Cousins & Best Friends

I feel really blessed to have family living on the other end of town...just about a two minute drive away. I also feel really blessed to have a sister-in-law who suggested doing a kid swap with me! On Wednesdays, Lucie goes to her cousin Meli's house for a morning playdate while I get two hours to do whatever. Then, on Fridays, it is my turn to return the favor and have Meli over for a playdate.

Just 6 months apart in age, Meli and Lucie are at a point where they really seem to get along and play well together. Lately, they've been enjoying some time in our backyard. It is so nice to be past that stage of whining and fighting over toys. Well okay, we're not totally over the whining, but they share pretty well together and truly enjoy each other's company.

On Monday this week, Lucie said, "I see Meli?" to which I had to reply "No." Their family was out of town for the morning so we weren't able to have a spontaneous playdate. But, this morning, we were scheduled have Meli over. When we were dropping Ella off at preschool, Lucie made up a song, "I see Meli, I see Meli" that she sang in anticipation of picking up Meli next.

I feel very blessed to see my little girl who is on her way to being best friends with her cousin Meli! And, I feel blessed to see Meli's sweet smiling face and pigtails on a regular basis.

Three Cousins

It has been so much fun to watch the three cousins get to know each other better over the past few weeks.

This is Amelia (with her mom Aimee). All of us call her "Meli" except for Lucie who calls her "Meh-nee". Although they really aren't in the development stage where they actually play together yet, Lucie gets awfully sad when it's time to leave Meli.

Now, according to Meli, this is "Doo-Dee".

And this is "Oh Yeah".

At first, I thought that I was going to be "Oh No"...but now Meli can clearly say "An Nel" (aka Aunt Nel). Don't you just love how little kids talk?

On the Horizon

Five years ago this past March, we relocated from Santa Barbara because we bought a condo closer to Brett's teaching job. Not only was I excited about homeownership, but I was ecstatic to be that much closer to my sister Jessica and her family. She lived just about an hour and a half north. At the time, she and her husband had three sweet boys -- Nile, Jordan and Calvary. Then, much to my dismay, less than six months after we moved, I got the news that they would be moving...to Kansas! I admit, I didn't even know how far Kansas was...it just seemed far, far away. Apparently, a lot of people don't know where Kansas is, if this mug is any indication:

(This was a Christmas gift the year that the FishFam moved to the land of Dorothy.)

So, now it is nearly five years later and both of our lives have changed so much. I'm now a mother of two beautiful little girls, and Jessica & Bryan have added THREE more children to their brood -- Judah (age 4), Cana (1 1/2) and new Baby Eden (3 weeks). Here they are at the hospital after Eden was born:

In August, we learned that Bryan was offered a job in California so they will be moving back to the Golden State in a mere two weeks! The added bonus is that they are moving to the town where my two brothers live (possibly just blocks away from them too), so it will make family get-togethers that much easier. Yeah, they're still going to be about four hours away (if traffic is good)...but, I'll take it. It's been over 1 1/2 years since I went to Kansas, nearly 3 1/2 years since they visited California and 5 years since my siblings and I were all together. (I think this is a photo of the last time that we were all together.)

A family reunion is LONG overdue and is finally on the horizon!

It's Officially Tied!

My parents became grandparents over 11 years ago when my sister Jessica had her first son. Then over the next few years, Jessica had another boy, another boy and then another boy. We started to doubt that there would be any granddaughters in the family.

Well, I broke that trend when Ella was born and started a girl streak. Jessica finally had a daughter almost two years ago, and then I had Lucie earlier this year. The "score" was 4-3 until today. Now, it is officially tied! This morning Jessica gave birth to her second sweet baby girl -- after a mere three hours of labor! (Yeah, I'm a little jealous). My lucky sister Jamie got to hold her today since she's visiting and holding down the fort with the other five children. (Yeah, I'm a little jealous of that too). So, all day long I had to wait for a glimpse of the little bundle and had to be content to hear Jamie oooh and ahhh over her over the cell phone. Until now... Jessica just posted a pic of the latest FishBaby on her blog. Isn't she a cutie?

Eden Ruth

9 pounds, 2 ounces

Nephews & Nieces

It's been nearly 11 years since I became an Auntie. It was my 20th birthday and I was a sophomore at UCSB. My big sis Jessica and her hubby Bryan lived in SB at the time and were supposed to take me out to dinner for my bday. Then came the call...they couldn't celebrate my bday with me...they had bigger plans...Jess was in labor. I was excited of course but a little bummed that I couldn't rush off to the hospital to wait. You see, it was finals week and I had a paper to finish and a room to pack up. So, by the time I could make it to the hospital, it was nearly midnight...and we waited for another FIVE hours or so before my nephew Nile came into this world. At least he waited until the day after my birthday -- I don't know if the middle child in me would have liked to share my birthday. He's pretty cute so I guess I would have gotten over it.

