I always considered myself pretty lucky by way of extended family when I was kid. In between July 29, 1985 and July 29, 1986 (to the day!), there were 5 girls born on my dad's side of the family. And we all grew up pretty near each other-- more or less. We thought it was awesome. We did cousin sleepovers and birthday parties and chain letters. We each have very distinctive personalities from one another, but that made things all the more fun. {In my opinion anyway-- I guess they could all be reading this and thinking "man, I SO did not feel that way." haha} We're all spread out today and doing different things. WAY different things-- but again, that's fun, right? Especially when your cousin who works for the US Embassy in Venezuela comes to visit you for an afternoon! I happened to be just so lucky and got to spend a few hours with Shannon yesterday. She met Emma (who loved her), witnessed my ongoing cupcake/cookie fiasco in the kitchen, and delivered some excellent Venezuelan chocolate!

We ♥ Shannon