My brothers and sisters

I decided to write a little about my siblings. If I hadn't already mentioned it, I'm the oldest of 6 kids. Never something I enjoyed, nor really wanted. Being the oldest of 4 would have been a little better. Anyway, here are some interesting things about me and my fam.

Dawnette: She and I are 19 months apart. For the majority of the years that I can remember, we have not ever gotten along. In fact in high school I really hated her. She was the exact opposite of me. She had long blond hair, blue eyes, very neat and tidy, worked her tail of in school.....very rarely was disobedient. I mean never. We have almost gotten into fist fights. Until I got married and I went to live in Germany, we were not really friends. I think the turning point was when I was able to go and help her during a hard time for their family. She was on bed rest, at any point could lose the baby, and I went to help out with her daughter for a week. She ended up miscarrying, but we really bonded well that week. Anyway, we have since figured out why we hated each other so much (something that was totally out of our control and that we were not aware of) and now are very good friends. We talk at least once a week. She is one of the good reasons about being back in the USA.

Sean: He is child number 3. He has always been excellent in sports. Almost anything that he did, he did well. He is now playing ball for a community college in Southern California. He has always had a hard time with school. He has a lot of problems. As a kid, I don't remember much other than that I was the overbearing older sister, but that really wasn't a reason to chase me around the house with a baseball bat now was it??? This brother has caused a lot of problems within our family. I really struggle with this brother. Not really sure what my interaction with him should be, and what kind of support I should, if any, give him. Still working all of those things out.

Marshall: Child number 4. He looks just like my dad. He talks like my dad. He acts like my dad. I didn't interact with him very much. He was younger. The first time I remember having any actual good bonding was when I was coaching the freshman girls basketball team at our high school, and he was on the boys freshman team. We would have practice at the same times a lot, and the girls that I were coaching would tell me things about my brother. He was so skinny that sometimes as he was going for a layup, his jersey would slide off his shoulder and his arm would get stuck. He had a hard time gaining weight, and the kid could eat. As could my brother Sean too. Marshall ended up taking french, and would tell our french teacher (even though it was in his 4th year of taking it) that he didn't speak this language. They would torture each other. It was awesome when he got his mission call and was being sent to the Switzerland Geneva mission. I was able to go and visit him twice while he was in Nancy, and I was in Heidelberg. I brought him root beer, Mexican food, pnut butter, sunflower seeds..... My mom also came over to pick him up and he and I and my mom all went to Paris together. I get along really well with this brother. He stresses out a lot though.

Camille: Number 5. I remember when she was born. I took her to my 3rd grade class for show and tell. Dawnette, Camille, and I shared a room until I was 15 and we moved into what felt like a castle. Camille is a quiet person, doesn't talk a lot unless spoken too. She is stubborn. I remember she got in trouble when we were camping when she was maybe 3 or 4. She was told to walk over to my parents, and she took the absolute smallest steps possible. It took her forever. I went to live with my parents when Matt went into basic and then to AIT. That was her senior year of high school, and we were able to get to know each other much better. She is in the nursing program at BYU, and wants to be a neonatal nurse. Or whatever its called when you take care of infants. She is flying to see me this summer for a week! I'm pretty excited to have her come.

Garrett: Number 6. I also remember when he was born. I took him to my 5th grade class for show and tell. I remember my mom going to the hospital in the morning, and leaving me with the rest of the kids. I was only 10. Garrett is a good kid. He will be turning 19 this summer and is excited about sending in his mission papers. He has also taken french and is really wanting to go somewhere that speaks french. He was also at home when I lived with my parents, and he would help with Andrew sometimes. Andrew had horrible yeast infections on his bum when he was an infant, so I would let his bum air out for a while after baths. Garrett got peed on once and wouldn't help me anymore..... One thing I remember vividly about him as a little kid: He wasn't allowed to get into bed with my parents. He took a long time to potty train, and even when he was older, would wet the bed sometimes. He was fine during the day, but just slept so soundly that he wouldn't wake up to go to the bathroom. Anyway, Garrett would climb into bed with me and wet my bed. All the stinkin' time. That is one story that I will be telling his wife, and his kids. Recently I called him while my parents were in Hawaii, and usually he doesn't have much to say, but he talked to me for an hour and a half. I actually said very little. It was really late for me by the time we hung up, but that was OK. It was worth it. It was nice to hear what he had to say about things and what he wanted to do in the future.

That is my family. All of us (except for Sean) have the same cell phone company, so we get free minutes to call each other. Which has really helped me to get to know them better since I was gone for so long. I'm hoping that things with Sean will get better. But I have no idea what is even going on right now. Even though I hated (and I mean really hated) having so many brothers and sisters, now it is pretty fun. I'm hoping it stays this way.......