Twenty-One Years

I have so many things I want to blog about and I just can't keep up.  

We brought Jim's sister home with us and while we had a most enjoyable week, 

it was one of the busiest.  

She stopped over for a week before heading north for another week and then she flies off into the wide blue yonder to the east coast.  

Twenty-one years ago she took, what we thought then, was a giant leap away. 

And now she is taking a gianter one.

Twenty-one years ago I had a preemie and was fighting to feed her.  

Today she is in her first year of nursing school.

A lot happened in those 21 years. 

That baby grew and thrived.  She rolled over, crawled, walked, talked, ran.

She went to kindergarten.  She was afraid when the towers fell.

She finished elementary school and went to middle school.

She made friends and went on trips.  

She learned taekwondo.  She learned to break boards.

She played outside, she played in.  

She skied and she snowboarded.

She swam, she biked, she read. 

She did chores and raised calves. 

She went to high school and tried theater.

She learned to drive and got a job.

She had friends that were like family.

She learned to cook and clean and wash clothes. 

She learned to study and get good grades.

She's in college now, and she's engaged.  

She's gone from a 3# 13 oz. baby to an adult.

In 21 years.  

It doesn't seem so long at first thought, but...

Think of all the things that were done, thought, felt, and spoken in those years. 

They were good years;

those years my kids were growing up.

The best years of my life. 

Okay, that's one off my list. 

Anyway, this week we went up to the farm where Jim grew up to look around and remember. 

Then we had a family dinner to make new memories.  

Papa and Paislee 

Paislee with a Gramma knitted blanket 

Aunties 

Great Auntie  

It's not often I get a photo with all my kids, all smiling.  

All looking different directions. 

Quite good photo, since three little boys were involved.