Birthdays All Around

When Daisy was born, I was a little happy and sad that it happened to be my half-birthday. I was hoping to hold out one more day, so that she could be born on this guy's birthday.

That would be my Uncle Tim. From a girl who doesn't have a lot of family to begin with, this guy made up for most of that. I have vivid memories of staying with him as we traveled down to see my Grandmother in California. He lived in a small bachelor pad, but he would cook us dinner and give up his apartment for the evening for us to sleep there. I remember him chasing me around and teasing me, and he was the first person to introduce me to Mario. (Although I still am not very good at it. You can ask Tyler because he ended up kicking me off the Wii and finishing Mario by himself.)

Tim is great to play games with. When we visited him this last vacation we managed to get slaughtered by him again. And his better half.

Yep, Tim was fabulous to start with, but he managed to make himself just that much better by marrying Jeannie. She is like a bonus sister. She is beautiful, witty, and kind-hearted. When I was little I thought she was the coolest person in the world because her closet was full of costumes from her days as a Roller-Skating Queen. (I am not sure what the official title is, but imagine the ice skaters at the Olympics, and she did the same thing, just on roller skates.) Just writing this post makes me sigh (*sigh*). I wished we lived closer to these guys. They are really genuine, good, people. And they were nice enough to hang out a few years before starting a family, so we could have kids around the same age. That was awful generous of them. (Okay, so maybe it wasn't quite planned that way, but I totally benefit.)

Erin was born the year I got married.

She has some developmental delays, but she is sweet to the core. She remembers us even though we rarely get to visit, and her hugs are the best. I was impressed with my girls who haven't known many children with special needs. They played with her, and Ivory even said that Erin was one of her best friends. My children can easily see that Erin is another one of God's children, just made differently. It was nice to discuss with them that Erin has already passed all her tests and she doesn't need to experience all the trials and temptations of this temporal existence. I look forward to meeting her again on the other side, because her spirit already shines.

This guy was adopted just six months after we had June.

I think it still irks him that she is older. (Nothing you can do about it bud, but don't worry, you still beat four of them to the starting gate.) I can't say that I have seen him grow, but it is fun to see his personality leaps each time we come to visit. He was so funny and creative, and a real gentleman to give up his room. Here he is pretending to be dead after the girls buried him in the sand box. (See how realistic with the tongue out and everything.)

Funny, I was just blogging tonight to mention Tim's birthday, but then it seemed that I wanted to talk about his whole family. I really miss them. They were so nice to let us crash with them and eat their food and enjoy their company. My only regret is that they didn't get to meet the youngest two. Tim, you really are the best Uncle, and I'm not saying that because you are my ONLY Uncle. You are the best in general. Although, not at Scotch Bridge...your winning was a fluke, I'm certain.