Ties That Bind

     Today is all about the 'sibs'.  I grew up in a family of 6 kids.   I've talked about Amy and I was second oldest.  But even though I've talked about the others in my blog past, I thought I'd make the official introductions.

Michael 

Mike is the siblings just younger than me.  We're 18 months apart.  We fought like cats and dogs (verbally and physically) as children.  Honestly, I'm not sure why our mom didn't kill us.  We were both strongly opinionated and both stubborn.  Thank heavens we grew up and realized how stupid we were.  Mike's an electrician.  Right now he's helping my mom figure out how to remodel her house (he's already done his own) and he'll do some of the work (the rest of us will chip in as well).  He has a girlfriend, Wendy, and a 2 month old baby, Harper (or as I think of her 'Cutiepie').  Mike has always been ambitious and sure of who he was and what he wanted.  He's good with money and is responsible.  He's always been popular with the guys and with the ladies too.  But he's a homebody now.  He loves being a dad and he's a good one.  He's always wanting to know how I'm doing and cares about his family.  Nickname from Dad: Mook (don't ask, I have no idea where Dad got some of our nicknames).



Paul 

This handsome guy is Paul.  Paul was always a very good and quiet kid.  He was a towhead as a toddler and was so darn cute (that kind of sounds like I'm saying he's not now, which is not true, he's just not toddler cute anymore)!  He's very smart.  He knows a lot about various subjects that interest him including snakes and history.  Watch out if you play Jeopardy with him (or with Allie for that matter), he'll cream you.  He also loves all kinds of sports.  He's the the brother you find waking up at 3am because the Australian Open starts then on ESPN.  He likes watching golf, football (die hard Saints fan) and basketball as well as soccer and tennis.  He works for the state finance department.  Paul is  still a quiet individual.  He doesn't complain a lot or confide a lot in people, but he's very funny and is great with kids.  Paul hates desserts, or anything with sugar for that matter.  Sadly, on this subject he and I differ very much (truthfully, sometimes I wish I hated them like he does), but I think in some ways I'm more like Paul than my other siblings.  Nickname from dad: Paul-e-wog



Alyson 

Allie is my younger sister.  She was always so adorable as a little girl: big brown eyes and curly, curly brown hair!  I always thought she was the prettiest one of us.  She resembles Amy in small ways and has always felt a little bit in her shadow, like people compare them.  But she's a very different person.  Allie was the one who always got picked on by the boys, since I was bigger than them growing up and now Reed and Lyle have joined in the fun (they can't help it, the way she reacts really makes it fun for them).  Allie is probably the smartest of us as well, though I do think that all of my siblings are intelligent.  She has always had her head on straight and knew exactly where she was going.  She did well academically and is the world traveler in our family.  She went on a mission to Romania and spent two years in Korea teaching school.  While there she had a chance to visit Nepal, Japan and other places.  She now lives in Boston where she has just finished getting her master's degree in library sciences and archival technology.  She's working 3 part time jobs right now looking for a full time job in her field.  She loves going new places, meeting new people and learning different things, but we're still her favs out of all the people she knows!  (Right, Allie?)  Nickname from dad: Ketchup (like I said, I have no idea!)


Kurt 

Kurt is the baby of the family.  Kurt is one big ball o'fun.  He always has a hug and a smile for his peeps (of which I consider myself one).  He was a riot as a kid, kind of spazy but really fun and inventive.  Currently employed with Ebay, Kurt is a pro in the Fraud division.  He's a music connoisseur and agrees with me that the Beatles are the bomb.  He likes vinyl albums.  He's started growing facial hair young and could grow a beard before Paul could, but he has a small patch of white hair in his left sideburn that's always been there.  Kurt is another good uncle and sometimes I really admire his good humor when he doesn't mind Annie jumping on him, even though she's way too big now (though I must say she doesn't do it very often anymore).  He's a Green Bay Packer fan and along with Paul loves REAL Salt Lake games.  Kurt has a ton of fun nicknames.  The one from dad was Kurt the Squirt, but he's also been called Kurtle, Kquatty (I don't know if I spelled that right), Kurtis Cowboy and Annie has joined in the fun with her newest one: Kurt-esy Cone.  I just know he LOVES all these terms of endearment!  I have a feeling he'd also respond to 'the Man'.  Yeah, we know Kurt, you really ARE the Man!



These are my bros and my sister.  We're all very different but I'm so thankful for them and I love the fact that though we live different lives, we have a genuine deep love for each other and sincerely enjoy being together.  I love you guys!