Happy 40th Birthday, Jennifer!

Jennifer is the oldest sibling in my family and she is paving the way for the big 4-0 today!  I swear it seems like just yesterday that we were talking on the phone and chatting about how we couldn't believe she was turning 30.  I had fun going through some pictures of us through the years. 

I thought this one of us was especially appropriate.  We are living in Leavenworth, Kansas I believe.

She must have been just four years old in this picture of her holding me.

The three sisters...Jennifer, Heidi, and Natalie (looking dazed and confused).

Jennifer and Heidi looking so cute!

My mom still has these costumes at her house.  They have sure gotten a lot of use over the years.  I thought they were so risqué back in the day.

This is our family when we lived in Alabama.  Man, my parents look so young!

Lookin' good in Germany.  (I bet you totally could not tell that from the picture!)   We are proudly wearing our drendel dresses.  I love all the facial expressions going on with us girls.  David looks the most normal.  (If you can call wearing lederhosen normal.)  

I sure have a lot of funny pictures of us all around Europe looking pretty much like this.  Mom...I am digging your hair.  I am not quite sure what I am doing, but I do remember digging my sweater vest at the time.  You  know what the problem with pictures nowadays is?   We take like 200 pictures at each event and delete the bad ones.  Back in the day you got what you got, no retakes.  It sure made for much funnier pictures!  Anyway, as you can tell this is at the border of Czechoslovakia at the time.  (Obviously before the Berlin Wall came down and the events that followed.)

We did a lot of traveling as kids.  I don't have specific memories of every place we went, but for some reason I do remember this day at this hotel in Holland.  I love the curlers in Jennifer's hair and I remember making sure I get those bangs just right as much as I remember the windmills. 

Jennifer was the first to go off to college and it was so fun when she would come back during the summer.  Jennifer always had the best clothes and I would beg to wear this or that.  (She has been known to make me do crazy things and fulfill her every wish to borrow an item of clothing.)  She had a plethora of Laura Ashley dresses and the like.  I thought the dress I had borrowed in this picture was pretty much the best thing ever.  I have a confession...I wish they would come back in style!  What could be better than a tent dress?  PS We are just being silly in this picture, but I am not sure quite what we are doing. PSS I am also not sure why I would want tent dresses to make a comeback.  Look how big my booty looks and I think I was probably about a whooping 100 pounds in this picture.  Wearing a dress like that now could be dangerous.

Jennifer was also the first to get married.  It was all so exciting as a younger sister.  Being a younger sister is so much fun.  Watching the older sisters go to prom, be on the drill team,  and do all these major events first is almost as much fun as doing it yourself.  They always seemed so much older and so "cool".   They know all the cool songs, the cool movies, and they have all the cool clothes.  If you want specifics-Cool songs that remind me of Jennifer would be: Chicago, "You're the Inspiration", Lots of Erasure songs, "Take me up to the Spirit in the Sky", and so many more!  Cool movies?  That's easy, "Pretty in Pink"!  Cool clothes?  Esprit, Benetton, and of course Laura Ashley. 

The five of us on the big day...

It was always fun to come back to Idaho Falls for holidays when I lived in California and our older kids were little.  I guess we thought we were pretty special here because not only were her two daughters matching, but so were we.  :)  

I love this picture of her with our Great-Aunt Louise.  

Jennifer also came out to California to visit on several occasions.  This was taken at Avila Beach near San Luis Obispo.  Warning: Pictures resembling a beached-whale ahead.  

For vanity reason I must keep this picture small.  I am HUMONGOUS and very pregnant with Luke.  The only reason I included it is because A) It is Jennifer's tribute and she looks tiny and cute B) It shows us giving each other a hand, helping one another out and THAT is what sisters are for!

Jennifer and Heidi at Bear Lake with a bunch of our kids.

Here we were earlier this year at the Romney Rally you can read about back here.  All these months later and the first debate is tonight!  I can hardly wait!  

It is fun living near Jennifer now because we get to see each other all the time!  

Happy Birthday to an AWESOME big sister!

 Thanks for always leading the way and setting such a great example for all of us to follow!  We love you lots and hope you have a wonderful 60 years to come! 

XOXO

PS Thank you to my awesome husband for scanning all the old school pictures!