Then, a few years later, Jessica and Bryan blessed our family with another nephew -- Jordan. The month after Jordan's birth, I got engaged and three months later I became an auntie to three more kids -- Brittney, Kameron and baby Olivia.

Well, the blessing of being an auntie didn't stop there. The following year, Jessica and Bryan had son #3 -- Calvary. I connected with Cal -- he was the first of my sister's kids to have coloring similar to mine -- blond hair and brown eyes. Of course, I questioned that connection when he was a two year old and liked to point his finger at me and yell "No"...but that's a different story. Here's a pic of him when I think he was close to that age. Cute dimple, huh?



Later that Fall, Brett's family gave us yet another nephew -- Simon was born to Brett's sister Rachelle and her hubby Peter. Despite what occured in this photo below, Brett still wanted to be a father...it just took a couple more years to convince him.


Then, in the Fall of 2003, Bryan and Jessica up and moved with the FishBoys (Nile, Jordan & Cal) to Kansas. Little did we know at the time that a fourth FishBoy was moving as well -- Judah was in utero. I got to meet Judah during my first visit to KS when I was pregnant with Ella.


Then, despite thinking they could make only boys, Bryan and Jessica gave me my very first niece on my side of the family. Cana was born in the fall of 2006. She kinda reminds me of Lucie in this picture.


This past summer, Brett's brother Troy and his wife Aimee blessed us with our niece Amelia. She is a sweet and happy baby. I think Lucie looks a bit like her too!


So, as the count now stands, I have 6 nephews and 4 nieces. As some of you may know, my sister Jessica is planning on adding to the count again. For those of you who are good at math, you may realize that she has already contributed 5 to the count...and will soon make it 6! Then this afternoon, I spoke with Jessica who just had an ultrasound done and found out what she's having. Here is a pic of my newest...

NIECE!

A Visit with Baby Amelia (and her parents)

This past week, we had the joy of meeting our new niece Amelia and seeing her parents Troy & Aimee. They decided to fly out from North Carolina to introduce Amelia to some of her California relatives and so that the Piersma men could go on an end of summer sailing trip. While Brett, Troy & Randy went out to sea for a few days of fishing, the women got together for a day of fun at the Piersma pool. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics since Brett took the camera on the boat with him!

I was lamenting the lack of pictures and the short amount of time our two families had together when Troy & Aimee surprised us by being available to come up to Solvang for a day! They arrived late on Wednesday night and stayed until after dinner on Thursday. Although Brett had to work, Aimee, Troy, Amelia, Ella & I got to hang out. It was a lazy day, but Ella sure enjoyed looking at her baby cousin. She tends to get a bit intense in her affection, so we had to watch her carefully. But, she just loved looking at Amelia and telling us, "Baby Amelia is so cute!" Just before they left, we took a few minutes to try to take some pics of the kids. Ella didn't really want to cooperate, so I have a less than stellar pic of her with Amelia. But, we managed to get some cute ones of the baby on her own (see above). AND, thanks to Brett's tripod and the camera timer, we have a shot of the 6 of us! Thankfully, they will be out for another visit in November as well as in December for the holidays. We're looking forward to it!

Our Road Trip to Oregon

Earlier this week, we returned from a week-long trip to visit Brett's family in Oregon. Below you'll find some details about our trip as well as lots of pics. If you're not interested in the details, feel free to skip over them. But, make sure to check out the pictures -- there are some cute ones of Ella!

We flew to Oregon last Thanksgiving but hadn't made a summer road trip there since Ella was 6 months old. After that horrendous drive with a nursing infant, we had no great desire to attempt it again until now. We decided to go ahead and buy a portable DVD and it was worth every penny. Ella was transfixed by various DVD's for the vast majority of the drive. It made the trip much more enjoyable -- as enjoyable as a 14+ hour drive can be.


On Monday, we went directly to visit the Mathios Family at their home in Albany. It was nearly 8pm when we arrived so Ella had a little time to play and get her wiggles out before it was time for bed. She had the special treat of sleeping on the floor in her big cousin Olivia's bedroom. On Tuesday morning, she was in heaven. Their backyard probably seemed like a park to her with its swingset, small trampoline and grass. She didn't bother to get dressed but ran around barefoot in her pajamas for hours playing with her cousins Simon and Olivia.


