Meet the fam!

Ok people. Way back in the summer I promised you a post briefly introducing you to the large and happy family that Novel has become such a wonderful part of. Today, that promise will finally be fulfilled! For the sake of privacy, I am leaving out names. Also, for the sake of simplicity, I am simply listing people in order of age...but without further ado, meet the fam:

First of all, there is my dear, darling Mom, or "Mammy," or "Mammsy" (...or "Mammsy pickle" if we want something REALLY badly) I could never in all my life say enough good things about this amazing, energetic, loving, hardworking woman. She keeps our lives running smoothly and a smile on our faces.

She loves:
Dancing
Irish music
Horses
The outdoors
Serving her Savior
Loving the people around her
Living out loud!

This is my Dad: "Papa Jack." His name is not Jack. I just call im that. Occasionally. For no particular reason.

He's always making crazy faces in pictures, but he's usually much more serious than that. If Mom is the one who inspires us all to live life to the fullest, Dad is the one who keeps us from all dying in the process.

 In our family, the act of "living" often quickly elevates to "friendly," but also die-hard and adrenaline pumping competitions to outdo everyone else. Dad's level headed caution ensures that we all still have fun...without doing anything *too* stupid.

Sister #1: "Adventurer Extraordinaire!"
Sister 1 is pretty much just plain cool...like the rest of my family. She has traveled the world and had all sorts of adventures, but currently she resides in Haiti where she teaches an orphanage school. You can read more about her and her work in Haiti on her blog Pursued by God

 Sister #2 has braved the cold and returned to live in Wisconsin where our family lived for 10 years before getting the hint and moving back south where it's warm. She and her husband keep life interesting with their doberman and 20 pound cat, enjoy snowmobiling, and, like every good Wisconsinite, love the Packers!

Pictures of my brothers are few and far between, but I managed to find one of Brother #1 with my adorable nephew and the all enduring, ever patient Chai. Brother #1 is a special kind of awesome in the US Army...but we'll leave it at that for the sake of privacy. Although we don't see them often, he and his family do visit occasionally, and when they do, Novel is in heaven. ...little boys and puppies mix well :)

 Sister #3 has been my loyal playmate and friend for 19 years. She has put up with...a lot...from me, but somehow continues to be the best sister ever :)
An excellent rock climber, flutist, and skier, she is usually game to try just about any crazy idea I can come up with, but always manages to do it with an extra touch of grace and style.

And then there's.....me.

This picture actually sums me up pretty well I think. Add a dog in there somewhere, and you've got the full idea.
My family is all pretty crazy in general, but I think it is safe to say that I have the reputation for being the craziest of them all. Not that I actually am, necessarily, but I've got the reputation for it ;)
I enjoy a wide range of activities ...from knitting to painting to dog training to backpacking to horseback riding to snowboarding... but unfortunately I have to admit that during most of my free time you will find me sitting miserably at my computer, disgusted at myself for reading yet *another* stupid fb status. I get distracted way too easily, even mostly when I don't want to be.

Brother #2 is my crazy "little" brother :) He and I fit together like two peas in a pod and we've always said that we are really twins that were just born several years apart.
He is my snowboarding buddy and while I can keep up with him on the slopes, he and brother #1 can outdistance us all on any hike we take. Brother #2 is also our computer geek. He has built some pretty amazing computers in his time...
















Well that's about it; aside from Abbi and Chai (who you can read about on their own pages here and here) and the 12 chickens who roam the land merrily eating bugs and clover and other goodies that they might find while continually searching and scratching and making happy clucking noises and occasionally alerting us to a loose invading or attacking dog with their loud air-shredding screams and cackles, but who are remarkably resilient to dog attacks, and who only very rarely lay eggs, you have now (finally) met the "fam"!

Yes, that was a terribly long run-on sentence.