One of the bestest cousins in the world!!!

so one thing that God has blessed me with is many wonderful, awesome, super cool cousins! on both my martin and my kramer side. i have so many, many memories with them growing up. we could sit  in a circle with various ages and just laugh  and laugh and laugh. some of my best times were with my cousins. however since it would take a really long time to write a blog about all 50 of them individually, i wont. :) this blog however is dedicated to one of the best ones i got. one that the times we have spent together probably out weigh the times we havnt been together. his name is rickster!

so ricky and I have always lived two minutes walking distance from eachother. i dont remember what the earliest memory i have of him is. but i do remember doing kidergarten with him and trent. then once we went to real school we started to have play dates after school. they were usually once a week. sometimes more. we would meet at the driving shed right after we had eaten our after school snack and done our after school chores. our activities would include anything from playing in the bush, climbing on bins and trees and cardboard and old barns to playing soccer with some more of our cousins. i remember one rather traumatizing experience we had when his dog fell into our corn washing machine and he couldnt get out. after much pulling, we finally got the big golden retriever out. that was quite scary. we also used to go biking together. we always had to be back at our houses by five-thirty for supper.

From kidergarten to grade 12, we have always went to the same school. during our school years i dont ever remember when he wasnt one of my best friends. in fact we got in trouble for being too good friends. (however that is possible, i am not sure) There are many memories of those days but i unfortunately cant remember them all. some of the best times were in grade 11 and 12 when we were the only ones in our grade with our cousin trent! the three of us had many grand times. we played catch phrase and vball ( three against one, cause ricky was just too good) and watch minuns videos. ricky was always great at entertaining all of us in the class. class trips were never boring cause we found ways to entertain ourselves while waiting in lines and walking through cities. ricky's video camera was the cause for much amusement. also there was that time in grade 10 that we were sick of being on the top of cn tower and decided to do the simulator ride while we were waiting for the rest. however we underestimated the wait to get in and came out a little late. we ran through toronto that day to catch up with the rest. :) school would have been a very different experience with out ricky there with me.

Then there is the fact that we have also always went to the same church all our life. since for most of our lives we went to grace, which is a small church, we continued to hang out with eachother a lot! we shared friends. ok i shared friends, since there are no boys our age at grace. lol...thats ironic due to the large amt of boys in my year. we have always been in the same sunday school class. this meant we went on s.s. class trips together. for instance once we went to the zoo! many great memories of that day! we have also had lots of church socials where we have spent much time together. hikes, bikes, church campings and christmas banquets. many many good times!!!

Next, because we have always been in the same church, we have also been in the same youth group. again this means we have the same group of friends and activites. we were both put on the youth committee the same time for a two year period. we have carpooled to many activites and youth mtgs. during these drives we have had the chance to discuss many pressing issues. :)
We have also always been in the same martin family and worked at the same place. There are many memories because of the these two things aswell. long days at market make anyone grow close and family campings have always been something to look forward too.
So with all this you can prolly understand why we have been like siblings growing up. i remember my pastor once asking us, "do you guys ever not get along?!" very very occasionally. lol and we get over it really quick. :)
ricky has been my humor, best friend, competitor, and advisor for as long as i can remember. even though he beat me in pretty much everything, it was fun to try to win. it was always fun when i got a grade higher then him or beat him at an arm wrestle or ping pong game. lol. i havent done either for those for years now. :0  in years to come we will prolly be forced to spend less time together and see less of eachother but we will always have these 19 years as memories and we will always be good friends. i am glad God gave me a cousin like him. :)