sibling rendezvous

Over a year ago my youngest sister, Ruth, asked all our siblings if we could do something together without  in-laws and children.  Ruth felt like she didn't know some of her older siblings and wanted a chance for us to share some childhood memories.  There are 16 years between Louise and Ruth, and Louise moved to Utah when Ruth was five.  Since Louise moved back a couple months ago all of us siblings live in Mesa, AZ for the first time since then.  Now that we're all married except for Ruth it's hard for her to connect with the rest of us and us with her.  High school was a long time ago but Ruth is my sister and it's important for her to feel a part of the family and not just the designated babysitter.

On St. Patrick's Day we finally made it happen.  I wish it were a year ago when I didn't have post-baby lbs. but oh well.  The plan was a potluck dinner and audio recording us sharing memories but I also brought my camera so we could have visual record of this occasion.  Mom took these for us.  The "Oooo" photo is a family tradition :)  You might have seen it at Nora and Garret's wedding.

(order left to right: Nora, Peter, Me, DJ, Louise, Ruth, Julie, Chris)

For the audio recording Ruth picked a few specific questions for us to go around the room and answer.  One was "Where do you see you and your family in five years?" Another "What's your favorite memory of Ruth?" There was no theme for the potluck so there was a lot of random food.  Crazy combinations from pizza to cornbread and enchiladas to cheese and broccoli soup.  Ha ha!  Gotta love it.

DJ was teaching me his skills :)

I'm so glad my siblings and I were able to get together to laugh and remember.  Just looking at these pictures make me laugh!  It was really a special occasion I hope we can repeat maybe once a year.  Thank you Ruth for the idea!  What a blessing that we all live in the same city so this was able to happen.  I love my brothers and sisters!  I couldn't imagine life without any one of them.