cousin fun

the only thing i miss of living in phoenix: people.

and specifically for this post, my sister and her family.i don't get to watch my niece and nephews grow up (on a regular basis). no more meeting in the middle at a park or air conditioned mall. or convenient family barbecues. or sitting and chatting with my sister about anything from homeschooling to parenting to how our mom used to torment us as kids when she kicked us out of the van at the corner by the high school making us walk ACROSS THE INTERSECTION instead of pulling in the parking lot to drop us off like civilized human beings because we were so late...

so, when i was informed my sisters family was planning a trip to southern california, i jumped on the opportunity to crash their vacation!

oh what fun!
the kids have so much fun playing together. (minus that little detail about mason constantly picking on josh and pulling his ears) and we have so much fun sitting in the beach chairs and watching them.

as a child, i wondered why my mom never wanted to jump the waves with me. i mean, why was she missing out on all the ocean fun and just sitting and talking to other grown-ups. how b-o-r-i-n-g.

yet another mystery solved now that i am older and wiser.
one of the really great things about hanging out with my sisters kids is the simple fact that we both came from the perfect family and as a result are raising perfect families and therefore, our kids will never be a bad influence on each other.

ever.

and these two girls:
peas in a pod.

i love watching them together. they get enough time together to enjoy the benefits of sisterhood without actually having to share a room, fight over shotgun, or argue who is going to put the milk away.

so while hanging out in our room one day, ella finds the gideon bible in the drawer. ecstatic joy upon this discovery as she exclaims, "mom! the people here believe in Jesus!"
so with the bible on the table, conversation turns to other things. like the motel phone.

grace: "wouldn't it be funny if we called up people we didn't know?"
(giggles)
ella: "yeah! we totally should! and then we can read them the bible!"
grace (jumping out of her seat): "yes! and then everyone can know about Jesus!"
ella: "we can just start at the beginning... 'in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...' and we'll keep going until they believe in God!"
grace: "this is such a good idea!"

squeals, screams and jumping around in circles...

(and no, i didn't let them.)

i'm so proud of my little over zealous evangelist. we've come a long way from "is your refrigerator running?"