happy pictures

I will leave you with some happy pictures I took with my sister a week ago. 

It was right after the best snowfall in quite awhile. 

Just gorgeous. 

poor Baby was shaking so hard

yeah, we wore our robes. 

this is a favorite

check out how deep that snow is. please ignore the tummy by the way. 

I'm jumping... not falling. 

Emma, I was just toughening you up for Norway. 

snowy pants

my feelings on Norway and other things

Today I found out that my little baby sister is moving to Norway in 6 months. 

She will be moving all the way across the ocean to a dark, gloomy, foreign land full of trolls. 

You could also think of it as a magical, mysterious, exciting land with snow covered forests and  ocean cliffs. 

I don't know what I think about Norway. I will try and push away my growing sense of fear and sadness and be EXCITED for my little sister. 

There are many things we don't have in common. One thing we do have in common is that we have both grown to LOVE exciting grand adventures in new places. So, I know exactly the tingly excitement she is feeling. And I can't help but squeal with joy. 

THIS IS SO EXCITING!

In 6 months I will say goodbye to my innocent, naive, immature, unburdened, hilarious, creative little sister.

Next summer I will welcome home my mature, experienced, traveled, grown up, not quite so little sister. 

LIFE GOES SO FAST!

I will try not to think about how much I will miss her for 9 whole months. Who will I play with at home? Who will I take crazy pictures with? How will I live as an only child for 9 months?

I know Norway will be amazing for her. She will learn so much about herself and about her God. She will get better at the things she is good at. She will discover new talents she never considered before. She will understand the way the world works. 

HER LIFE WILL BLOSSOM BEFORE HER VERY EYES!

Growing up isn't easy all the time though. There are so many things that scare me. There are so many reasons I don't want her to grow up. I am much more nervous for her to live life than for me to move out. There are so many bad people and bad places. There are so many ways your heart can get broken. There are so many scary decisions. What if she feels lonely? I did.  What if she is sad? I was at times. What if she is scared and doesn't have anyone to protect her? It happens. 

Is this how parents feel? Is this a tiny taste of having children? How did my parents do it? twice? I guess I will have to leave it up to God. He wants her to be safe and happy even more than I do. 

I can't wait for the stories to come.

I can't wait for her life to unfold. 

I can't wait till we are both grown up ladies and live together in a super cool apartment doing super cool things. 

I can't wait for her to be crazy aunt Emma. 

I can't wait for us to go on adventures together. 

I can't wait. 

If I could tell her one thing it would be:

LIFE IS UNPREDICTABLE AND TERRIFYING AND MOSTLY AMAZING!!! 

ENJOY!!!

If I could tell her one more thing it would be this: I will miss you. Get home!

goodnight

"Baby says goodnight." -Hattie

"I say goodnight back." - Emma

"Love you." -Hattie

"Love you." -Emma

This is how every day of my childhood ended, for several years. I would go give my sister a hug in bed and then standing at her doorway I would tell her my dog says goodnight. (Baby is the name of my little dog that always slept with me)

I would then leave her door open just a bit. That crack became smaller and smaller the older she got. 

I think we started this tradition around the time I was 11 or 12, just shortly after I moved into my own bedroom. She was around 8 or 9. We did this every night until I was 18 and moved away from home. It became second nature after a point. 

Tonight as I gave my sister a goodnight hug, I stopped at her door and without even think I told her:

Baby says goodnight.

she said:

I say goodnight back. 

Love you.

Love you. 

Sometimes it's the small things that mean the most in the end, things we don't even think about. Those are the things we love the most sometimes, also the things we miss the most. 

It's a good thing we never outgrow sisters. 

"Love you."

Christmas this year with my little sissy