Our Hero!

I have several heroes in my life.  The one I am currently amazed by is my younger sister, Jennifer.  Christi and I had the AWESOME blessing of going on a Caribbean cruise last week.  We went with Christi's parents, three of her siblings and their spouses.  No kids!  It was a much appreciated opportunity to relax and get away from the challenges of daily life.  

Who in the world, you may ask, stayed with your kids?!?  Aunt Jenny:)  Jen is a wonderful woman.  She is extremely organized.  She took Christi's 12-page document of instructions for the week and doubled it, making sure that every minute of every day was accounted for and that as few surprises as possible would pop up.  The kids had a great time with her and they were all alive and accounted for when we returned.  Pretty incredible!  Thanks again, Jen, for a wonderful trip.  Thanks for being such a great sister and aunt.  We love you!

While on the cruise, we had limited email access and received a few updates from Jen.  Here is my favorite:

It is 9:50 p.m. All the kids are in bed, some of them long ago...some of them not so much. It snowed today. This added an element of wet, muddy mess to Molly. And the snow meant I had to drive Jesi to dance and Xander to his pack meeting because I just couldn't let them walk there and get freezing cold and I had all sorts of time to spare because this happened on a night of Elli absolutely breaking down and screaming and fighting so hard it took Taylor, Parker, Graci, and me to get her into PJs. And she bit me hard. Even drew blood, believe it or not.  But that's okay because this was the night that I found out Sophi had an animal project that was already due today, so had to be done tonight in order to be turned in only 1 day late (tomorrow). But that's okay because this was the night  I had already promised Cali I would try a couple different hair coloring things she had to see if they would work because I know she wants to color her hair. None of them worked anyway (none of them were permanent). But I didn't want to back down on that promise because there's not a lot I can do to connect with her and I wanted to keep my commitment to her. But that's okay because this was the night Sophi and Lexi needed their baths and I really just couldn't move it tomorrow because tomorrow is New Beginnings. But that's okay because this was also the night I had to edit Taylor's paper because it's due tomorrow. I had asked him Sunday and Monday if I could edit it because I don't like to procrastinate, but he kept putting me off and since it's due tomorrow, finally had to be done tonight.

All-in-all, I'm quite impressed it's only 9:50.

Oh, but I still have to clean the disaster of a kitchen 'cuz I told the kids I'd do it because they were all behind on their chores and homework because Matt and Carla and their 6 kids visited today until about 4:30. Which was great, of course, but pushed schedules back.

I deserve a freaking medal.

Love,

Jennifer

You absolutely deserve a medal, Jen!  We can't thank you enough:)

-Jer