After a lazy morning hanging out at their home and shopping at Old Navy, we piled into our cars and headed north to visit the rest of the family in Salem. We met Grandma Bonnie (who was visiting from California too) and Aunt Dawnie at a local park to play and go on the indoor carousel. Afterwards, it was off to Aunt Dawnie's house to meet up with Aunt Darcee, Uncle Karl and cousin Kameron for a tasty dinner.



On Tuesday night, we stayed at Aunt Dawnie's house with Grandma. Wednesday brought sleeping in while Grandma took Ella to the grocery store for doughnuts and then to the park to play. When they got back, Ella walked up to the front door and exclaims, "I'm SOAKING wet, but it's okay!" She was indeed soaking wet. Apparently, there was a bit of a mishap with a fountain at the park! But, the two of them seemed to have a nice time together so what's a little water?! Eventually, we mobilized and headed off to Super-Walmart to get some food and camping gear for our family trip to Suttle Lake. I have to say, Walmart is cheap...but it takes far too long to shop there. It's so big and takes forever to walk from area to area and find exactly what you need.

Thursday through Saturday we all headed about 2 1/2 hours away to camp at Suttle Lake. We got an early start on Thursday so that we would be sure to get a camping spot since we didn't have any reservations. It was cold when we left Salem but by the time we made it to the campsite, we had warmer weather.


From the moment we got out of the car, Ella was again in heaven. The campsite was full of dirt, dirt and more dirt! She had rocks to climb, sticks to pick up and her cousins to chase. Within a very brief time, she was covered in filth...and pretty much stayed that way for the next three days. Honestly, she looked like a chimney sweep from Mary Poppins!


Camping was a great way to relax and get some time away as an extended family. Ella really got a chance to spend some special time with her Aunts and Uncles -- they took her for adventure walks, boat rides, time at the lake, and gave her lots of treats!





Saturday we stopped in Sisters for dinner and to shop before heading back to Salem for the night. Sunday morning we headed back down to Albany for "Family Day" and then stayed there for the rest of our stay. We were able to visit the house that Bonnie and Randy are buying for their retirement and went berry picking. In Rachelle's neighborhood, blackberries grow wild along the wooded paths surrounding the development. Ella had never gone berry picking before so Auntie Ray, Olivia & Simon showed her how to do it. She quickly learned which color to pick...but didn't quite have the eye for the big sweet ones. But, she had a great time picking and eating them.



This concludes my long and drawn-out post about Oregon. Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Ella's New Cousin

On Sunday, July 8th, another little Piersma entered the world. Amelia Kate made her grand entrance (or should I say exit?) after only 5 hours of labor. I have to say I am a bit jealous -- Ella took 24 hours and was almost 1.5 pounds heavier! Amelia is a beautiful little girl. We can't wait to see her although we're not quite sure when that will be. Congratulations Daddy Troy & Mommy Aimee!

Peppertree Cookie Show

Last weekend we had the pleasure of having the Mathios family at our house again so that Peter could participate in the Peppertree Art Show. It was a success and he sold three paintings! One of the sold paintings is called "Lessons" and features our nephew Kameron and his dad Karl on a hunting trip. If you want to see the painting, you can go here. Although the original is sold, prints will be available in July.

While Peter was off working hard at the art show, we had our own little art show of sorts. We had the first ever "Peppertree Cookie Show". My niece Olivia and I made sugar cookie cutouts and then the kids painted them with colored glaze. I've been wanting to do this with Ella for a long time as it was something that I loved doing as a child -- one of my precious childhood memories. Olivia, Simon & Ella all did a great job painting their cookies, and no one licked their paintbrushes! That is something I remember doing as a kid and one of the reasons Mom always made sure that we each had our own "paint" and brushes. However, the "show" part of the cookie show didn't last long -- the kids ate their cookies pretty quickly. But, I suppose that is to be expected. It was lots of fun...and tasty too!

6 Cousins

A lot has happened since I last posted. In January, Ella and I took a trip to Kansas to visit my sister Jessica and her family for a few days. Baby Cana joined their family in November and we wanted to visit before Ella turned two (and we'd have to buy a plane ticket for her). So, we just squeezed it in before her birthday.

One of my goals while we were there was to take photos of the 6 cousins together. In true Getskow style, the girls had matching clothes as did the boys. My mom used to dress us three girls in matching clothes quite frequently! Being the youngest, I of course thought it was cool to match my older sisters. However, I don't think 10 year old Jessica liked matching her 5 year old sister. Anyway...now years later Jessica & I both have daughters and we're dressing them alike -- for the picture anyway. They looked adorable! We took lots and lots of pictures and got a few that almost everyone looked good in. It sure is difficult trying to get 6 kids who are ages 2 months to 9 years to look & smile at the same time!


