more of maddy

i have been seeing *lots* more of my sweet niece maddy (madison) lately.
technically she's a second cousin, as her dad barry is christopher's first cousin,
but i've always felt like an auntie to her so i call her my niece.
she calls me auntie angie.

i first met maddy back in the late 90s when christopher and i were 20-somethings
and just moved to san diego from arizona. she was a little girl then (maybe 3 or 4).
i fell in love with her instantly.


when she was a little older, her parents would allow her to stay overnight with us and we'd do all kind of fun activities: drive-in movies were one of her favorite things. since i didn't have my sisters with me in san diego, i was drawn to her. christopher and i weren't parents then and had lots more free time to spend with her and do fun things. then our family grew and for several years we didn't see much of maddy. a few months ago, we chatted on-line and since then, she's back in my (our) lives. she's by far my best text messaging buddy!

the timing is perfect too. she's wanting to spend more time with family and we are at the point in our lives where we don't have infants anymore and our options for activities is a little bit larger for weekend play. she's is a huge help when we go anywhere the the little guys and it's very appreciated. she babysits from time to time too and the boys just adore her.

maddy is an amazing girl with a heart of gold.
we love her, are happy to have her around more,
and look forward to spending lots more time with her.
here are a few pictures i've taken from her over the summer.

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finn, amber, madison and scoutie