top photo?

In our last minutes together, Sarah, Mikaela, and I ran down to the Gallery of Art and saw treasures such as these: the ballerina by Degas, and the only painting by Da Vinci in North America. 

My favorite photo from the trip, this picture captures the best-friendship we have together.  And though saying good bye was difficult, not one of us regret that we had the chance to hug good bye in person in the first place.

Mama, Sarah, and I caught our flight home, which stopped in the same airport as before, and, just like before, our plane was grounded with mechanical problems.  At this point, and after such a week, laughter was our only logical response, and the rest of the plane could only stare at us in confusion.  But at last we landed safely on Northwest soil to hugs and love from our families.  

"Real life" started bright and early the next morning for me in the form of teaching, but the real memories, blessings, and love from my time with Mikaela and Joel were all the energy I needed!

A Story for You

Dear Mikaela,

Here is the story I shared with you almost one month ago--while we both sobbed.  I know that day felt like 20 years packed into one moment, so I'm sending this story off to you now as a moment to keep for 20 years and longer.  I hope that as you read it you are filled with all the joy and love with which I wrote it.

This is a story about two little girls who spent the first nine months of their lives with their sister’s elbows in each other’s faces.  Both they and their Mama were incredibly relieved when they finally got out into the great spacious world.  

The girls loved each other more than anything.  They always dressed to match and were never far apart.  When the younger girl learned to ride a bike, she proved to the older one that it was indeed humanly possible, and so the older one kept climbing on the bike and falling until she could ride next to her sister with glorious ease.  

The older sister may have been born first, but the younger sister was always the leader in fashion among the two girls.  When they were about seven, they were reading Little House on the Prairie, and the younger sister figured out how to do Laura’s two braids on herself.  The older sister was insanely jealous, not only of the younger one’s amazing braids, but also of her Afro that she achieved the day after she braided her hair.  The frizz was astounding.

But no matter how hard she practiced, the older sister always ended up with Pippi Longstocking braids instead of Laura Ingalls braids.  When she asked the younger sister for help, the younger sister would only give the sage comment: “Well, sister, you just need to practice more.  I braid my hair every night to practice, and if you tried that, you too could learn to braid.”  

Yes—the younger sister was always quick with a solution to any problem.  For instance, there was the time that she was sucking a lollipop.  For some unknown reason, she decided that she didn’t want to be bothered with the inconvenience of a stick poking out of her mouth.  Thankfully, she had an easy solution.  All that was required was a pair of scissors expertly employed…the stick was gone, but her nose almost went with it!  When one of her parents confronted her on the two curious scabs on either side of her nose, she queried innocently, “What scabs?”

“The ones on your nose—where did they come from?”

“Oh…those…um…well I just cut my nose…accidentally…I was cutting with scissors and it um...sort of got in the way.”

Every night from the time the girls were little, they lay awake for hours instead of sleeping.  They would talk and talk in the darkness, planning out tree forts and blackberry tunnels, naming baby dolls and book characters.  They would tickle each other’s toes and giggle into their sheets so that Mama and Papa wouldn’t interrupt their slumber party.  The older sister even sobbed heartbrokenly one night when Mama decided to switch up sleeping partners and moved the younger sister in with the baby sister.

As they got older, the midnight talks changed.  But both sisters were inseparable until they were 16 when their lives as they knew them completely changed, and their ways split: you see, they stopped sharing a room.  They now had to travel all the way across the hall to see each other.  But since it was either that or do Morse code on the wall, they decided their tongues could move faster than their fingers.

So they sat in the older sister’s room until midnight, their knees tucked under their chins, and made castles in the air instead of tree forts.  They tunneled through the toughest choices in their lives now instead of through blackberries.  They named life goals and theological truths instead of baby dolls and book characters.

They watched BBC period dramas together when no one else in the family would watch with them.

They drank lavender soda when others raised their eyebrows at drinking beautiful flowers.

They played violin together, making beautiful music because they knew just how to ebb and flow with each other’s rhythm even when everyone else wondered what on earth they were doing.

They never spent a night apart until they were eighteen, and they loved it that way.  Someday, they even promised one another, they were going to live in a duplex, so that they would never be more than a run across the hall or a tap of Morse code away.  

But then one day, Prince Charming came, and the younger sister was swept off her feet.  Prince Charming and the sister loved one another deeply, but even more importantly, they knew that in the story God was writing for each of their lives, He had written their love story.

The sister and Prince Charming were so joyful in their love, so brave in the face of impassable cliffs, and so strong in their faith in God that the older sister knew without a doubt that they were meant for each other.  Yet just as strongly she knew that she would forever miss their midnight talks and rock paper scissors games, and most of all, just having her sister next to her for every adventure.

Which brings us to today.  It’s not the end of the story, but the beginning.   

For today, as splendid and life-changing and sacred as it is, is not just for today.  Today, August 30^th, 2014, is for 50 years down the road.  It is so that on August 30^th 2064 you and Joel can gather with your children and your grandchildren, and look back on the fruit of this day.  

