Happy Birthday Michael

Today is my brother Michael's birthday. He's 33. Mike is a great guy. He owns and runs several small business, loves to fish and is very outdoorsy. This is his cute girlfriend Carly. She's a real sweetie...and we have our fingers crossed that she's the one ;)

In going with my theme: a couple fun Michael memories (but not 33~ that would be a little excessive).

1. I remember when Michael was born. We didn't know if he was a boy or a girl and I wanted a girl and Alec wanted a boy (of course) Marie Jeanne came to baby sit us while Mom was at the hospital and I remember the phone call coming and finding out it was a boy!! (which turned out to be okay with me after all :) ) We made a big welcome home poster for him.

2. One time when Michael was about 10ish months old Mom's VT were coming over and Michael already got into everything so Mom told Alec and I to "watch" him while they visited. We did this by crawling behind the couch (which was yellow) with a bag of Oreos and feeding them to him. He happily ate them and we gleefully watched the mess spread from his little lips to his whole face, down his neck all over his clothes, his hands, the floor, the couch and the wall.

3. When Michael was small he loved fruit. I remember him crawling around with an apple in his mouth and then he would deposit the fruit somewhere and continue on, later he'd go back for another bite. I also remember working at the church farm and him sitting on the bottom of the peach tree eating, or the apple tree eating.

4. Micheal loved to listen to records with a story. His favorite was "The Fox and the Hound". I can picture him laying on the floor, headphones on, book open.

5. Micheal has always been good with animals and kind of "man vs wild"ish. When he was small I remember him sneaking up on pigeons at the park and catching them. He caught all kinds of animals over the years and had all kinds of pets. He had this awful Conure that ate wall paper and squawked and threw seeds about, named Captain. He would sit on Michael's' shoulder when he rode his bike around the neighborhood.

6. When Michael was little we thought it was funny to make him kiss Chrissy Ferrari.

7. Michael was always real smart. He played baseball and wrestled and got great grades.

8. When Micheal got home from his mission to Brazil we were so excited. That was one of our best family gatherings. We were all at Mom's house and got to listen to his mission stories and share our testimonies and just had such a great time visiting together and being together. On his mission he learned to play the piano and he played that night while we sang hymns together for hours. He also brought fun Brazilian treats for all. It was a glimpse of the love and joy we will feel in the eternities as we had a moment of heaven on earth.

9. I have plenty of Michael getting in trouble stories, but since it's his birthday I'll save them. I think he was a real handful for mom and dad, but he was an awesome kid and he's an awesome man. Love you brother.

It's also Millie's birthday. She is 5 and is a great dog, except for the smell and the shedding.