Guess who's 30 years old?

Auburn is - and she’s so excited about it! Auburn & I are only 20 months apart & I have always loved having an older sister. Don’t let these pictures fool you though - it’s cute how we’re hugging each other, but a lot of memories include fighting and saying or hearing “I’m telling mom” about 50 times a day. (I’m sure my mom and all her co-workers from Riggs Plumbing dreaded the summers when we’d all be home to fight with each other and call her at work over every stupid thing we fought about!)

(Please excuse the old-school scrapbooking in this picture - and more to come! What was I thinking when I cut my pictures out into shapes?)
Auburn always put up with having 3 younger sisters who were (and still are) much more immature than her. We liked matching and sometimes Auburn was forced to match with us even though she probably hated it! Auburn came to the rescue when I was a junior in high school and most of my friends had boyfriends - let me explain: She was at NAU and allowed me to come “visit” (or get out of town) during Valentines Day weekend and Prom weekend. It was a lot of fun! (Auburn: do you remember the leather coat guy at the dance?) During one of the trips to NAU, I remember coloring my hair - and it turned out PINK although that’s not what I had in mind! I washed it so many times before going back home, and luckily within a few days, the color faded.
Auburn picked a great guy to marry - it was like I instantly had a big brother when she got married and I love Bryan! I’ve posted this picture before but I have to show it again because Auburn was my date - we’re trying to do the “prom” pose without peeing our pants at the PCC in Hawaii.
Kind of embarrassing to put this picture of myself on my blog, but let me explain. One year for Christmas, our family did a dollar store gift exchange. The rule was to buy something funny from the dollar store. Auburn and I found out that we went to the same dollar store, and without even giving each other any clues about what we found, we just had a feeling that we picked out the same item. When Christmas came and we did the exchange, we could not stop laughing, because sure enough we had both picked out the gold hats. Auburn & I are a great team, sharing the load of the shopping bag at the mall (aka Maria & Jessica) - only my family would get this, so sorry anyone else!
Auburn has taught the rest of my family how to be a great mom (or aunt or grandparent…). All you have to do is threaten your kids with something they’re afraid of. At Christmas time, Auburn’s threat for Roxy was Santa - for obvious reasons. When kids grow out of that certain threat, you can always find a new one that works. Thanks for teaching me how to use “scare tactics” Auburn! (Aren’t her kids so cute?)
Auburn makes the best Debbie Downer faces, and she is hilarious. I don’t know why some of the things she says are so funny, but I love her sense of humor. The best is taking road trips to California with just the girls. I will crack up the entire way to California - listening to Auburn. Speaking of, she’s great at writing songs (again, only my family would get this).
On a more serious note, I love having Auburn as my sister. She is so caring and will do anything for me. She helps me out with Noah so willingly and he loves her too. Auburn really is a good mom, whether or not I’m talking about scare tactics. She takes good care of her kids and always has them looking so cute and clean. (I scored big time with all of the clothes passed down from Riggs & Jax.)
Thanks for all you do Auburn. I love you & I hope you have a great decade - being in your 30’s now!