And I pray that when you do that you will see the blessing of God’s fingerprint on every moment.  I pray that God may bless you with a heritage of many sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters who are warriors for Jesus Christ.

May the storms that beat on you drive you to your knees, and may you find each other there. 

May God give you a marriage that, though human and imperfect, is so Christ-centered that all who meet you will see a picture of Jesus and His bride, the church.

May every day that passes multiply your love a hundred-fold.

I love you both.

P.S. All photography is by the amazing Christa Taylor!  We'll be posting more photos soon.

Sunshine Days

I love road trips!  Especially when they involve warm sun, people you love, and a new Adventures in Odyssey radio drama album!  Judging from the photos above, Susanna also loves when they include opportunities to throw people off of jet skies.  (Although, to give full disclosure, the photos started as Papa hamming it up for the camera until he lost his balance and actually fell in!)

Our road trip led to Eastern Washington, where we met up with our favorite cousins to go on another tubing adventure down the Yakima river.  All went well, except for the part where the current shoved our flotilla of tubes against a sheer rock cliff, turning Mikaela's tube over and nearly forcing her under.  Mama had her back, though--praise the Lord for her strong arms! 

An intense game of "Four on the Couch" with our cousins.

Susanna and Cody

Serious (except Trevor, who's goofy)

Goofy (except Trevor, who's serious)

 

The "grown ups"--clockwise from back: Papa, Mama, Cousin Peggy, Delmer, and Michelle

After spending a few days with the cousins we drove out to Grandma and Grandpa's lake house in Idaho, but the next day we went to Silverwood, a gigantic amusement park, with those same cousins.  We spent a wonderful day there: the bonus was that no one got permanently lost and I managed not to get sick on any of the roller coasters--hooray! 

We spent a lovely evening with my grandpa on Mama's side.

Mikaela mailed a post card to Joel every few days when we were at Grandma and Grandpa's.  This involves walking about a half mile up their steep switchbacks to the long, quaint row of the community's mailboxes.  I love that right next to the mailboxes they have a phone-booth sized case of books with the title, "Library." 

 



The weather was gorgeous the entire week, so our daily schedule went something like this: sleep in, eat breakfast, get swimsuit on and go for a dip, eat lunch, go for another dip, eat dinner, play games.  Of course, there was a generous amount of ice cream in there, along with a boat cruise one day for good measure!

 

Grandpa kept us laughing!

 

Grandma kept us eating!

Jonah kept us smiling!

...or shrieking!

 

Mikaela and I turned 23 while we were at the lake, and we got to go water skiing on our birthday!  We both have water skiied before, but it had been a few years.  Mikaela got up on her first try, while I plowed water until I was doing the splits and had to let go several times before I got up.  Notice in the photo in the right upper corner the expression on my face, but also the expression on Papa's face as he watches from the dock, wanting to help me out! 

 



For our birthday dinner, Mama made this amazing Greek recipe that I had been craving from Pinterest.  It was delicious!

My grandparents are special people! 

 



Grandpa and I

 



Grandpa and Mikaela

 

Melanie made the amazing book-paper necklace I am wearing!  This sister of mine is such a talented jewelry creator! 

 



Mikaela and I cried over each other's gifts, knowing that this could be the last birthday we spend together for awhile, and then we laughed at each other for crying.  She gave me a treasured necklace with rock, paper, and scissors charms because that is our favorite way to decide who does what in any given situation.  Half the time we both do the exact same sign, and the other half she wins, but that's OK.  I gave her the silhouette you can see in this photo of us around age 3 or 4, printed on canvas.  With such sentimental gifts, is it any wonder we cried?

 



It was such a special, emotional birthday!  From all the sweet gifts to the very sweet dessert (a family favorite--Sydney Sundaes!), it was a day to remember. 

God even gave us an enthralling thunder and lightning show for our birthday!  We all sat together in darkness, watching the lighting explode over the expanse of the lake and counting the seconds between the light and the sound.  The lightning was phenomenal, but so was the feeling of simply being together as a family, saying little things or saying nothing at all, but still loving deeply.

On the final day of our trip we met up with Aunt Carol, Mama's sister, and spent a wonderful afternoon with her!

And after seeing Aunt Carol, we went to the wedding reception of our friend Meghan's brother.  It was so good to see her and her family again.  Some of you may remember that Meghan is our "triplet", since we share a birthday in the same year.  We gave her this sign for her birthday and talked up a storm the whole evening! 

 

When we arrived back at Grandma and Grandpa's house that night, knowing the next day brought the final leg of our road trip, Mikaela spontaneously suggested, "Let's go jump in the lake!" 

 

It was about 11 o' clock, and lightning was still glowing over the distant horizon, but Mikaela, Susanna, and I ran across the dock and jumped into the warm water.  It felt amazing.