Sarah Michelle

Thirty-six years ago today we were blessed with the sweetest addition to our family we could have wished for.

There are many things I could say about Sarah and they're all good but to give some real insight into the kind of person she is I'll post some pictures.  First of all, she was a good little Indian girl when she really couldn't figure out exactly what was going on.

 She's always been athletic and played on the State Championship Volleyball Team in 1995.

Actually she's pretty competitive in almost everything she does.

She's creative - especially on Halloween. 

 She has all the dance moves.

 And she was not valedictorian of her college graduating class but she would have been a good one.

 Many years ago, she was the first to help us renovate our kitchen with paint, back splash, and reorganization..

 She has always shared her birthday party with her twin brothers.

 She and Beth perform a New Year's Eve show every year that the whole family looks forward to.

For years whenever she left our house after a visit, she cried for the first hour of her trip home.

When we were in the room while Beth was in labor for her firstborn, the temperature was about -3 and Sarah was innovative enough to figure out a way to keep warm.

And be cheerful and fun-loving at the same time.

 She organized a drive to send care packages to her brothers and their troops when they were deployed.

 She's a great fisher of sharks.

and an awesome cook.

and lovingly lets children help her when she's cooking for Thanksgiving.

She has a flair for the dramatic (especially when she feels overworked).

She's absolutely hilarious.

and she and Beth are so close.

that they've been known to get their feet mixed up.

She loves all her sisters

And the rest of her family too.

She could give lessons called 'Childbirth the Fun and Easy Way.

 and she absolutely adores her babies.

 and her husband.

She's sweet, loving, patient, kind, and helpful.   She's also intuitive and can clarify and help solve some of the knottiest problems.  We are so grateful to have been blessed with her in our family and we're wishing her the most awesome year she's ever had!  Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Previous posts for Sarah can be found here (2013), here (2012), and here (2011).

Dan and Dave

Forty-one years ago Friday we were blessed with identical twin sons, Dan and Dave.

I would have written this post then except that we were knee deep in the start of our interior renovation and and so was Dave.  He was directing the operation and doing the re-wiring at the same time.  (Dan would have been here but for him it was a busy time in his battalion where he just couldn't get away. They'll both be here in June to finish the job.)

Dan and Dave have shared almost everything through the years. 

After high school they went to Kemper Military School and College in Missouri where they were cadets and cadre together.

They went to and graduated from Airborne School and Ranger School together.

Dan has been deployed multiple times to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

 And Dave has also been deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Both are now Lieutenant Colonels and Battalion Commanders, Dan in Colorado Springs with a Combat Engineer Battalion and Dave in Fairfax County, Virginia right outside of Washington D.C with a Prime Power Battalion.  Here they are in 2009 as Majors.

In 1993 Dan met Teresa and they were later married.

And Dave met Patty and they were later married.

This is Dan's family.

 And this is Dave's.

I'm writing this to wish a belated Happy Birthday to these two wonderful boys.  Although we spoke with Dan on his birthday and Dave was here working his butt off on his birthday, I wanted to post a public tribute to two of the finest sons anyone could ever dream of.  

Both are kind, considerate, generous, loving, hard-working, smart, and accomplished.  They've both remodeled their houses and their next project is ours.  (How many parents have sons who spend their leave time helping their parents?)

We are thankful beyond measure to have these two in our lives and we're hoping the coming year is better than any year they've ever had.  Happy Birthday, Dan and Dave - just a few days late.

Previous birthday posts for Dan and Dave can be found here (2013), here (2012), and here (2010).