New Neighbors

Last night I drove to the airport to pick up my older sister, Jes, and her two kids, Araela and Ezra, who had flown in from Oregon. But, even though it felt just like it did the last time I went to pick them up at the airport (with the addition of the fact that I was meeting Ezra for the first time ever!), it's actually a very different story this time. My brother-in-law, Chris, wasn't at the airport because he's driving across the country in a U-Haul with all of my sister's family's belongings. This time, they're not just coming for a visit; they're moving here!

The difficult economy forced my sister's family to make a pretty drastic life change--a change that they likely wouldn't have chosen otherwise, because they left behind an amazing community in Oregon--and move in with my mom for the next year. The same mom who lives next door to us! Which means that my sister and her kids (and soon her husband, too) are our new neighbors!

I must admit that I'm rather thrilled about the whole thing, even though I do wish that Jes and Chris hadn't been forced to say good-bye to so many of their beloved friends. I know that it would be incredibly difficult for me to leave our community behind, and while I'm sure that Jes and Chris will be able to find a new community here, I do feel for them. Even as I'm jumping up and down for joy.

After not seeing each other for 9 months,
it took all of 10 seconds for Jaz and Araela to reconnect.

The best part of the whole deal is that the kids are long-distance cousins no longer! It is so wonderful to see them playing together and enjoying each other so thoroughly. Araela (who recently turned four, despite the fact that she's the same size as my six-year-olds) is a big time animal lover, and she is definitely going to be my righthand goatwoman. Ezra is perhaps the smiliest baby I've ever met (and definitely the biggest!), and I'm so glad that I'm not going to miss out on his babyhood. Instead I get to love him up every day!

Araela loving on Chive and Petah

Today I took Araela along on the bike when I went to do the school pick-up, and Bakfietsy Rose truly became a "bicycle built for five" for the first time. It worked great! I honestly didn't even notice the extra 45 lbs. What fun! I normally do get a fair amount of attention while biking the kids through downtown, but the four kids on board definitely increased that. Jes and Chris are both planning to set up their longtail bikes to accomodate two kids, and I can't wait to have some biking company.

Rice cakes for all!

It seems we're starting a bit of a family compound farm here. Tomorrow, we get chickens! And Uncle Chris has big plans for a HUGE vegetable garden. All that's missing is my little sister, Fiona, and her husband Jon . . . Come on guys, join the fun!