See Fish Chatter

by candace

Welcome to See Fish Chatter! We are the Fishes—a mom and her eight daughters. My mom did not actually give birth to all eight of us but that isn’t relevant because those who married into the family are stuck with us forever. Between the eight of us sisters we have thirty children, live in five different states, and range in age from 24 to 42. Let me give you a little intro of each person (from my perspective—I do not claim to speak for everyone):

PAT—She is my mother. She happens to be exactly what anyone should want in a mother. She is clean, organized, put together, kind, extremely helpful, full of talents, supportive, wise, a good listener, a great advice giver, happy, selfless, great in the kitchen, not overbearing, intuitive, etc. My sister-in-law put it perfectly: “Everyone needs a Pat”. That, my friends, is the reason I am sharing her with you. You’re welcome. :) 

JULIA is intelligent, is extremely talented, has a perfect complexion, has handwriting that should be made into a font for the world to use, and has a wonderful singing voice. She is a calligrapher and creates unique, beautiful things that you don’t see everywhere. That little hand of hers does amazing things.

STEFANIE is the one who reads and studies and researches when she wants to know something. It’s amazing to me how much knowledge is in that brain of hers. She has a special talent for interior design—although she has never done it professionally. She can give you hair or eyelash extensions, sew whatever in your house you need custom made, or teach you how to eat so you can be your healthiest self.

LORI is the one with a smile on her face even though her life is running wild around her. When you walk in her house you feel like she would rather see no one else, you can stay as long as you want, eat whatever you want, and talk as long as needed. She is fun, likes to ride her bike, and can create beauty out of anything.

KERI is the entertainer. She is hilarious and claims she will never contribute to this blog, which is tragic for all of you reading. She will convince you otherwise but she is great at everything she does—including being a mother. She inspires me with her very early morning exercising and her constant service to those around her.

AMY is one of those you want as a best friend. She is very aware of peoples’ needs. She is always doing something for someone else, having someone live in her house, letting someone drive her [12 passenger] van across the country, or sending me something that “reminded her of me”. She is a master traveler—especially when it comes to traveling with [4] kids. She is always planning, finding great deals, and thinking of the next great place to visit. She is always up for a good time and an even better laugh.

MAGGIE is a lover. Not to give it away but she has a gift that those who were born Fishes don’t have—and we love her for it. Sometimes I wonder if she loves my child more than I love him. Not really but…maybe? Maggie was born to be a mother and she is an amazing one to her three young children. She is beautiful, has the greatest laugh, thinks my brother is the best thing ever, and loves her diet coke.

MARCI is extremely capable. She can pretty much just do whatever she wants to do. She can marry the wackiest guy around and make it awesome, give birth to her third child while that wacky guy is in Iraq and seem fine with it, and the normal things like play the piano (better than the rest of us), get straight “A’s” and pass AP tests (back in the day), bake homemade bread, make quilts for everyone around, organize and decorate her home beautifully, feed the neighbors, pick the ticks out of her kids’ hair, build a chicken coop eight months pregnant—you get the point.

CANDACE—That happens to be me. I am the eighth of nine children and happen to think I’m the smartest of them all because I picked the best spot in the family. I claim to be a graphic designer and am addicted to things like cool fonts, cookies, modern furniture, changing my hair, hoodies, Chipotle, and my computer. I wasn’t, however, blessed with an addiction to making dinner, flossing my teeth, or good grammar (so please forgive the seventh grade level English skills that you have just endured).

There you have it. My mom actually gave birth to nine. We have brother who is the youngest of the Fishes…I’m going to try to convince him to share some of his wisdom on this blog but he doesn’t know about that yet. The most amazing thing about all of these women is how dedicated they are to what they believe. We all love Jesus Christ, know that He lives, know that He loves us, and know that He loves you. We are the Fish ladies…and we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In other words, we are Mormons.