Cousins

This is me with my cousin Kari (on the right) circa 1975. She and I were born within three weeks of each other, and grew up playing together on our Grandpa Olaf's farm. Her family lived close to Grandpa, so when we weren't at his house then we were at hers. We loved to reenact Little House on the Prairie, or to ride her family's horses, slowly for my sake. They had many acres of wooded land in Ashby, MN, with a small lake to go ice skating on in the winter. Her older brothers and mine are close to the same age, too, so our two families meshed perfectly. The boys like to go out into the woods and play war games (more literally than our parents would have approved of had they known). I can't think of one childhood memory with that side of the family that doesn't include Kari and her family.

Last week Kari and her sisters, Lori and Brit, and their kids came to Salt Lake for a visit! It was wonderful and so surreal to have them here. My Minnesota and Utah worlds came crashing together - you may have heard the kaboom. Since growing up and leaving home we haven't had much time together, so I was almost surprised at how easy it was to hang out again. We told stories from our collective childhood together, and then got caught up on what we're all doing now. Sunday evening we were at Aaron's house, and then Monday they came downtown to have lunch and see Temple Square. I loved showing them where I work. That evening we went to their hotel so that the kids could use the pool, and the grown ups sat and talked some more. It's strange that we're the grown ups now. It doesn't seem that long ago that we were the ones told to go and play, code for "leave us alone for a while".

I really loved having them here, and I loved having a reminder of where I came from. I'm going back in July for a family reunion, and will see them all again. I'll take lots of pictures so that you can see the places I've been talking about. Just thinking about it make me smile.