y sister, Carla, had her 20 year class reunion this past weekend. The majority of what I remember about her high school years (I am 11 years younger than her) is one most embarrassing story:

Carla’s girl friends were over at our house one day around Christmas. They were in the living room sprawled on the couches. I had just successfully purchased a Christmas gift for my dad. I was really proud of the thought that went into his gift and that I was giving him a gift by myself, without any of my siblings names on the card. I had selected a pack of 4 white handkerchiefs with his initial–P for Perry–embroidered in burgundy on the corner of each one.

I was somewhere around 6 years old and was suuuuuper shy. One of them asked me what I had gotten my dad for Christmas. I proudly and loudly proclaimed, “I got him hankies with ‘P’ on them!”

They all burst into fits of laughter. I ran away and hid in my room. I’m pretty sure I a) never lived it down and b) never spoke with them again. It’s hilarious now, of course, but I was also the child who would hide under the table if I had accidentally spilled a glass of water.

So anyway, because most of the class reunion events were in the Iowa City area, Carla, Arneelius, and Finley stayed at our house this past weekend. Finley & Carla had stayed here a couple of months ago for my little brother’s graduation, but a lot has changed in a short time. Finley is on the move, full of giggles, and incredibly mobile. My sister had warned me that she’s a one-person demolition crew.

But look at her; she’s such a little angel baby.

Warning: there are a lot of photos of little Finley in this post.

We went to my parents house on Friday. They had just gotten 140 baby chicks the day before. Finley wasn’t so sure about the chicks. She also had just woken up from a car nap so that may have had something to do with it.

Baby girl warmed up soon enough.

Friday night Carla & Arneelius headed off to dinner and Finley stayed with us. I didn’t get a chance to take any photos because she had an array of emotions and ended up going to bed quite early because she literally couldn’t stay awake. But aren’t these two hotties?

Finley LOVED looking out the window. I told her that she’s just like her grandpa, who thinks it would be the best entertainment to put a chair in front of the window and count the semis on I-80.

We went over to the mall on Sunday to ride the carousel. Finley thought it was pretty much the best thing ever.

The Whipples left Monday morning long before the sun rose. So now it’s back to a normal routine for us. And it’s a lot quieter around here too.