we miss laura

A few weeks ago we said goodbye to my sister Laura as she headed out to Utah for school. It is going to be an adjustment for us because she has been a big part of our lives since we moved to the OP almost 3 years ago.

There are many reasons Laura is awesome, but I won't dive into all of them right now. What I do want to talk about is what a great aunt she is to my kids and the genuine help she has been with them.

Will loves Laura. She was one of the first people he really "liked," if that makes sense. The fact that we look a little bit alike may have helped things along in the beginning, but now what he likes best is that she is different than me (and by that I mean much more nice and fun).

Laura has been so helpful with my kids. In the past year we have flown 8 times between here and Utah (4 trips). Five of those times Laura was on the same flight with us. She generously let us use her laptop to occupy Will, played with him in the airport to give us a rest, and let him sit next to her and entertained him so we could have a break. She was very supportive of me on our flight home from Utah in January when we were the last people to board the plane with both kids crying and only the very back row was available and then Lauren cried almost the entire flight.

When we have dinner with my parents Laura often takes Will aside and plays with him. She's built tons of towers, identified every animal magnet several times over, and read many, many "big books."

She's met me at the pool and helped out with the kids.

Our ward has a dance last February and Will only wanted to dance with Laura. In addition to winning the limbo contest, she also got him to dance. (He refused me. More than once. Not that I'm bitter. TJ says it's good he didn't want to dance with his mom.)

Even though we don't get to see Laura as often as we'd like, we're glad she's moving ahead in life.

Don't forget about us!

**Also worth mentioning, Laura was my running partner for the two months I have most consistently worked out this year.