Thursday, January 12, 2012

My family...

This was our last Christmas together as a family before my younger brother moves to New York for two years to serve a full-time mission for the LDS church.  While we were all at home, we had some family pictures taken. I don't have the final edited copies yet, but I wanted to introduce my family.



Left to right, there's me, and then my youngest sister Haley.

Haley is 14 years old, but she will soon turn 15.  She is a freshmen in high school, and she will soon receive her driver's license (in Idaho we get our license when we turn 15). Haley is an amazing reader and a fantastic musician.  She plays the piano very well, and she is an amazing singer.  Haley is also a hard worker.  She has worked several jobs, including babysitting, house cleaning, and lawn-mowing at the local cemetery.  I am amazed at how independent she is.  She pays for a lot of her own things, which is pretty cool for a 14-year-old.  Haley is also the only one who still lives at home with Mom and Dad.

The cute, blonde one to the right of Haley is Suzy.

Suzy is a senior at Brigham Young University.  She is getting a bachelors degree in Landscape Management.  She particularly enjoys landscape design and architecture and is considering these areas for her graduate studies.  Suzy also studies business and non-profit organizations.  She is a fantastic piano player and a talented artist.  She has also become pretty well traveled, having spent several weeks trekking across Europe last summer.  I recommend that you check out her blog to learn more about her.  She is a really great writer! Suzy is 20, but to me, she seems much more wise than your average 20-year-old.

After Suzy is my mom.  I don't even know where to start here. Mom is so great.  She has five kids and a husband, and she has always done a fantastic job of taking care of us.  Because of my mom I did well in school, I learned to play the piano, I had a nice home to grow up in, I have life, the list goes on and on.  One thing I really like about my mom is that she's fun.  She water skis, likes movies. rides roller-coasters, and lots of other awesome stuff.  I have been really impressed by Mom lately, because she has been learning to play the cello.  She practices every day, and she is learning very fast.  A year ago, I don't think she had even held        one before, but now she plays songs, and it is starting to sound really good, although she would never admit it.

Mom is next to Dad, as you probably guessed.  Pretty much every good thing I have said about Mom can be said about Dad, and vice versa.  They are truly one. There can be no doubt that they love each other and support each other, and that they love and support us.  Dad doesn't play the cello, but he sings really well.  He is a member of a quartet, and they are really good.  Dad is a phenomenal provider.  He works so hard to make a living.  He is a mechanical engineer, designing machinery for food processing.  Even though he is always very busy with work, he has always made it his first priority to be a husband and father.  We never doubted that he loved us or that he would give anything he could to help us out.  This hasn't changed as we've moved away.  He and Mom both do everything they can to help us with anything we need.

Jared is my bigger little brother.  He just turned 19 and next Tuesday he will leave for New York to be a full-time missionary.

Jared is a fantastic athlete.  In high school he was selected to take part in an all-star football game for the state of Idaho.  He was a key player in the state championship football game in 2010.  Jared also placed in state wrestling 2 years in a row.  Recently he finished his first year at Brigham Young University, taking some generals and preparing to leave on his mission.  Jared is a very hard worker.  He has had many jobs growing up, including farm worker, *irrigation pipe mover, and lawn mower, and custodian at a clinic.
       * 
I have no doubt that he will do a fantastic job in New York.

The glamorous one on the end is Melissa.

She is closest in age to me, being born only 17 months after me. She is currently working on a masters degree in Physiology and Developmental Biology at Brigham Young University, having completed a BS in the same area last year.  She is a fantastic teacher and currently TAs an upper level class in pathophysiology, which is the physiology of disease-causing agents (right Melissa?).  Cool stuff.  Melissa studied for one semester in London, which she loved, and she also is an amazing piano player and artist.  We are super close, having gone through lots of life's experiences together.  Melissa, as with the other women in my family, is a fantastic cook.  She can make anything, and she makes it with her own flare.  She isn't afraid to experiment, but she is talented enough that usually her culinary experiments are mind-blowing.  I recommend checking our her blog, as she also is a fantastic writer.

Basically, I think I have the coolest family ever.  These little blurbs are far from a comprehensive look at the awesomeness that is my family, but hopefully you get a better idea about who these people are, as I will probably be mentioning them a lot.  They are definitely a huge part of my continuing education.

1 comment:

  1. A www! You made me sniffle a little bit. Thanks for all the kind words.
    xoxox,
    Mom

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