Happy Birthday, Shannon!

From TOM:
Jane,

Congratulations on reaching thirty years of age and joining the wisdom of the rest of us! I love sitting at the dinner table with you, reading your blog, raising kids together, sharing your bed, going to Busch Gardens together, watching movies together, going to the park together, and everything else we do. I love you. Make sure you keep your idealism and youth even as you move past your exploratory twenties into the next decade.

Dick

From GRAMPA:
Happy Birthday, beloved Jane. All grown up with charms running full blast. SuperMom with everything under control, yet with time to blog and even travel. How blessed am I that you include me in family events. Watching my offspring and their loved ones thrive is what life’s all about for this Grampa. Thanks and Happy Birthday, wonderful, lovely Jane.

Love
Dad

From GRANDMA MARIAN:
Makes-Me-Smile June: Happy Birthday Jane!

You have given a special meaning to the month of June with your birthday, and of course your wedding anniversary.

I’ve been thinking about Johnson family birthdays and weddings. July brings birthdays for Liz, Rachel, and Grandpa Dave. August brings birthdays for Sean and Sean, jr. September is a special Labor Day birthday (there about) for Dick.

October is a special month with birthdays for Susan and Spot, and the wedding anniversary of Liz and Sean. November and December have no Johnson family birthdays or weddings, but these months offer wonderful times of family celebration.

January brings a birthday for Sally, with my birthday following close by in February. Alas, March, April, and May have no Johnson family birthdays or weddings.

Now, we are back to MMSJ. Have a great June birthday, Jane, and have a great birthday year.

Love, Marian

From LIZ:
Ahhh… yah… the big THREE-OH!! Just yesterday you were so young, marrying my little brother, growing up, making a big life!! Now, here you are, life has happened, 30 has come, three little ones look up to you for guidance, and no amount of exercise will get your 20 year old body back. Sorry. The bills get bigger, so do the problems in life, but with all the crazy life issues you may face, you may just realize that time is just beginning, yes you have wonderful youthful reminders of the past, but too, there are miles ahead of silly laughter and smiling faces and birthday cake and crazy memories to be had again and again!!

Happy Birthday Jane!!

Love, Liz, Sean, Sean Jr, and Rachel

From SEAN:
Happy Birthday to my Sister-in-law.
Compared to most, you have no flaw.

Friends, family, and kids have a lot to learn.
You so lovingly share and teach.
We always have lots of fun with you –
At Busch Gardens , the zoo, and the beach.

You’re getting older –
And also getting wiser.
You’re very cool, even if
You’ve never drank Budweiser.

I’m not a writing pro,
But I wanted you to know –
That we’d hate to see you go.
Stay in FLA where there’s no snow.

I’m really glad you married Dick,
Or we wouldn’t be related.
I’m often a procrastinator, but
This Birthday wish isn’t belated.

Happy Birthday Jane !

Sincerely,
Sean

From MOM:
Jane was such a lively girl. When she was 3, I took her to the local library story time. Afterwards the librarian told me that Jane had a lot of energy and that I needed to find a way to channel that energy and until I did, she was not welcome back to story hour. When I went to her parent teacher conferences some of Jane’s teachers would tell me that Jane tried to take over the class. I learned early on if I wanted any of the kids to help me, I only had to engage or persuade Jane to the cause and she by her nature would corral the rest into the plan. In high school when Jane’s teachers would lament their struggles with her “abilities”, I would chuckle inside. Jane could have easily taught the classes herself and done a better job. She really was a threat to them. The climax to this story is that when Jane was in college one of her professors called her in and told her how threatened she felt by Jane. I think they became good friends. They just needed to understand each others place. Sorry Jane if I am off on some of the details.

Jane was given a lot of responsibility at a young age. She was not intimidated by any challenge. While in highschool she was Dick’s transcriptionist, jugling a heavy load of classes. She corraled her friends to studing for AP classes together. If Jane was involved the hard work was more fun.

