This month is such a special one...

Just wanted to send a shout out to my brother and sister, both of whom had birthdays this past week! So...here goes...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY AND SPENCER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just remember...Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake.:)

This may be the only picture I have of the two of us (well, in recent years anyway).

Growing up, Emily didn't suffer fools gladly (to put it lightly, hehe). She was always so confident and I was always so worried. She was so independent and sure of herself. I was a homebody and nervous. I always wanted to be like her, but I never felt that I could catch up. I feared she was better at school than me, a better singer than me, a better piano player than me, better at making friends, pretty much better at EVERYTHING! She could tell my parents off without blinking an eye and I would dissolve into tears the minute my mom said she was disappointed in me. I admired her so much and wished I was a little more spunky and strong like her!

For years, she ran our relationship with an iron fist. She made long lists of rules and regulations I had to abide by. If I wanted to wear her clothes, I had to sign a contract, hehe! She had strict boundaries about our bedroom and I was not allowed to speak to her at school. Finally, when I was a sophomore and she was a senior, she softened towards me. She started inviting me to do things with she and her friends. She drove me places and was generally kind to me. Her freshmen year in college (when I was a junior) she came home from college once and complained that she and her friends just wanted to hang out with their little sisters, but we were too busy for them. It was like a huge breakthrough for me. My sister LIKED me!

I remember one particular time when I was about 15 and out of school for Christmas break. I was feeling really sick and laying in bed in the room Emily and I shared. Emily came bounding in to get something before she left to have fun with her friends. She asked why I was in bed and when I didn't respond, she felt my forehead. Like the good mom she was destined to be, she declared that I had a fever and told her friends to wait for a minute. She went off and fetched me some medicine and a cool washcloth and called my mom at work to let her know I was sick. I know this doesn't seem like much, but Emily was always so busy and for some reason, that Christmas break, I felt like she cared about me. :)

Of course, these days we are as close as any sisters. We chat on the phone frequently and exchange parenting advice. She has attacked parenting with the same fervor she attacks anything and is a fantastic, inspiring parent! She is the most thoughtful, kind person that anyone could be and I love her!

I've used this picture before, but I don't seem to have many of Spency and this one is so appropriate. :)

Through my elementary years (especially in Pocatello), I probably spent more time playing with Spencer than any of my other siblings. Emily was always way too cool (plus I was really into the sports and outdoorsy stuff she didn't like), Jake was like a baby and Joe thought the stuff we did was geeky or something.

We spent many, many, many afternoons playing in the back yard. We would play football, basketball, ride bikes, skate, climb trees, swing on the swingset, try to dig a pool in the sandbox (hehe) and so on. In the summer we played in the water and in the winter we would play in the snow. We walked to the elementary school across the street a lot and played the ball game against the wall (don't remember what that was called, maybe wall ball?).

Do you remember the game we used to play in the front yard, under that tree that dropped the red cherry things? We would pretend that as soon as a car drove by, we were shot or something and had to fall to the ground and lie as still as we could. We freaked one car out that we were hurt and they told us to stop playing that game. When Dad was your soccer coach, I would go to practice with the two of you and play as well. Later, I attended so many sporting events to cheer my little brothers on!

When I got older and wanted to hang out with my friends instead of my little brothers, I would still occasionally play Spence or Jake at a game of one-on-one basketball. I remember when I was about 19 and Spence was 16 and Jake was 13 and they were arguing about how they were each better than each other in basketball. Then Jake pulled the, Oh yeah? Well you couldn't beat Lori. I remember that Spence quickly agreed and said of course he couldn't beat me. LOL. I was pretty sure at that point that they could probably both beat me. They were taller than me and I hadn't played in a couple of years, but I was flattered that my legend continued. :)

Today you are still a great brother! We miss not seeing you and chatting about our beloved Broncos! Love you little bro!

I love both of you so much! I hope you had fantastic birthdays!