Rainbow Girl Week

Once upon a time there were six sisters.  Each one was a color of the rainbow and their mother was white.  Together they make up the supereheros called the Rainbow Girls: Defenders of Truth and Light.

One year on March 17th the Green Rainbow Girl announced that it was Green Rainbow Girl day and everyone was wearing green in her honor even if it was more commonly known as St. Patrick's Day.  The other Rainbow Girls demanded to have days in there honor and that is how Rainbow Girl Week began.

So every year from Sunday to Saturday the week of St. Patrick's day you will us wearing a different color of the rainbow each day.  Each year it is different but it isn't the order that matters.  We honor that without each other we would not be a rainbow.

I am the Purple Rainbow Girl and this year today is Purple Rainbow Girl Day.  Even though I have not seen any of my immediate family today (we are now in three different states) I know that they love me for who I am and for who I am not because I know they were wearing purple today.  They know that I love them in the same way because I wear their colors.  We are united no matter the miles in between.

Girl"s Movie Night, by Mom

Emma said that for her birthday, she wanted to see Disney's "Brave" with me. She had heard it was a good mother/daughter film to see. Well, I was busy moving and working and we never got around to it before I had to leave town. So we made a special night of it during Christmastime where mom and all her daughters got to see it together at Emma's house.

The big event had to have Mom's famous pasta salad, not to mention several flavors of microwave popcorn and dollar candy! Here is the recipe to feed a crowd.:

2 (16 oz.) packages of multi-colored twirly pasta, cooked and drained (The colored kind make it more fun!)
8 Roma Tomatos (they add the flavor and are usually less expensive than the round ones.)
3 Cucumbers cut into fourths lengthwise and then sliced thick. (easier to eat this way than slices)
2 bunches of green onions, chopped
1 stalk of Celery, all sliced (except for the leaves)
1 jar of Artichoke Hearts, drained (These are the 33 oz kind I buy at Costco)
1/2 jar of Kalamata Olives, drained (These are the Tassos brand Pitted kalamata olives in red wine vinegar in the 52.91 oz. jar available in some Costco stores.)
4 packages of Italian Dressing Mix or Ranch Dressing Mix

Since there is olive oil in the artichokes and vinegar in the klamata olives, all you need for the dressing are the dressing mixes. We love this salad and I love to make it for family occasions!

As it turned out, it was a lovely evening. And the bonus was that I didn't fall asleep before it ended like it is common for me to do!

Babies and Heartache

In 2012 my family was richly blessed with babies.  First Emma had her first child Ezra in March and about that time was when Sarah announced that she was pregnant.  Then we found out one of our Aunts was also going to have a baby.  Sarah's baby Dallin was born a week before Christmas and our new cousin Greyson was born a week before him.  We have never had this many children born in one year.  We also have never had so many boys.  Our parents have six daughters and no sons and now they have four grandsons and no granddaughters.  My dad jokes that the man who could have no sons now has only grandsons.  In the case of 1st cousins, a decade ago we only had three male cousins and now that number has doubled.

I was at Sarah's house a couple days after Dallin was born when I realized how blessed we were. Then I realized how much heartache we had all experienced before we could come to this point. Sarah has a very severe case of Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and she did not eat for six months.  She had a PICC line to keep her hydrated and alive.  She went through the same thing during her pregnancy with her twin boys four years previously.  Pregnancy is not only a physical hardship but an emotional nightmare.  Emma may not have had these problems but she had a miscarriage before Ezra was born. As for myself, I'm not married and I don't intend to have children until I am no matter how much I want them.

I told Sarah that all three of us had experienced heartache in the area of having children and that it has brought us closer together.  We are not bitter because one has something the other doesn't.  I am the oldest and I'm not bitter that my younger sisters have husbands and children.  I instead focus on the joy of having nephews and they like being around me.  I'm still close to my sisters and I'm good friends with my brothers-in-law.  Indulging in bitterness would only take away from my time enjoying my family.  My heart still aches but there is nothing like holding or playing with a baby to ease that ache away.

What is success?

My sisters and I stand out in a crowd. People are always telling me that I have such an amazing family even if they haven't met all of us. We have had some really good times and some really bad times. We don't know what the secret to our success is, but maybe by sharing who we are and what we do you can figure it out.

We are also putting together a family variety show in which we and other families will be performing. The point of this show is not to just show off but to build unity and harmony in families and in our community.

The purpose of this blog is to share and celebrate our successes. Allow me to share one. Today would have been my parents 30th anniversary if they had not divorced a little over five years ago. My sisters and I started to celebrate with our mom being a family on this day instead. A day that could be depressing or a taboo subject has turned into a day of celebration and joy. Today we were spread out over three different states but I felt close to all of them.