Jane let your voice be heard you have such a power for persuasion and influence! I love you, mom

From DAD:
My favorite memories of Jane are when she and I got to spend many hours together, just the two of us, when she was 2-3 years old:

We lived in a small 2 bedroom wooden house on 5th Avenue in Fort Worth, Texas. Jane had graduated from a crib to a toddler bed that we constructed with the crib mattress set up on food storage boxes, just like the bed in the movie “The RM.” Danielle was going to evening classes at a nearby community college so that I could watch Jane when I got home from daytime medical school classes. So night after night it was my job (privilege!) to read to Jane and put her down for the night. She almost never was satisfied, but would get out of her bed repeatedly begging for more books. I was usually studying, though often I was “taking a break” from that to try a new candy or other dessert recipe — similar to the dessert making after the kids were in bed, as was mentioned on Jane’s blog. We fed Jane very healthily back then, with homemade baby food and other made-from-scratch-only stuff, but sometimes when Danielle wasn’t around Jane got to try my concoctions.

Jane was always very bright and talkative, like my sister Nancy and like Sally. I had begun teaching her to read the alphabet when she was 6 months old, by holding up alphabet blocks and saying them over and over to her, though I was never sure if that helped, or gave her any advantage over the more conventional ways of reading to her, and etc, later on. She did have her favorite books, and I would get bored reading them straight, so I would try changing things up, by reading every other word, or by repeating twice the last word in each sentence, or by reversing the last two words in each sentence. I like to think that she enjoyed this variety, since she would giggle some, but mostly she would hit me and demand that I would “read it right.” Maybe it was abusive teasing, scarring her for life.

About that time there was a top-40 song on the radio called “The Name Game” which I used to sing to Jane, calling her “Jane-bo-bannon.” It didn’t stick.

We bought a second hand bike seat for Jane, and put it on the back of a second hand bike for me, with Danielle on her own bike, and we took bike rides to the nearby parks. Fortunately Jane was not seriously hurt when I once spilled with her strapped in to the seat. I think that the government now deems these seats too dangerous — you don’t see them around much anymore.

Jane had beautiful below-shoulder-length hair, but then Danielle cut it so that it was “page-boy” style in my med-school graduation pictures near her 3rd birthday. She was the exact height that when Great-gradma Hyatt came with my mom and dad for graduation, Jane used gdma’s 4-legged cane as a pretend microphone, and entertained the five of us adults non-stop, singing and talking, like a one woman (toddler) show.

I really miss those days of one-on-one. Young parents, savor those moments!

Jane — Happy 30th Birthday! I pray you’ll always be bright, talkative (as in your blog) and loving, as you have been. I love you forever. Dad

From MARCY:
Jane, Brad and I were the 3 musketeers for quite a while—Karin came something like 7 years after Brad was born. We loved it. We played “Shipwrecked” (a pretending game we made up) over and over, tumbled in the basement, danced to “Classical Gas,” dressed up as royalty and sat in the throne-like pink chairs, and had some good scratch-em-up, hair-pulling fights. It was great.

I was in and out of piano lessons growing up and I distinctly remember telling my family one day that I hated practicing. Jane told me—without Mom hearing, I think—that I would never be any good anyway, so I should just quit—Jane was pretty good at playing, by the way. So I decided to show her I could do it! I practiced hard for—I don’t know, was it a couple days, a week, until I went back to my normal lax practicing? Later Jane informed me she had used “reverse psychology” on me. Wow. She was really smart to understand that concept and use it on me. I was really impressed by my older sis.

When we were in Young Women’s Jane refused to say the YW theme the way everyone else was saying it because she thought it should mean more to us than just a droning recital. She changed up the intonation and the emphasis—I think it drove the leaders crazy but I was proud of her for her individuality.

I often wish I could articulate my thoughts the way Jane does. She should have been on debate—why weren’t you on debate, Jane? Academically, I could never live up to Jane’s 5 AP classes in high school or her high ACT score, but when I found some talent in singing Jane encouraged me like no other. I felt like I was good because she believed in me and treated it like it was my special thing.

When Jane entered a pageant at age 17 it was a real shocker. She’d been known to refer to pageants as cattle auctions. Dad offered her $50 to do it—correct me if I’m wrong—and she got excited about doing things a little differently. I remember she was going to wear an old-fashioned swimsuit which even covered her legs, but she found out later there were regulations on swimwear. She stood up for changing the opening dance number costumes when they weren’t modest. Jane was also the only one who dressed up like a boy (Hamlet) and delivered a monologue (“To Be or Not to Be”) for her talent. She discovered that she liked the association with the other girls and enjoyed the workshops. She had a pretty traditional evening gown (a little on the plain side) up until a couple days before the pageant when she decided she wanted a Snow White dress. So Mom sewed her one and she wore a red bow in her hair and looked great. She came away with the prize for winning the Interview portion—surprise, surprise.

