30 Days of Gratitude - Day 29

I cannot believe that I have gone this whole month and have not recognized the gratitude that I have for my fantastic sister, Marti (and by extension her husband Graham). Marti was my first friend and my best friend and will remain so forever. She is a wonderful mother to Kathleen and Colin:

Kathleen, who, sadly decided to go to the University of Texas in Austin
and is now a Longhorn. She is an amazing kid with an old soul.

Colin, in September celebrating his 15 birthday. Sitting next to him is his cousin, Luke.
Colin has been a charmer since the day he was born.  

Marti is also a great teacher and from what I understand has the patience of the angels to tolerate her classes. She has an incredibly sensitive heart and cries when she reads "Where the Red Fern Grows" to her students. Marti and I can get tickled at the silliest things together, usually our mom. My only wish is that we would spend more time together just the two of us, but I know she is busy with the kids right now, but hopefully in a couple of more years we can hang out together for sister time.

In the meantime, I'm very grateful to have such a wonderful sister who has given our family two great additions as well as brought into our fold her husband, Graham and via Graham a whole extension of his parents, sister, brother-in-law, and their kids. When Marti and Graham got married, we increased our family not by just one but by 6 and then some.

Oh, and one last thing, totally unrelated to my gratitude for my sister.....

There was a time many, many moons ago when Kathleen wore a Texas A&M shirt!!