my brother is coming home

a day at the park. it sure looks magical.

top photo: kendall is on the far left, i am next to him, then my brother cameron and my mom. 

bottom photo: my mom and kendall are in the back row, cameron and i are in the front

its 2:18am and my alarm is set for 5:50am so that michael and i can call as cab to take us to the airport. in four short hours we are flying to portland to see my family. my mom, my dad, my sisters, and my brother. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of them. that is how it has been for the last two years, but something pretty exciting is happening on friday. the 6th member of the family (7 + 8 including michael and i) is coming home. my brother has been on a mission in brazil for TWO YEARS and he is finally coming home. 

i am getting a little emotional over here as i type this. 

i can't believe that it has been two years already. so many things have happened! so many things have changed! in the time he has been gone i have graduated from college, got married, moved to chicago, learned a new language (so has he), traveled, and got a real person job. whoa. 

i am so proud of him. 

he and i are only two years apart and we don't look anything alike. he is tall. i am not. he is skinny. i am less skinny. his nose is big. mine is flat. but our hair is the same color.   

i have all these amazing memories of us running around like kids. 

my favorite is from when i was about 6 and he was 4. we lived in washington and it rained constantly. as little kids you get bored all coped up inside-- so what we would do is build little rain forts on the driveway. we put on our parents big puffy jackets, one on top and one on our legs, took all the umbrella from the house and set up camp. the driveway was really steep so an umbrella on its side made for some pretty good coverage. then we would just lay under the umbrellas and listen to the rain. sometimes we would even sneak snacks. and there we would lay until we got soaked and went back inside.

another gem is when our mom would make cookies. 

dear little brother kendall would always ask for two so that he could bring me one first. 

the tears are flowing now you guys.

growing up we always talked about how we were going to stay friends. talked about how we were going to buy a house in arizona and fly there every winter to get away from the cold. i sure hope that happens. maybe it doesn't have to be arizona, but isn't that a nice idea?

i sure think so. 

t-minus 32 hours. 

xoxo

harley.