Some of my absolute favorite people

These are some of my most absolute favorite people.

They just make me smile. And want to jump in my car and drive all the way to California so I can play with them, even for just a few hours.

Its amazing having little cousins who adore you. I've always thought that one of the best things in the world is when you walk through the door and they see you and come running and squealing. Just because they're excited to see you.

Probably one of the best feelings in the world.

Dostoevsky said, "The soul is healed by being with children." This couldn't be more true. They make you laugh and wish you could be young like them again. Plus they let you play with their Barbie's.

Yesterday was Peyten's birthday. She turned 5. It really does seem like yesterday that she was baby and I was a senior in high school. Now look where we are - she's about to start school and I'm about to finish it.

When I called to talk to Peyten yesterday she was at dance class, but Ryen and I had a delightful conversation (more on that in a bit). But when I called back, Peyten answered the phone and the first thing she told me was-

"I'm 5 now!"

And she was so excited. I asked her what she did on her birthday and she said "fun stuff". Now, unlike Ryen, Peyten isn't much of a phone talker. She'll talk to you for approximately 1.59 minutes and then decide she's done and hand the phone off. So after our brief exchange Peyten told me that she was playing a game with Ryen and that she would talk to me later.

And that was that.

You would never guess this when you talk to Peyten in person cause she will just chat with you and tell you funny stories. Peyten says the funniest things. We call them Peytenisms. They include these gems-

"Ryen, you just have to ask Aunt Nancy and she'll buy it for you!"

"Lucifer is not a very nice cat"

"Lasterday..."

"I'm gonna win you!"

"what do you do with your brother?"
"I pinch him."

"She can't marry the mole!"

"We can play Rapunzel!" (Peyten)

"OK, who is going to be Rapunzel?" (me)

"Somebody whose hair touches their shoulders...mine touches my shoulders!"

I can't believe my little Peyten is 5. That's a whole hand!

Ryen, on the other hand, is quite the little chatter on the phone. She'll just talk and talk until either you have to go or her mom tells her she needs to let someone else have a turn. Yesterday Ryen and I talked on the phone for almost my whole trip home, which is 20 minutes.

Some of the best parts were when she told me about how she was trying to make a basket at recess and couldn't. She just sounded so forlorn. And then the absolute best was this question-

"Do you know what your new last name is going to be yet?"

Out of the blue a few months ago Ryen started asking me what my new last name is. I don't think she's made the connection that I'll change my name when I get married, either that or she's just the most roundabout at asking me if I have a boyfriend. I just about die laughing every time she asks me this.

I asked her what her new last name was going to be and she picked Rose. And then she said she was going to name her kids Rapunzel and Sweet.

And Cam, I'm just glad that he warms up to me when I come home. I've been away at school for most of his life and one of the things that scares me the most is that he won't know who I am. But every time I see him, even if he doesn't remember me at first, he does by the end of my visit. This last visit for Christmas was so much fun. Cam would just come over and sit on my lap and play with my fingers for a while. And then he would look up to me and whisper "I wanna go to my room." And then we would go play cars in his room until I had to go home.

I love having younger cousins. They just make everything more enjoyable.