My sisters

Suzanne: Suzanne is my only truly biological sister. There's four and a half years between us which has lead to some very interesting scenarios over the years. I can remember when I used to be really mean and lock her in the bathroom with the light off and the fan on and tell her the fan was 'ghosts'. Hey, what are big sisters for? As we got older and I got more mature and responsible I was less likely to pin her to the ground and tickle her until she tried to scream when she lost her voice; I grew to the point where I was more likely to sign the permission slip that Mom forgot about, or skip a class and borrow one of my friends' cars to drop off lunch money (usually my own) for her. I was also a less than positive role model for her in that I would also sign detention forms for her, then cover for her after school, and we used to intercept our midterm progress reports so that our parents saw 4 instead of 8 report cards. Though I do have to admit it was helpful having her looking out for them too. A few time I almost missed mine. When Spencer finally started at Rhodes, mom and dad were shocked to see the extras and asked if it was something new! All in all though we have some really funny stories and adventures together and I'm so glad that we've been getting even closer on a more adult level. Now I can talk to her about rent, and jobs, and baby stuff, and parenting-it's more of a friend relationship than a big sister/little sister thing. Now don't get me wrong, she's still my baby sister and anyone who's going to mess with her is going to deal with me! And Dan too b/c he thinks of her as a little sis too, and b/c I like to make him do my dirty work. Suzanne has been through a lot of the same stuff that I have, and I think that she's way stronger than me. She's also been through some stuff that I can't even imagine, and she always comes out on top. She reminds me of myself five years ago. I just hope she comes out of it better and makes better choices than I did back then.

Sara: First off, I want to apologize to Sara for this picture. It does not even come close to capturing the beauty, sassiness, spunk and coolness that is Sara, but all the pics I have of her also include Justin and Jack. Sara is like the cool big sister that I always wanted. We hang out, and gossip, and shop together, and basically do and talk about all the girly stuff that my poor husband would rather shoot himself than do. I really look up to Sara because of how rooted she is. She is an awesome mom who I never see lose it in front of her kids. She has the patience of a saint with her kiddos, and always encourages good choices. She's a fabulous cook and home maker. Anyone can keep house, but it takes a lot of hard work to make it a home! She adores her husband, and anyone can see that the feeling is mutual. And she is so firm in her testimony, and she knows a lot about the church and doctrine. She makes me want to be a better person. Honestly, this Sunday when Dan and I were over watching Conference at the Lines's, at one point Sara was the only person actually paying attention and encouraging everyone else to do the same. That's what I mean about setting an example. The funny thing is that she doesn't even realize how awesome she is. And I think that comes from her mom, because Mom thinks she should do more, or that what she does isn't enough also. Even though if you look at either one it's instantly obvious that she is an awesome lady, and that she is someone worth emulating.

Kami: She's like a fun, kinda goofy sister. Sometimes a sweet, nurturing big sister (the kind I should have been more often-oh well, ghosts were fun too!), and other times the naive little sister you want to protect from the world. The things I love most about Kami are her innocence, her goofiness, and her spirituality. She's the type of person that small children flock to because of how warm and open she is, and also because she reads newberry award winning novels and watches the disney channel. I lost a lot of my innocence very young. I was always in a hurry to grow up. And I see Kami and sometimes envy her that. She is eternally optimistic and will believe the best of anyone and everyone. And to top it off, she has such a quirky sense of humor. Right now she's into goofy cards. For St. Patrick's day the card had a picture of a long line of leprechauns in front of an outhouse, inside the card read "they don't call them the 'wee' people for noting". I laughed for a good solid minute, I still chuckle when I see it. And the cards seem to come at really opportune moments, like when I'm sad, or just having an off day. I think it has to do with her being "Kami the Prophetess" - no blasphemy intended, it's just a nickname. Kami is so very, very , very spiritual and so staunch in her beliefs. She is a shining example in her words, actions, and behaviors of the type of person everyone should strive to be. Sara and I have a tendency to gossip occasionally, very infrequently, but that's something I can't remember ever hearing Kami do. And while I sometimes daydream, or let my mind wander during Sacrament meeting (wow, I'm just letting you all in on all my bad habits today) Kami takes notes so that she doesn't miss anything, and to help her pay better attention to what's being said. The first question she asked when I told her I'm pregnant was "Have you asked Dan for a blessing for the baby and the pregnancy yet?" It is so awesome that that's the first thought she has. How many of us would ask that first? How many would think of it at all? I really miss her a lot since she moved out to Illinois, and I can't wait to see her at Women's Conference.

Cristi: I tried to get everyone by themselves, but I don't have any pics of Cristi without Matt. They are inseparable. You never get one without the other, which I think is really neat in a married couple. Cristi and I go waaay back. All the way to freshman year. Ah, the memories. Like the time that I wanted to dye my hair blue-black and I ended up just being dyed blue. On Valentine's Day. When I had a date. With Dan. And of course, we hadn't planned ahead well enough, so as we're sitting in the bathroom waiting to be able to rinse it out, and trying to figure out how dye got on my leg, Dan is sitting in the living room with my dad listening to ridiculous jokes. I'm glad he still married me. Another time we double dated for the winter dance. I went with Dan (anyone noticing a pattern yet?) and she took a guy named Brendan-I think. We went mini-golfing and she managed to hit both the guys in very sensitive areas (luckily for Nathan there was no lasting damage done : 0 ) with her golf club. As I mentioned how lucky I was that I was the only one she hadn't hit, she clubbed me with the darn thing! :) Ahhhh memories. High school was definitely fun, and way more exciting than it would have been had I not known her. She was in my Seminary class a couple of times, which really made me feel a lot more comfortable. After all, I was the only Catholic in Seminary. And the really cool thing that she and I share that no one else can is this; we graduated from Dobson together, and got to start our adult lives at the same time. How cool is that? I mean, how many sisters get to do that? Other than twins...they don't count. We used to joke about how I had to marry Dan so that she and I could be sisters for real.