Birthdays

It's birthday month for me. Over the course of five weeks I have five family birthdays. My little brother had his at the beginning of February and although I couldn't be with him (he lives in St. Louis) I called him and thought of him. It's odd to think that my little brother is now over 30 and is getting married sometime in the next year or so. I still remember him as a little boy in shorts.

My little sister is next. We celebrated her birthday last week by meeting at my parents house to open gifts and then headed over to one of her favorite restaurants in town. If I haven't mentioned it I adore my little sister. And impressed with her. She's working two jobs and going to school right now so I don't get to see her as often as I would like but we try to make every moment together great. She's one of my favorite people to talk with and I'm constantly learning new things from her. She balances me out.

Dad and Mom

Today is my father's birthday and we celebrated with dinner at one of his favorite Indian restaurants and some quiet times talking back at his house. He even made brownies for his birthday. My dad is awesome. I'm constantly in awe of him. He's incredibly smart and his excitement for things is a bit contagious. Like me, he picks up hobbies and dives full force into them for a while. Actually he and I are very similar in temperment and interests and get along well.

My nephew is the next birthday. He's young enough that no one will mind if I say that he'll be turning 11 this year. He's my brother's middle child and is definitely the most active of the three kids. He's constantly on the go. When he's not playing sports, he's drawing or designing stop motion movies with lego characters. He doesn't live in Des Moines so I don't get to see him as often as I'd like but he's a pretty great kid.

My mother's birthday is next week to round out the month. If I was to use one word to describe my mother it would be generous. My mom is constantly thinking about others. Having just come from her house, I'm covered in fur from the animals she keeps taking in. She constantly wants to make sure that Jeff and I don't need anything. So I hope that when we celebrate her birthday next week that I'll be able to find something special for her.

I know I rarely talk about my family and I'm not sure why that is. I get along great with everyone in my family and love the time we get to spend together. Family dinners are something that I look forward to all week. So this is my attempt to at least mention more about my family. They mean so much to me that it's time they entered the blog. At least until they tell me to stop writing about them.