Monday, December 7, 2015

French Braids {Years Ago}

One day a few weeks ago, we were looking through the large collection of pictures we took last year so that we could pick the ones to be included in next year's family calendar. Addison picked this one as her absolute favorite:


I must've taken it during the dress rehearsal for last year's Sounds of Spring concert with the Tucson Girls Chorus. She was playing the piano accompaniment to the traditional end of the year song that the Advanced Choir sang.

Seeing her hair in French braids made me remember all the mornings that my mom used to braid my hair. She is by far the best French braider I've ever known. (I may have just made up the word "braider" but it fits.)

I had really, really long hair when I was in elementary school -- long enough to tuck into the waist of my blue jeans if I wanted to. The biggest problem was that I was not very good at all at fixing my own hair. My mom would braid my hair into French braids when I went on Girl Scout camping trips so that I wouldn't have to worry about fixing it over the weekend. She could braid my hair so tight that it wouldn't hardly get messed up at all. In fact, my sister and I talk about how mom could braid our hair back so tightly it was almost like getting an instant face-lift.


Just like I used to have French braids for camping trips, Addison also picks braids for keeping her hair out of her face while camping or hiking. I love this picture of her at the top of the Grand Canyon at the end of their five day backpacking trip in the canyon.



Like any good skill, I took what my mom taught me and passed it along to Addison. She can braid her own hair almost as well as I can do it. She still lets me do it sometimes and tells me that my braids stay in better than when she does them herself.

She's quite good at braiding other people's hair too. When her chorus spent three weeks performing in China last summer, so many people asked her to do their hair that she made it her personal goal to braid everyone's hair before coming home. On occasion I can count on her to help out by braiding Lauren's hair so that we can make it to church on time.



It's funny how something as simple as noticing French braids in a photograph can bring back so many memories.


I know that my blog will show a suggested post or two below this one if you'd like to read more. This week I stumbled across a very sweet post about braids that I posted almost three years ago -- Why I'm thankful for crooked braids. If you can't get enough "years ago" stories as I blog through the alphabet, I recommend that one.


This week is the sixth week in our Blogging Through the Alphabet challenge -- letter F. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has to share this week. Click the button below for this week's linky.



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7 comments:

  1. We love Addison's braider talents, and that polka-dot dress looks familiar :)

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  2. Beautiful French braids! I am not by any means talented in the hair department. I've felt bad for my girls over the years, but I was blessed with some daughters that are good and I just love it when they do each others hair!

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  3. Lovely braids. I adore french braids on my daughter, but she's not terribly interested in them anymore.

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  4. I love that picture too! So beautiful, and what sweet memories!

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  5. That is a beautiful picture! I said I had boys first so that I could get used to being a parent before I had to learn how to add girly hairstyles into the mix. I've got two girls now, and the older one is big enough and her hair long enough that it's time I start learning how to do stuff besides pig tails with it!

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  6. Such sweet memories. I am just learning the difference between French and Dutch braids. I like French braids too. It is my go to style on most days.

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    1. When I saw you mention Dutch braids, I had a moment of panic. I can do both on my girls, and I was afraid that my favorite picture was actually Dutch braids instead of French. I'm pretty sure they're French, but it is a bit hard to tell.

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