The night Jane got her engagement ring she came into my room (where I was sleeping), flipped on my light, jumped on my bed and woke me up to show me. I thought, “That’s the weirdest ring I’ve ever seen” and promptly went back to sleep, but I was pleased she wanted to show me so much. And now I think she was very smart to have designed a ring with an imbedded diamond—though she had always said she was going to have a pearl (none of this traditional diamond stuff).

So, she didn’t turn out as crazy as we all thought she was going to. We’re all glad she’s pretty mainstream now, but it’s still never dull when she’s around. It’s so fun having a supportive, interesting sister like her.

Love you, Jane!

Marcy

From HANNAH:
Jane!
We love you tons! Brad especially loves that southern humidity. He will be in Alabama until June 29, then there will be much rejoicing. So ever since the wedding I have straightened my hair less and less and tried to embrace the curls because of you. I still don’t like them though. I’ll keep working on it. Are you coming to Utah this summer? Let us know when, so that we can try to be here. Right now our plans are to leave for NY July 30.
We hope you have a great birthday. Give the girls kisses for us.

Love,
Hannah and Brad

From KARIN:
What can I say of my dearest Shoony? She’s been a powerful influence to me all of my life. I remember that when she came home from Europe with a shaved head, I told all of my friends that I was going to shave my head. Thank goodness for Mere’s stern “no”! Even now, Jane is one of my very favorite people to be with, because she’s always working to be more patient, a better mom, and learn and understand the world and Gospel. Besides all that, there’s never a dull moment with her! She’s always planning exciting adventures whether they be in the kitchen, at the beach, a theme park, or any random errand. Her cheerful personality makes her so much fun. I have long admired her frank honesty, especially her speeches about how she has “hundreds of thoughts running through her mind at once, and contrary to common belief, she’s only sharing one of them at a time.” I love how Jane’s always thinking and forming opinions, although I am quite nervous for her to read this, because I’m sure she’s thought thru how it could be written better. Oh well!!!!!!!!! I love you Jane! Thank you for your example of Integrity in staying home as a mom, and remembering who you are! You’ve been a pillar in my life. I can’t wait for you to come visit us!

From GRANDMA & GRANDPA BUTLER:
Here are a few of our memories of Jane:

Danielle was just 17, just out of high school, and Dick was a prospective medical student, with a dream of getting into medical school, but no acceptances, when they got married in 1976.

After Dick was accepted into an osteopathic medical school in Texas, they moved to Denton, far, far away from both their families. During their years of medical school, they bought a fully-furnished mobile home and lived in a trailer park. It bordered farm fields and they were able to till the land and plant a sizeable garden.

Danielle worked in a bank to support their family until she was 4 months pregnant, at which time they signed with the Navy and lived off their Navy stipend of $400 a month (same as Danielle’s salary from the bank). They were so poor they could barely make ends meet, but looked forward to having their first child, while worrying about how they could support a child.

Danielle learned how to stretch every dollar by making what they could not buy (including pecan pie made with beans) I sent her some maternity clothes, and she says she borrowed some from a six foot tall friend (Danielle is about five feet tall) to get her through her pregnancy.

When Jane, our first granddaughter, was born, I flew out to Denton to help Danielle with her first-born. Dick and Danielle became worried, when, after several days, Jane had not dirtied her diapers. They feared that her plumbing was blocked. One day, while Danielle was giving Jane a bath in the bathtub, Jane delivered a monster BM. While much relieved that their baby was OK, the new parents didn’t know how to clean her up. I told them to just wash the poop away down the drain of the tub, and draw new bath water (I had learned this trick when she and her siblings had gotten into messes).

Dick still had commitments to the Navy, including a stint in San Diego. They borrowed our motor home, and moved it to Ervan and Lavon’s lot in Escondido. Dick spent six weeks each summer at Balboa hospital. We were grateful that they had family members to help them make it through that leg of their difficult journey through medical training.

Finally, the day of Dick’s graduation from medical school dawned, and Dick and his dad picked out a large late-model navy blue Ford van to drive back home to California in. They thought Danielle would be much more comfortable because she was eight months pregnant with Marcy. Dick’s dad loaned them $5,000 to make the purchase until Dick got his first Navy bonus a couple weeks later.

