Dream Come True

I've only seen my sister Kristin a handful of times since she got married 12 years ago since she and her husband have always lived a great distance away. Kristin and her family did live with my mom and me for five glorious months back in 2010 after her husband Scott finished school while he was looking for a job. Those five months went by quickly. Too quickly, and before I knew it Kristin's family was gone.

When Scott found a job it was a great thing for their family, except for the fact that it was in California––a distance of nearly 2000 miles and more than 30 hours away ONE way! This has made visits with Kristin's sweet family nonexistent since they moved at the end of 2010. It would cost a pretty penny for their family of seven to fly to St. Louis and would make for one loooong road trip (which would also be expensive, not to mention cruel and unusual punishment for five young boys). SO, for the past 3½ years I've had to settle for emails and Skype conversations to keep in touch.

A few months ago my mom and I were discussing my upcoming 30^th birthday and I told my mom that the only thing I wanted for my birthday was to see Kristin. I also told Kristin about my desire to have her come visit, but after thinking about it for a few days she told me that it wouldn't work for various reasons, so I just put the thought out of my mind. I knew it was a long shot, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to at least ask to see if it would be a possibility.

Imagine my complete surprise when Kristin showed up at my house last Wednesday evening! This is how everything went down: My sister Chandra left the house at dinner time and said she was going to the gym to work out. I thought it was an odd time for her to leave, but Chan does stuff like that all the time, so I really didn't think anything of it. (However, Chan was actually at the airport picking up Kristin.) My sister Sharon (who had already been planning to visit for my birthday) arrived from Mississippi that afternoon as well. She was in my room talking with me when Chandra (and Kristin) came home. When I glanced to my right my sister Kristin was in the room, along with my mom and Chandra. I was so surprised and I couldn't believe Kristin was in my room (I was actually speechless). I was just so, SO happy! 

Kristin was able to stay for 4½ days and we had a blast together. It wasn't nearly long enough, but I will take what I can get and be grateful! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who made it happen, and an extra big thank you to Kristin's five boys and amazing husband Scott for taking off work and holding down the fort back in California. I know how much Kristin missed her family and vise-versa, so that made me even more appreciative. If I were Kristin I wouldn't have wanted to leave these handsome fellas, either! ;)

I've been too busy partying and having fun to do much blogging, so stay tuned for more posts about my birthday and the fun times I've been having with my out of town family!