to kelly: happy birthday

i know i'm lucky to be your sister, but how lucky am I to have been born with you?  dad once said that we were probably such close friends in heaven, that we were paired up like we are.  it's been fun.  having someone to play barbies with.  having someone slide down he slip-n-slide with during the hot Kansas summers.  someone to get into things together and make messes or create new hair styles.  playing in the forts in the hedge row and playing house in the goose pen and wood pile.  making paths in the wheat fields or taking bike rides on the dirt roads.

happy birthday Kelly.  happy birthday me.  

in the hospital.  Kelly is baby A, Shannon is baby B

a friend of mom gave her this swing for us to use.  she said it was a godsend and that we loved it.  i'm the one sleeping on the left.

in the girls room.  Kelly and I were separated when we were brought home.  if one of us cried, we'd wake the other up.  Kelly was roomed in with the girls and I was roomed with the boys.  I'm not sure who is who in this picture.  my guess is i'm on right?

playing in one of the cribs.  don't ask who is who.  i have no idea.

Corin, the oldest sister with one of us...the dualies.  just gotta love that 70's wallpaper.  we had that stove until I was in 7th grade, and Kelly is now he owner of the salt and pepper shakers.

kelly is on the left.  i'm on the right

growing up in the country, you can't help but embrace all that came with it.  Kelly and I LOVED LOVED LOVED frogs!  Once Kellly loved one 'to death' and brought it to dad while he was working in the workshop and said, "daddy, broken.  please fix."

Kelly is on the left with Mike and I'm on the Right with David.

this was one of the many messes we made.  we got 6 boxes of tissues and emptied them in the tub and hopped in with our barbies.  there was another time we smeared mary kay night cream all over our mom's new birthday comforter.  sorry mom.  another mess we made was after some shopping trip mom bought some beef and kelly and i helped in putting it away...all over the house.

this is really starting to sound familiar...i think my kids are payback.

Dad loved for us to comb his hair, and scratch his back.  we'd take hard bristled brushes to his back and try and make it to where he said 'stop, that's enough' but never once heard that from his mouth.  we'd get paid 5 cents for 1/2 an hour of scratching.

Kelly is in the purple and I'm in the yellow.

Kelly is on the left, and i'm on the right.  sleeping in the same bed, and sorry kelly...for all the times I wet the bed! ;)

this is a dualie classic...mom went and made a poster of this and hung it in our basement.  it was always a bit embarrassing when our dates would be invited to see this masterpiece.  but I didn't care too much, I knew it was a classic. :)  This is now framed on the family photo wall in their house in Orem.

This was right after Kelly was engaged...and this was on our 19th Birthday...10 years ago.

Me and Kelly on her wedding day.  January 2001...I would soon follow with a June wedding (but didn't know it at the time).

in October at our HS 10 year reunion.

happy birthday to us.


here's to the first day of the last year in our twenties.


i love you