They moved to Long Beach for Dick’s first pay-back assignment, where they lived in a little house. Dick rode his bike to the hospital and Marcy was born four weeks after Dick graduated from medical school.

Ten months later, they moved to Fallbrook, where they bought a house. Dick was stationed in Japan while Danielle and the two girls were in Fallbrook. We drove from our home in Camarillo to help Danielle put in a sprinkler system. We were living in Camarillo, and Danielle drove to see us several times. Jodi would entertain the little girls by painting their fingernails. The girls loved Jodi’s dogs, cats, horses, and goat. They liked to play in a fairly good-sized wood play house that I had bought from a garage sale. One day, Danielle phoned and asked if we could bring the play house to Fallbrook to help her keep her little girls entertained while Dick was away.

We borrowed Frank Young’s truck with a lift, and hoisted the house onto the truck, and took it down to the girls.

After Dick got back to Fallbrook, and the Hyatts moved to a new assignment with the Navy, Danielle said that they were able to sell their house because the lady wanted a playhouse for her kids, and the other houses didn’t have one.

Jane has true Celtic coloring like some of her forebears — white, lightly freckled skin, dark hair, hazel eyes. She grew up into a beautiful young lady.

Danielle capitalized on Jane’s Celtic coloring when she made Jane a “Snow White” costume for the “Miss Salem” contest.

In our view, Jane should have been named queen, but it was rumored that the contest had been dominated (rigged) for several years. We were not surprised that Jane won the interview round, since she had long demonstrated her Irish “gift of gab” and sharp wit.

Jane’s intelligence and good grades got her into BYU, where she majored in language arts. During her college years, Jane spent at least one season touring Europe.

When the internet came along, Jane an intriguing male “Y” journalism major met on-line. Following several exchanges, they decided it was time to meet in person by the old bell-tower.

They instantly recognized each other as fellow journalists. It was attraction at first sight.
Though they hit it off, Dick became skittish a few times. However, love prevailed, and they married after graduating together.

They spent a year after graduation teaching English in Japan. Then, they moved to Columbia
University in New York, where Dick was writing his biographical mission experiences for his master’s degree in journalism. They also lived in a black neighborhood and attended a black LDS ward. Sally was born in New York City. They were in New York City when terrorists hit the Twin Towers on 9/11.

When Dick graduated, he took a job teaching English at the American University in Cairo. The Johnsons flew to Cairo, Egypt, while their carefully selected, packed and labeled moving boxes were shipped to Cairo, Ilinois. They and their possessions met several months later. The family lived in a university-owned spacious apartment with a luscious backyard and became well-acquainted with diseases and inadequate medical systems that afflict that third world country. In Egypt, Dick, the ever-curious journalist, would climb to the roof tops of university buildings to watch anti-American demonstrations.

A good thing about living in Egypt was going on some unforgettable cruises to see the pyramids and other ancient sites. On one of these cruises, Dick, Danielle, Karin and Ryan joined them and went on to meet Brad in Romania.

After leaving Cairo, this adventure-loving family moved to Florida. Dick had no job prospects but they wanted to live by his parents, Disney World, other tourist attractions, beaches, and the warm winter climate. They rented in a good area, where they felt safe. Susan Lou joined their family.

They left their rented apartment on the second floor in a good area to buy a nice new house in a black area. They reckoned they could survive living in a black area, because they had lived in a black area in New York and attended a black ward, and had survived the plagues in Egypt.

However, they were shocked to learn that their nice new house was located in a drug- and crime-infested neighborhood. Just to make sure they would be safe, they erected a tall security fence and installed a security system. Amid all the racial tension, they had a third baby girl, and Dick became a counselor to the Branch President.

They soon discovered bullets in their baby’s room, and, later, their fence was mowed down by a neighbor in a dispute with her live-in boyfriend. A thief or thieves took advantage of the hole in the fence to burglarize their house of some of their treasures.

Did I mention that, since their marriage, Jane and Dick have lived adventurous lives?

They are trying to remain calm, and go on with their lives, while attempting to sell their house. So far, there have been few inquiries, and even fewer showings of their house.

We are proud of Jane and Dick and their three young girls for their courage in the face of difficulty. We look forward to seeing them when they come to Utah in a few weeks.

“Happy Thirtieth Birthday,” Jane!

