The Daily Christian: Sister, Sister, Sister, Brother

Today's prompt is to describe the relationship I have with my siblings.

It is really, really hard to grow up and move away from your family. It's even harder when the siblings you love and grew up with move far away too! It's the worst when we're all scattered throughout the US!! That's the case for me and your aunties and uncle. Auntie Becca is in Florida now, Uncle Ryan is hard to keep track of but I think he's in Arizona still, and Auntie Rachel and Auntie Blair are in the DFW area of Texas.

Now, all that being said, I am pretty thankful that your aunties have all been involved in some way in your growing up so far...visits, presents, Skype, phone calls, photos... They are a part of our lives! What a blessing.

Haas Family

Auntie Rachel - Rachie and I grew up as kind of a part of team. When we were in a house with four little girls, there's bound to be some pairing up, and Auntie Rachel and I were the quieter ones who liked to read and write and dream and were kind of shy. She was the oldest of all of us, so of course she had that coolness factor of being the adored biggest sister, at least in my mind. We are only three years apart, but she has always been mature for her age, so I always felt like she was light years ahead of all of us in life. =) We don't talk on the phone very often as I don't think either of us really like it (the phone, that is, not talking to each other!), but I know she loves me and she loves you. I love her lovely faithful husband and her beautiful kids...your cousins Kylie and Zane.

Me, Blair, Rachel, Becca - this photo always makes me laugh. =)

Auntie Blair - Auntie Blair and I are less alike, but I adore her precisely because she's different. She's not afraid to speak her mind, laugh loud, ask questions, poke fun and just live her life and be the best mom and wife she can be. Growing up, she was in the pair of her and Auntie Becca...they were the vivacious blondes always hamming it up and being stopped by strangers to say how cute they were. Auntie Blair and Becca were always making up dances, throwing parties and generally having fun. I feel like Auntie Blair is still like that now. =) We talk on the phone the most, which is still not a lot, but I know that I can always call and chat with her and have a grand ol' time. I love her husband, your Uncle Josh, and her three kiddos: yours cousins Brooke, Jaxson and Davis.

Auntie Becca and I, always having fun

Auntie Becca - Due to birth order and life circumstances, Auntie Becca and I are probably the closest, at least now! As I mentioned before, growing up it was she and Blair, and it seemed like when Blair wasn't around, all Becca wanted to do was to be a giant pest and get me in trouble. Even as we grew up and were pre-teens and early teenagers I felt like we just didn't "get" each other. We were on different wavelengths. After a mission trip Auntie Becca went on to Honduras, she came back home and we seemed to instantly click in a way we never had before! We were besties from then on. We've been on trips together and made friends together and tried to keep in good touch while each of us was traveling the world. She's one of the kindest, most thoughtful and generous people I know, and I know a lot of great people!

Just love her!

Love this kid.

Uncle Ryan - Your uncle Ryan is a bit harder to pin down. Due to circumstances of birth order and just life in general, we were not quite as close as I would have wanted. He's seven years younger than I, which doesn't help matters. He lived with his dad a lot while I was living with Yaya when we were young. That made it hard, too. I do remember the day I found out that I was finally getting a brother...I was thrilled! Then the day he was born, I was even MORE thrilled. I loved having a baby brother, even though he was just as annoying and insulting as baby brothers are supposed to be while we did live in the same house growing up. =) He was married for a little bit and gave you a sweet cousin named Lilly, whom we've never gotten the chance to meet except on Skype. Nowadays we aren't very good at keeping in touch, as busy as we are with our own lives in completely different states. But I love that kid; now matter where he goes or what he does, he'll always be my baby brother.