Memorable

Jordan and his little sister Anna ~ August 2003

Jordan & I started dating in the middle of the summer while we were working as counselors at Northland Camp & Conference Center.  As soon as camp was over, we drove down to his parents' home in IA for a day.  It was my first time visiting Jordan's home, though I had met his parents and older brother on one previous occasion.  Anna was just six years old then!!  What a cute little girl she was!  Serena saw this picture open on my computer as I was preparing to write this post and she said, "Why do you have a picture of Daddy holding me?"  They do bear some resemblance, don't you think?  ;)

I remember I was so nervous to go visit Jordan's family!  It turned out to be fun and they were all so nice, but I was glad it only lasted a day as I felt so shy!  I'd never been to visit a boyfriend's family before...I'd never even had a boyfriend before, heehee!...and I wondered what the acceptable conduct was?  I don't remember a whole lot of specifics from the visit, except that there was lots of teasing amongst his family members, and I shared a room with his sisters, and Jordan & I jumped on the trampoline (and Jordan can do so many cool tricks, but trampolines make me a little nervous, heehee!), and Jordan & I got up early to go for a bike ride together in the morning.  If any of Jordan's family is reading this and has a memory from that day pop into their heads, please add it!  ;)  One thing that does stand out to me from that visit is that I distinctly remember liking Jordan all the more after seeing him in his "natural habitat," if you will.  That visit turned out to be a clincher for me!  ;)

Not many people have the blessing of marrying into a family that they truly love, but I'm one of those blessed people!  :)  Our visits with Jordan's family are now times that I greatly look forward to and there's so many awesome memories that have been made in the nearly ten years since that first visit!  Seriously, how many people get to spend an entire month staying with their in-laws on two separate occasions (we did this in between a couple moves last year...during the 3rd month of my pregnancy with Cody and again during the last month...we moved into our own place on Cody's due date) and actually enjoy it and treasure the memories from those days?!  God has been incredibly good to me in giving me this second family!

And that cute little girl on Jordan's lap?  She's grown into a beautiful teenager, has gracefully and capably assumed the title and role of  "Auntie Anna," is crazy-good at Mario Kart and card games like "Pounce," and is one of my best friends!  I wonder what the next 10 years will bring?  ;)