Love,

Grandma and Grandpa Butler

From COUSIN AMY:
Happy Birthday Jane! What a special day! I have so much going on that my mind has little time to really ponder–but what comes to mind is the blessing it was to take summer vacations or stay all summer with a wonderful cousin and the joy it was. We could be away from each other for so long and then as soon as we rejoined we could stay up all night talking and laughing as if we were never apart. It would be fun to do that again. There are so many fun memories. I hope you have a fantastic birthday spent with your family and friends. Wishing you the best,
With love,
Amy

From COUSIN SUZIE:
Jane= Some Kind of Wonderful. i could almost just say that and enough would be said, and everyone would understand. But, I’ll add it’s significant meaning to me. I remember watching this movie at the Hyatt’s and Jane going on and on about “The Perfect Kiss” between Keith and Watts. She went into sooo many details as to why it was so perfect, and how each character MUST be feeling, and how dramatic it is. I remember thinking to myself (i was probably 9 or 10- so shannon was 12 or 13,maybe 14 or something like that) anyway, i remember thinking “How does she know all that? Has she kissed someone like THAT before?” I was in awe and amazement at the extreme knowledge of my older cousin. I KNEW she was smart. She always had the right answers for everything, so i figured she must have had first hand knowledge of THAT kind of love and passion 

Another fond childhood memory i have is when we had slumber parties in our grandparent’s trailer. The details aren’t very clear (maybe marcy remembers) but there was one particular time, thinking it was Fourth of July ’cause we had fireworks, that we stayed up almost all night long listening to shannon teach us “older” kids games and things to do. i thought she was so cool. obviously my sister amy, who isn’t that much younger than her, was helping in this education, but it was always shannon that was a bit more eccentric. we painted our nails all different colors, acted out scenes from movies, and sang crazy songs. good time good times.

It’s just been recently, since blogging of course, that i have been able to see that shannon hasn’t changed much since she was younger . she might not be extremely eccentric but she still is really smart, and willing to teach people new things- even when she isn’t trying to. as i read her blog i wonder how she has time to continue to learn so much everyday. i think she is amazing. she has the purest intent in life to do all that she can to do what SHE thinks is right. i think her opinions, some stronger than others, keep life interesting. she seems to be an incredible mother and wife. thank you shannon- for continually teaching me throughout my life. I love it. and while my husband might not like how addicted i’ve become to blogging, i’m glad that we have it to be able to see into each others lives. remember to always smile big because life is beautiful- Suzie

Marcy wrote: “Suzie, that’s great. I remember in the trailer that we acted out movie kisses–with our hands over our own mouths! Remember that?”

Suzie wrote back: “that’s what it was!! i was trying to remember exactly what about the movies we acted out and i just couldn’t think of it! you should add that part- it was hilarious!”

From MELINDA:
Dear Jane,

Happy 30th birthday! I know you have been dreading this one, but I have been 30 for a number of months now, and to be honest I never even think about it. I still feel young inside. I have been trying to decide about what to write for your birthday, and I decided to write some of the things that I like best about you. I like your flare for the dramatic. Don’t be offended by that one, it is a good thing, it makes life more exciting. What would high school have been like if it hadn’t been for your war with Rory, or your feud with Kris J? We certainly never would have been chased out of AP Calculus by a pack of boys who tried duck-taping us to a pole. Another great quality that you have is your courageousness. Not many people would be brave enough to run down the halls of high school pretending to ride a horse like Michael Keaton in Much Ado About Nothing. I think that might be the hardest I have ever laughed in my entire life. No wonder some people thought we were obnoxious. Another thing I like about you is your great sense of humor. How would we have survived high school if we couldn’t laugh at Mr. Burnham? I also really appreciate your passion for writing. What would I do now if I couldn’t read your blog everyday?

In the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey learns what the world would have been like without him. I can’t really answer that question for you, but I can say what my life would have been like if I had never known you. I might never have experienced the simple joy of Barry’s Malibu chicken sandwiches, fries, and Oreo shakes. I am pretty sure that I would never have owned a white beret with a gold tassel, or walked around in a bath robe down the halls of SFHS, or even taken AP History. I wonder how I would have spent my Friday nights, if we hadn’t all been reading books at Tracey’s house, or studying for our AP tests? I know we didn’t do that every weekend, but that we did that at all is a little embarrassing. I never would have gone on survival, which is one of my best memories from high school, if you hadn’t talked me into it. The list could go on and on, but in order to keep this letter at a reasonable length, I will conclude. I can definitely say that my life would have been a lot less colorful and a lot more boring if I had never known you, so thanks for being who you are and thanks for being my friend.

