Happy Birthday, Mike!

Today is our son-in-law Mike's birthday.  He and Sarah and their 3 kids live in Louisville, KY.  We first got to know Mike back in 1997 and he and Sarah were married in 2000.

 From the very beginning, he fit right in with his easy-going fun-loving ways.

 

A little while ago, I conducted a phone interview with him.  Here's how it went.

Happy Birthday, Mike!  Are you having a good day?  Yes I'm having a very good day.

What have you done so far?  I went goose hunting this morning.  Did you get any?  No we didn't have any luck, but I spent a good 4 hours in 27 degree weather with 15 mph winds so I have that going for me.

 

And then we went to Trey's basketball game and the grocery.  Now I'm sitting down to read the paper.

Do you have any special plans for tonight?  Let's see.  Sarah's making me breakfast for dinner.  Is that your choice or hers?  It's mine.  Then I guess I'll see if my family got me any presents.

You seem to be a natural as a father and obviously you enjoy that role.  What is your most important philosophy as a dad?  I would say 'have high expectations'.  You never know what your kids are capable of unless you expect them to surprise you.

 

And do you have a most important philosophy as a husband?  Well I've always heard a happy wife is a happy life.  I try to live by that one.

 

Everyone knows you love sports of all kinds and that you're a skilled golfer.  Did you ever consider a career in golf?  No.  I picked up golf late.  I had a tryout with the Seattle Mariners for baseball when I was in high school but I didn't go.  You just didn't go?  No, I was going off to college and even if I made some minor league baseball squad I knew I would never be a professional baseball player.

I know you've been in your present job a little over a year but I'm not sure what you do.    My title is Sales Manager for an environmental testing laboratory.  That sounds kind of boring.  It pretty much is.  I'm a hoot at parties.  But you're doing well at it?  Yeah, I've had a really good last 3 months so it's coming along pretty well.

What would you consider your highlight of the past year?  I don't know.  Sarah feeling better has been a pretty big thing.

 And do you have any special goals or plans for the coming year?  No none that I can think of.  I have some business goals but they would be hard to explain in layman's terms.  I'm trying to figure out if I want to train for the mini marathon coming up in the Spring.  I might even do it with Ethan.  Who knows? 

In less than two weeks you'll be in Michigan City for about a week.  Are you looking forward to that?  Oh yeah.  The beach house is always fun.

What can you tell us about yourself that most people might not know?  I'm pretty much an open book.  I like to read.  I got on a kick where I was reading some classics like you might read in high school or college.  I used to go to the library and I'd get one book like that and then I'd get a sports book or autobiography which are just fun to read.  I pretty much read the classics just to stay abreast.

Also, I'm a dog lover and I have a dog now so that worked out well for me.

(This picture is of Mike and Sarah's first dog.  He became unhappy when their first baby was born so he went to a home where he could be the only baby.)  There are so many things I could tell you about Mike that not everybody might know.   First of all, not only is he a hard worker

  but he's so personable that he can get almost anybody to help him with his work - even a state trooper.

 He's also a good cook, has a great sense of humor, and he's ready to pitch in whenever a helping hand is needed.  He's cheerful, loving, and just as sweet to everybody else's kids as he is to his own.   But the thing I think I like best about Mike is that he's a truly great family guy.

So we're wishing him a very happy birthday and a year better than any year so far but not as good as the many, many years to come.  Happy Birthday, Mike!

Happy Birthday, Mary

Today is Mary Addison's 7th birthday.  Mary is our 15th grandchild and 6th granddaughter.  She was born in Louisville, Kentucky after one of the most easy, serene childbirths I have ever witnessed.

Here is her mother 27 minutes before she was born.

 And here they both are one minute after birth.

Now back to Mary.  I called her a little while ago to wish her a happy birthday and to interview her for this post.  Here's how it went:

Happy Birthday, Mary.  Thank you.

Are you having a good day? Yeah

What have you done?  In the morning I put on my clothes and then I ran  with Miss Brooke.   She's our babysitter.   Then we ran in a neighborhood with the school running club.  Then we had lunch and I played a little Wii.  After that we went to the pool with Miss Brooke and Mom. 

Are you doing anything special tonight?  I don't know yet. We're going out to a place and have waffles maybe Mimi's Cafe, Bob Evans, or IHop. I was going to wear my new dress that I got for my birthday but it's too hot out.

Did you enjoy your birthday party at our house?  Yeah

What did you like best about it?  Probably the cake.  I don't even like cake that much but so much of that cake was amazing.

Do you feel older now that you're 7?  Yeah  

 In what way?  I don't know.

Do you like having a big brother?  Yeah
and a little brother?  Yeah

But I don't like to play Airplanes and Spy and other things like that. 

You enjoy nature and studying plants and insects don't you?   Yes, but I don't really like things that sting and I really don't like spiders and poison ivy either.

I know you took dance this summer.  What did you like best about it?  My favorite thing to do was tap.

 Did you like ballet too?  Yeah, but not as much as tap.

When you come to Indiana during Christmas vacation, who do you like to play with the most?  Tessa and Anna, Jenna, Clara and Aubrey because they're girls.

And why do you play with Tessa so much?  Because she's a girl and she's as big as me right now.  I like to play dress up with her and we act out things.

Do you like school?  Yeah

What do you like best about it?  It starts in about two weeks.  My favorite things are probably social studies and science. 

You worked very hard on our house when we were remodeling the outside.  Did you enjoy that?  Yeah

 What did you like doing the most?  Probably sweeping the driveway and sidewalks and putting the dirt into the holes in the ground.  Those are the two things I did.

What's your favorite meal?  Macaroni

And your favorite dessert?  Probably strawberry shortcake.

And here's a question just to be funny.  Do you like it when your dad wears your headband and you wear his hat?  Yeah, but we only did it one time.

What else can you tell us about yourself that we might think is interesting?  I don't really know.
And that's how our interview ended.  She was ready to leave for her birthday dinner and I was expecting company.  So now I'll add some of the many things that I think are very interesting about Mary.

First of all, she adores her mom and wants to be just like her when she grows up.

She's named after her grandma. 

She's a very good driver.







And she's sweet, loving, thoughtful, considerate, and has a heart of gold.  We love our little Mary and we're hoping that not only are her birthday and her party this weekend wonderful, but that her entire year is as amazing as her.