~Adventures in Utah 2009: Circle of Sisters Reunion~

I cut my trip to Idaho short, leaving Nick and my sweet babies in the loving arms of my in-laws. My minivan and I had a journey to make. I went down to St. George to spend four days with my dear friends that I went to Romania with five years ago.

My Dad calls these ladies my “band of sisters” similar to band of brothers (an HBO mini series). We didn’t necessarily go to battle together, but in a way we did. Essentially we went to Romania together to volunteer in an orphanage, loving, teaching, and caring for children with a wide range of disabilities. In the process we saw the best of each other and the worst of ourselves. We cried, we laughed, and we desperately tried to eat like kings. We all learned our own unique life changing lessons because as Marci puts it “Romania is never what you want it to be. Romania is what you needed it to be.” It was a refiners fire and we all came back bonded, ready to stand together through thick and thin.

I call these ladies my “middle friends”. They knew me not as Steve and Shannon’s daughter but not as Nick’s wife, Sister Parkinson, or Alec and Elyssa’s mommy. They knew me as pure, passionate, and complicated (never simple) Chrissy. They keep me grounded when I have those identity loss moments that so many stay at home mothers experience. These ladies are my sisters.

We also refer to ourselves as a “Circle of Sisters”. For some of us, we really are the only sisters we’ve ever had. For others we are an amazing addition of love to sisters we were raised knowing. We are ten unique, beautiful, intelligent, strong women who love the Lord and love each other. We cheer for one another through our triumphs and cry together through our trials and failures. In so many ways we are a family.

All 10 of us are scattered across the United States, living in tight budgets, but still found a way to come together for this one weekend. We shared our unique talents with each other. We retold birth stories, wedding stories, and gave advice to our bride to be! We shopped a little, ate a lot, and soaked up the sun by the side of a pool. We stayed up till 2 AM every night, and woke up with the first crying baby in the morning. We laughed, we cried, we shared favorite memories. It was all a little surreal, but thankfully I have pictures to prove it really did happen.

I love you all, my dear Circle of Sisters. Thanks for a fabulous weekend, but even more thanks for being a life long sister.