The Friendships Continue: The Next Generation

I first met Anali and Kristen when I started at university. Anali was in my year and Kristen was a couple of years younger. They lived in a small town about fifteen minutes away from my residence and I still remember being invited there for a sleepover during Reading Week. Over the years I got to know Anali, Kristen and the rest of their family quite well. Kristen and I traveled to New York City together and I went to visit Anali in Washington, DC and Boston. So I have known these two women for over twenty years.

And last week Kristen had a baby. Kristen is a single mother by choice and her daughter Julia is adorable! Since Anali and her son, Stefan, are visiting this week from Missouri, I went over to their parents' house yesterday to visit. Stefan and Sam played together for over two hours and us women (and Julia and Rachel visited).

I even got to hold Julia for a bit. As you can tell from the picture below I couldn't stop gazing at her. And thankfully Rachel was not at all jealous and brought a bear over for Julia to have. I was thrilled that Rachel was so sweet to her and not grabbing at Julia's face or freaking out because I was holding her!

And before we left we got a picture of the three of us together with our four children. Wow! I can't wait to have many more good visits with these amazing sisters and good friends. And it's hard to believe that in a couple of years Rachel and Julia will also be off playing together while Kristen, Anali and I catch up!