With the release of Third Time’s a Charm nearly upon us (January 1!), I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about sisters. All three books in the Sister-to-Sister Series have focused on the close-knit relationship between three sisters, which are modeled after my own family relationships. Since the release of Stuck in the Middle and Age before Beauty, I’ve received tons of letters and email from readers who want to tell me about their sisters. I love the stories, especially when I get to hear about fun things sisters do together. So lately, I’ve been thinking about fun things I do with my sisters.

My sisters and I have a blast every time we’re together. Since I spend a lot of time on the road, and they both have busy lives too, that doesn’t happen as often as we’d like, so each moment together is precious. Last year for Mother’s Day we gave my mom the gift of our time. The three of us took her to a state park and rented a cabin. We brought games to play, but we never even opened the boxes. We were having too much fun talking and laughing, and dredging up old stories from our childhood. The cabin had one bedroom and a sleeper sofa, but we couldn’t bear to be apart so we pulled the mattress off the bed and dragged it into the main room so we could all be together. As I said, the trip was a gift of togetherness for Mom, but we benefited as much as she did. We all vowed to make it an annual outing.

My youngest sister and I both love movies, so we enjoy going to movies together when we can, and comparing notes on movies we’ve both seen. She’s an actress and director, so she picks up on a lot of things I don’t notice, and I love hearing her perspective.

My middle sister and I have a fun tradition. We give each other ugly ornaments at Christmas. We spend a lot of time hunting for the ugliest ornament we can find, and it’s always a hoot opening those deceptively beautiful gifts, and watching the reaction. And it’s fun to see who “wins” at finding the ugliest or tackiest each year.

I also have two more awesome ladies who became my sisters late in life, when our parents married. When all of us get together, you should hear us! We all talk a mile a minute, and nobody can get a word in edgewise. You can never have too many sisters!

I have a coffee mug that says, “A Sister is a Forever Friend.” I just love that mug. The sentiment is true, of course. But mostly, I love the mug because my sister gave it to me!

What about you? If you have a sister, what fun things do you do together?