Aunt Alana's Visit

I LOVE this photo of Daddy Tim with his gal Sofia walking along the trail at Great Falls. How cute is she holding onto her dress like that?! :)

Another great shot of Sofia with her Great-Granny! Sofia has Aunt Jane's name for her middle name and my Mom's dimples -- so cute!
Showing Alana the Lincoln memorial...
What a good-looking group of cousins! :) From left to right: Alex, Gabe, me, Sofia, Alana, Becca, Abby, and Billy!

At the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial -- by far my favorite!
The Rice Gang! My Uncle Bill, Aunt Patty & their kids!
Bruce, an awesome biker bulldog that we met at Rolling Thunder!
We spent some time hanging out at the playground!
We had a great time hanging out with my sister Alana this past week. I am beginning to think all of my baby sisters are much wiser or more grown-up than I am. :D Seriously, it's strange to get to know your kid sister as an adult! I think she was only 9 and Rachel was only 7 when I left the house for college. We (meaning the 3 oldest kids) always called them "the little girls" -- Alana & Rachel were inseparable as babies and kids. I was trying to explain to Alana that it felt to me like we were almost 3 separate families because of the larger time gaps between Jordan and Alana and then Rachel and Eli. But I don't think she agreed. I guess we all remember our childhoods very differently, which makes sense, because we all have unique perspectives. In our family, there is me, Ryan and Jordan all less than 2 years apart, and then a four-year gap and then Alana and Rachel are less than 2 years apart, and then there's an 8-year gap before Eli was born. And I have gotten to know Nathan, who is slightly younger than my brother Eli, pretty well too (Nathan is my half-brother).

Anywho, I digress....hope you enjoyed my favorite photos from Alana's visit....we hope she comes back soon!