Another highlight was the snow! It actually snowed while we were there and Ella got to play in it for the first time. She looked so cute all bundled up in her cousin's snow pants & jacket and her cute hat that Auntie Jamie got her for Christmas. She loved playing but unfortunately we didn't have any real snow gloves and her mittens got wet and dirty pretty quickly. My child has a thing about clean hands! So, after awhile she did want to come inside because as she said, "Momma, hands all messy!"

Ella has a new cousin!

Today another branch was added to the Getskow Family Tree! After having four wonderful sons, my sister Jessica and her husband Bryan finally have a daughter! When they had their first child, they decided on a Biblical place "theme" for the names of their children, and I now have four nephews named Nile, Jordan, Calvary and Judah. For over nine years, they have been saving their girl name and today they finally got to use it! Cana Rose Fisher was born today just after noon, and she weighed in at a healthy 9lbs, 4oz. Yes, you might notice that Cana does share a middle name with her cousin Ella and personally I am thrilled about it. It's a beautiful name for a beautiful baby. We look forward to meeting the newest addition to the family.

We're back!

After more than two weeks, we are finally home! We went to Santa Clarita first to visit Brett's oldest sister Darcee, her husband Karl and their two children Brittney and Kameron. Although our time with them wasn't as long as we would have liked, it was fun to see them. Ella had a blast playing with her two oldest cousins -- she even learned the word "airplane" and now points them out whenever she sees one in the sky.

From Santa Clarita, Brett went to Sacramento for a teaching conference and Ella and I flew to Kansas City to visit my sister Jessica and her family. By the time that I booked the KC flight, I didn't have too many options in direct flights so we ended up taking a midnight flight. It was okay but I don't know that I would do it again if I had the choice. Ella slept on the drive to the airport but was wide awake when we got there. Then on the plane she was CRAZY! Not naughty, but just extremely hyper from her sleep deprivation. When I sat her in the empty seat next to me, she just started laughing hysterically. Fortunately, we had no one in front of us and the people behind us were amused by her antics. After about an hour and a half of squirming, laughing, pinching her Momma and throwing Momma's glasses in the aisle, Ella finally succombed to her exaustion and slept the other half of the flight thankfully.

Our time in Kansas was great! We got to see Jessica, her hubby Bryan and their four sons: Nile (9), Jordan (5), Cal (4) and Judah (2). As Jessica says, Ella was born to have brothers...or at least siblings! She had so much fun playing with them. Although she can hold her own with the boys, she was still very much a GIRL. She loved playing with the kitchen set in the basement while the boys had their sword fights. AND, she loved kissing and hugging her cousins -- she chased them around the house trying to give them some love. It was quite precious. Of course, that is not to say there weren't a few trying moments. She and Judah got into "Baby Battles" (as Nile dubbed them) every once in awhile. But, they both came away relatively unscathed. Poor Jordan got the worst of it. The night before we left, she smacked him in the head with a toy car. I'm still not sure if it was really agression or if she was just too tired and in her hyper/crazy stage as I wasn't there to witness it. Jessica commented on how much energy Ella has. Honestly, at home she does have her moments but I think she just really loves being with people and gets excited. She is definitely an extrovert!

We just returned home last night and are starting to get back into our usual routine. It has been a great but busy summer. It's hard to believe that in just two more weeks Brett will be back at school...but alas it is true. The summer is almost over! But, we intend to make the best of the last couple of weeks.

FishChick is on the way!

This week I got some exciting news! No, no, no...I am NOT pregnant. But, as some of you know, my sister Jessica Fisher is. Over the past nine years, she and her husband have given me four adorable nephews who are affectionately known as The FishBoys. Early this week she had an ultrasound done and the next day I received this picture in my email. Notice the caption: "Dad, I need lots of cute shoes." It's true, this next FishBaby is indeed a FishChick. Nile, Jordan, Cal and Judah have a little sister on the way and Ella has a little girl cousin! We are so excited! The FishChick is due to arrive in November!

Visit with the Mathios Family

This last week we had a lovely visit with Brett's sister Rachelle, her husband Peter and their kids Olivia (age 5) and Simon (age 3). Peter is a wildlife artist and they came out for the Peppertree Art Show that was this weekend.

The last time we saw the Mathios family was back in August. At that time, Ella was just learning to sit up unaided. Now, she can walk, run and climb -- she can hold her own with Simon and Olivia. I can safely say that Ella LOVES her cousins! She enjoyed them sooo much. While they were here, she didn't have much time for her mommy or daddy. She just wanted to play with her cousins all of the time. I can see lots of fun visits with the cousins in the future.

Hopefully, Peter will be invited back to the show in November and we will get to see them again then. If you're interested in checking out his art, you can go to his website.