Welcome to the World, Skylar Rain Graumann

On June 29, 2007, I became an aunt once again!!! Michael and April Graumann had Skylar in Omaha, Nebraska. We didn't get to meet her until we went to visit a couple of weeks later, but I loved her even before I met her. I love her name, and when I saw her for the first time, I loved everything about her. She's blessed enough to look like her mother (and not my dear brother), and she has quite a set of lungs!

It sucks that they live 8 hours away. My dad often calls me and boasts about her, but he makes up for it by sending darling photos and videos of her. Like this one:

I barely even recognize her! It is amazing how fast they grow up. Isn't she a doll? I keep telling Mike that I am going to spoil her and that when she grows up, she will want to travel around the world doing missions with her favorite aunt Jessica. Mike doesn't like that, but he will have no choice....

I'm very proud of my brothers. Both are now married and have daughters. Mike and April bought their first house in Omaha and Jon, Brandy and Kaylynn moved back to Virginia (where they met and where Brandy's parents live). I hate that my brothers and their family are so far away, but if it weren't them leaving, it would be me leaving for some foreign country. That's life! So now I live for the pictures they send and the phone calls that I get from them.

Sadly, in the middle of July, my mother's mother passed away. It was a very difficult time, and the only joy that many of us had was that family came in from everywhere. Both of my brothers and their families were here. It was really nice to have both of my nieces in the same room. It was also great to see aunts, uncles and cousins that I hadn't seen in years.