Happy Birthday Big Sister!

November 22 is an extremely important day in my family. It is the day my much, much older sister was born, a very, very long time before I was born.

OK. So maybe she isn't that much older. But it is a real comfort to me (as I prepare for my upcoming twenty-tenth birthday) to know that no matter how old I get, she will always be older.

Jenny will be celebrating the day surrounded by her four and one half children.

Wait...I guess she won't be surrounded by the 1/2 a child until he is born in April. Technically she is surrounding him at this point...but who is surrounding who really isn't all that important. What is important is that she will spending her birthday with various family members, including her fabulous hubby John and her kids.

Jenny isn't just a mom, she is a "Mother". The kind of mother that Hallmark writers wax poetic about. She is one of those natural moms too. She has been mothering since she was old enough to push a stroller. The family dog was the first object of her motherly affections...

...until I came along and assumed the position of "baby doll". From the look on my face in the photo below, I must have had some idea of what I was in for. Or maybe Jenny was just squeezing me really, really hard. Or perhaps I was just reacting to the injustice of a world where my older sister, my own flesh and blood, could have such pretty, silky hair while I was stuck with road-kill-ish-fuzz that refused to lay down, let alone curl or shine.


Whatever the problem was, I still hadn't gotten over it when this photo was taken a few months later. But please notice how happy and content my sister looks. Her kids smile like that now. How cool/surreal is that?

Our mom was really excited about having the opportunity to raise two girls. She had come along after most of her siblings were grown and married, so she was, for all intents and purposes, an only child growing up. Therefore she loved the thought of having a sister who was also a built in best friend.

And because we were out numbered by brothers two to one, it would have made a lot of sense for us to join forces and support each other through all of the pack meetings, pinewood derby races, and all-star games.

Too bad we weren't in to making a lot of sense back then. We were too busy annoying each other.

My mother's dream of raising two girls who would someday grow up to sing the "Sisters" duet Watch it here!from White Christmas (if you haven't seen that one for a while rent it or Net-Flix it or Tivo it or something because it ROCKS!) was shattered early. For a few years there, Jenny and I didn't even refer to each other by our proper names. I called her "Wench" and she called me "Stupid" , even when we weren't arguing about anything. It drove my poor mom nuts!

I think this picture was taken right before used each other for batting practice. I'm not sure though, my memory is a little fuzzy. Concussions can do that to you.

Just kidding. We never actually took up arms against each other, although there was a lot of kicking going on under the piano when ever we played duets for recitals or in Sacrament meeting. The irony of trying to break each others toes while playing a beautiful arrangement of "Love at Home" was not lost on us.

And apparently the "big bangs" era was not lost on us either. Yikes.

But when Jenny went off to college in Rexburg, our relationship improved drastically. It is really amazing what a difference in perspective thirty miles can make. Then when I went to Rexburg and she headed to Provo, increasing the distance between us, we became such good friends that we even considered being roommates if I transferred to BYU. And when I went all the way to Canada to serve a mission we became even...wait a minute....

When I went to Canada she got married. Without me. And had her first baby. Without me. I think I might still be bitter about that.

Ok, so I only missed Bentley's birth by a day, so I guess her timing on that one was pretty considerate.

But now that we are both old (although she is and always will be older) we are very good friends, except for when we're not. Old habits die hard, after all. But it helps that she has four and 1/2 adorable kids that I love to visit and spoil and teach to do things that I know will annoy their momma...like I said, old habits die hard.

But thankfully sisterly-love is even tougher than old habits. Isn't she pretty? And very talented. Look at the little niblet she made.

Happy Birthday Jenny! Thanks for coming first, blazing the trail, breaking in the parents, and making me look so easy to raise by comparison! Love ya!