A Brief History

This might sound a little redundant, but some of you might be new to my blog, so you get to hear it. I am thankful to be an aunt, or better yet, a Nanny.
 A brief history: When my sister and her husband had been married about a year they got a dog named Gimli. Gimli was a Bull Mastiff who stole our hearts from the beginning. For a long time Gimli was their boy, and as such needed to be watched from time to time when Jolene and Nic were out of town. This is how I became the dog-Nanny. Gimli knew that his Nanny Manda was always there to take care of him when mom and dad were away. I was jokingly referred to as the Nanny, and it stuck. Fast forward a few years to when Jolene and Nic had their first baby, Sam. I was on my mission when he was born, but that Christmas he sent me a tote bag that had a picture of him wearing a onesie with a tie on it, next to some scriptures. The caption read "I hope they call me on a mission...so I can be cool like Nanny Manda!" When I finally met Sam in person a few weeks later a bond was forged, and the dog-nanny became the Nanny. Since then I have been there to take care of my boys!
 When I fist came home from my mission I spent as much time at my sister's house as I did at my own. Whenever Jolene even thought she might need a babysitter, I was there! Including the time when she got the stomach flu and needed someone to take care of Sam. I packed up my bags and headed in, ready to take care of my little man while his parents were sick. We had a fun couple of days, and Jolene got better just in time for Nic's graduation. Perfect timing! We all got up and were getting ready for the day when it happened-I came down with the stomach flu. Haha it was a little crazy, but it was fun. As Sam got older I got to be a big part of his life, and I think that "Nan" may have made the first-ten word list!
 Over this past summer I had the chance to spend most of my week at my sister's house. I was worried that Mark didn't know me as well as Sam, so I set about to fix that! I loved getting to be with Sam and Mark all day! We became even better friends, and I feel like Mark knows me as well as Sam now.
 I love walking into my sister's house now: Sam comes running from wherever he is, yelling "Nanny!" and gives me a giant hug. Before Mark was mobile he would sit and clap his hands when he saw me, and want me to pick him up for a hug. Now that he's moving around he crawls as fast as he can to me to get that hug. Being a Nanny is the best! Cole is too little to get too excited when I get to his house, but he'll catch on soon! There's a little girl coming to our family in March, and I am super excited to introduce her to the world of the Nanny as well.
 I LOVE being a Nanny! There is nothing better in the world! Today that is what I am thankful for-being Nanny, aka the cool aunt!