By the time this posts I will be knee-deep in laundry, unpacking, potty training Lucy, catching up on stake primary stuff, trying to stock up the fridge and dealing with tired kids.

(I love the “scheduling” option on blogs.)

But before the summer freedom draws to a close, (which it does early in the desert…August 11th to be exact), I want to do a “snapshot” of my siblings. (Like the one I did here of my own little family back in January.)

Somehow it seems that it will help me miss them less to freeze this summer in time. I want to remember years down the road how my family was right now.

So here goes:
(and please note, I can’t take credit for all these pictures…I just gathered them from others who took them that night…)

1) The oldest sibling is my sister Saren who is married to Jared. They are the only ones left in Utah (St. George).

Growing up I always thought I’d have a whole gaggle of boys, and that Saren would have all the girls (taking into account her china doll collection and desire to always wear dresses). But she’s the one who ended up with all the boys and one sweet girl in the middle who is one of Claire’s BFF’s. Saren’s blog is here.

2) Next comes me. And you already know much more than you need to about me. But here we are in our traditional beach shot. (Max somehow grew too big to be shoved in the back there this year, but we were in a hurry and didn’t realize it ’til later.)

3) Next is my brother Josh. He lives by us in the desert and because he is single (and is also not the hugest fan of taking pictures), we somehow missed getting a beach shot of him. He teaches elementary school and I think it’s safe to say he may be the best teacher out there. He is amazing with kids. Josh’s blog is here.

4) Next comes Saydi and her husband Jeff. They live in Boston and we wish they weren’t so far away. Saydi has an awesome family photography business and is one heck of a chef. Their blog is here.

5) Jonah and his wive Aja live in Washington with their three kids and a bunch of pets.
Yes, that is a chicken on my brother’s shoulder. Yes, they brought their pet chicken to Bear Lake. My kids are jealous. They definitely do their own thing and I love that. Their blog is here.

6) Tal and his wife Anita are next. They just got married in NYC last year which I wrote all about here. They quit their jobs and have been traveling all over doing service in India and Africa for the last nine months (you must read about their adventures on their blog here, but if you’re a travel-lover like I am beware of drooling over all the great places they visited). They were hoping to settle down in Switzerland (where Anita is from) but landed a great job in NYC where they are moving next month. (Some day they’ll get back to Switzerland, I’m sure.)

7) Next are Noah and Kristi.
They live in New York City, but are moving to Los Angeles in the fall, which we are pleased as punch about since we’ll get to see them more often. Their blog is here.

8) Eli and his wife Julie live in Washington, D.C. (He doesn’t normally have that funny expression…) We visited them recently here.
She is a nurse and he works for this great company called Imagine Learning (along with Tal and Noah…Noah’s actually the one who started the Imagine Learning trend).

9) Last but not least comes my baby sister Charity who is moving to San Francisco this week (and she’s not shy about taking pictures like Josh is).
We are so excited for her and the new adventures that await her there…one of them being a visit from us at some point…I LOVE San Francisco. Charity’s blog is here.

How I thank my parents in my heart every day for giving me all these best friends, and giving us a way to spend so much time together in the summers.
Their blogs are here and here.

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23 Comments

  1. Ok this is CRAZY, I read your blog.. I have commented on it before. Im a friend of Lori's, so thats how I found it.. And I think I know your brother's wife.. If she is from Switzerland, and her name is Anita. He maden name was Yoist? (Spelling is prob wrong) She Lived with my family and was our nanny while she went to school in Utah.. Small world. My mom still talks to her. WOW!! Crazy. Thanks 4 the link of there blog. It will be fun to catch up with her. Small small world!!

  2. Gosh, why is your family so gorgeous? :O

    I've only got one brother and when I was younger I always wished I was from a bigger family. I've decided that I was five kids, like you, when I'm older (:

  3. I love all the names! esp. saydi and saren! I had saren on my list, but my step daughter is sarah, so it was too similar….
    it would be cool to have you do a list of how/why the names were chosen for each of yoU! oh and a list of all the kids names would be FUN TOO! hint hint!!!
    love allthe pix!
    tara

  4. Such a lovely family… I love that you call them your best friends. What more can parents hope for in raising their children?

    I wonder, did you fight growing up? A bit, a lot, never? I have been grateful and proud that my girls rarely argue and bicker, though they do on occasion. (like today. ugh.) I wonder if it is just an unavoidable part of being a sibling?

  5. What great photos and bios of your siblings! Just to let you know, I have a daughter named Aja (pronounced Asia)…is that how she pronounces her name?? Your family is beautiful and what a blessing to be able to spend so much time together!
    ~Mary

  6. love the family snap shots – I have seven cherubs and I hope that when they get older they all think of each other as best friends like your family does – wonderful – thanks Naomi xx

  7. I have been following your blog for about a year but have never commented before. I think I know your brother, Noah. I am a teacher in NY and I think he is the Rep. for our computer program, Imagine Learning. What a small world! It's crazy.

  8. awwwwwwwwwwww how gorgeous! my hubby is one of 7 and he must do something similar because it's so sweet to see each sibling and their family!

    adorable, you're all so blessed

    Corrie:)

  9. Thanks for updating us on your brothers & sisters, it was great to read about them.

    Thanks also for the links for their blogs. I've been a huge fan of your whole family for the past 33 years & it'll be great to keep up-to-date on how you all are.

    I love your blog!

  10. Aren't big families fantastic? Love mine!!

    Great photos!! I love your family, your parents are my heros 😀 I'm so glad to have more blogs to follow 🙂

    It's funny what you said about you and Saren having boys vs girls, my sister and I were such girly girls growing up and our cousin was the tomboy, now we have all the boys and she has girls!

  11. Love the pictures! what a fun rundown of your family. I really love having siblings. Life just would not be the same. Tony was an only child, and our lives were just so different becuase of that… I just wanted to say hello and am loving your summmertime blog entries!

  12. Thanks so much for doing this Shawni! What a great way to freeze time…at least for a day…so we can remember where we were when we look back! Love it!

  13. When you come to S.F. will you find time to have dinner with us? Also, if Charity needs anything let her know we're here…so weird, last time I actually saw her she was a little girl.

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