Those People: Like Family

I have good memories with these people.

Crazy Horse

Thirteen years ago today, I remember the nurse walking out of the delivery room carrying a little bundle with a face exactly like the one you see there. That's my cousin--Callen. She's one of the most easy-going, head-standing, crazy-legged people I've known. Willing to do anything and go anywhere with me, we've spent a good deal of time together. I showed her how to climb up the small ladder of our club house and she showed me how to dance like a mad person. I showed her my tennis serve and she showed me that it is humanly possible to bend your body in ways that seem... just wrong.

One day during the hottest heat of the summer, we were at the courts playing tennis. She spontaneously stopped and started doing the potty dance.
"LIZ! I have to GO! REAL BAD!"
I was disappointed. We had only been there for twenty minutes or so. I told her to hold it. So she stopped and started playing again, but we couldn't play for a straight minute without her complaining. I finally agreed to stop and drove her to a small building close by. She ran from my car, to the door, shook it, and ran back yelling, "THE DOOR'S LOCKED! THE DOOR'S LOCKED! HURRY! GET AN AMBULANCE!" We tried the building next to that one and it was locked, too.

"JUST TAKE ME TO YOUR HOUSE!" So I did. When we got there, she opened the car door and walked out calmly. "I don't have to go anymore," she said with a menacing smirk on her face.
Goober...


Reidiculous

Growing up under the same roof means lots of memories. Like watching Dr. Seuss videos and rewinding the funniest part thirteen times so we could belly laugh until our faces turn bright red. Or like playing Barbie dolls and hearing Reid talk through Ken: "Look, Honey. My head popped off."

And that one time we were in Walgreens and Reid walked up to a very large woman, started pushing on her stomach and saying, "You're so FAAAAT."

One day, we were in a bubble-blowing mood. We set a box fan on the porch and plugged 'er in. Got some dish soap and a big bowl of water and mixed it. Then, found some large and lovely bubble blowing apparatuses. We dipped in the wands then held them up to the fan continuously in a fast-paced tempo. Pretty soon, our front yard looked like the Lawrence Welk's Show (if you know what I mean).

Now, he's all grown up and going to proms and such. (purple tie)


"Birdie, birdie, birdie"















These are two of my favorite little kids in the country. I used to babysit them pretty regularly and still do occasionally. (Actually, Josiah likes to babysit Judah and I sometimes telling us, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You guys... come in the living room. We need to talk.")

I was helping with the kids class one Wednesday night last summer with their intense water-playing activities. Judah (stuck out tongue) was sitting with me on the curb of the church sidewalk. I was opening a bottle of bubbles for him and telling him where to find the wand.

During my explanation he interrupted me and said, "I wuv you, Wiz."

I was speechless for a few seconds.
I returned the "I love you."