Melinda

From TRACEY:
For Jane’s 30th Birthday:

30 Memories I have Growing Up With Jane
By Tracey Jolley
Please note: many of these memories are from my perspective and may or may not reflect the actual “truth.” Also, I apologize to whomever these memories may embarrass!

1. Shoulder length hair and a perm when I first met her…very cute!
2. Being asked to show her around at church and thinking that I really could become friends with her
3. Really getting to know her on our hike to the hot pots for Young Women’s (plus there was a nude bather…who could beat that!)
4. Telling Gavin Wright to “go to hell” on the bus home from school
5. Right after getting my driver’s license, running over her garbage cans
6. Skipping Mr. Burnham’s history class and then later finding out he tried to lock us out of class that day!
7. Going to Macey’s for lunch and getting bagels and Raspberry Schweppes…then eating it in the lobby of the gym
8. Doubling (Tripling?…Melinda was there too!) on all of the school dances…remember the dance with Adam Green, Mike Taylor, and Clint Nelson?
9. Wearing our berets
10. Driving in the brown Wagoneer that my family sold her
11. Hiking the Uintah’s with the YW…hearing about the whole skinny dipping experience since I wasn’t really involved with that
12. Climbing a mountain and then naming it Kayzac, after the names of two boys we had crushes on
13. Constantly bringing up the story about how Jane’s stomach was so tough she could listen to her dad explain a c-section while eating spaghetti
14. Hiding the movie Dirty Dancing under a couch pillow because we thought our other friend would think it was “bad”
15. Taking Chemistry from Mr. Raine
16. Pretending we were characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation…I shall not reveal any more than that lest we all be embarassed!
17. Pretending we were characters in Star Wars…again no more details
18. Riding pretend horses…taken from the play Much Ado About Nothing, I think.
19. Seeing Merry Wives of Windsor at the Shakespearean Festival…making jokes about “love.”
20. Seeing Jane in New York when both of our families took a summer vacation there
21. Going to Taco Bell at 2:00 in the morning with those guys from our Y-Group
22. The infamous exploding pudding incident in our dorm room
23. Talking on the phone, somewhat awkwardly, while she was in Germany…deciding that it was really possible to be friends…remaining amazing friends since then
24. Running around BYU while juniors or seniors (I can’t remember which) but giggling about acting like freshman
25. Making a promise to have Thanksgiving Dinner together in 20 years…which will be coming up soon!
26. Being a bridesmaid at her wedding
27. Getting very creative pictures taken by Dick outside Jane’s parent’s house
28. Seeing Melinda off at the MTC
29. Staying with the Johnson’s in NYC right before my wedding
30. Getting together any time the Johnson’s are in town and playing games

From DANIELLE:
Hey Jane, I hope you have a wonderful 30th Birthday! You have been a great friend, conversationalist, blogger, and relief society teacher, and I have really learned a lot from you since meeting you 10 months ago. You have definitely taught me the importance and fun of blogging (even though mine is just about Liam), to be more relaxed as a mother, and how worth it being a stay at home mom is. I wasn’t a mother when I met you, so being a mom was a quick and new event to me, and you helped me adjust well and have been a great example. I really enjoy your friendship and am so glad that you were in this branch when we moved here! Please take me up on my offer to babysit the girls sometime so you and Dick can go out on a date! Every couple needs a night away, and Liam and I would love to entertain your girls for a night! Happy 30th Birthday again!! Oh, and you totally don’t even look thirty, you look more like 25! Feliz Cumplea–os! Danielle

From TARA:
Happy Birthday to Jane!
I may not have known you as long as these people, but I feel like I know you pretty well, and to know you is to love you! You are a very giving, loving person who is a magnificent mother, a wonderful wife, and a fantastic friend. You are always ready and willing to help out those around you, or to go out and have a little fun. You are a great listener, and can give both sympathy and solutions. Not to mention you seem to be able to work-out regularly, run your errands, read to your kids, blog constantly, and your house always manages to stay plenty clean. You are to be envied by all who know you – most of all me. I’m so grateful for the direction in my life that led Aaron & I out to Florida. I hate to say it was all to meet you and your family, but it often seems like it. Dude, I hope you have a rockin’ birthday! And know that many of us are thinking about you and we all love you.
Tara