Brad turns 21!

Brad's birthday is Nov. 2nd. It's hard to believe that he is 21. Wow, time is such a crazy concept. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday that he was a baby and other times it seems like it was centuries ago. Turning 21 for a mormon male is a little different than it is for the average American young adult. The binge drinking usually involves chugging a gallon of milk without throwing up and the gambling generally involves asking a girl out and hoping that she says yes. For a mormon missionary it is even less exciting than that. But there is no better place to celebrate your 21st birthday than on your mission!

Brad was a good baby. We were so excited to have a boy. He was due on Nov. 1st and he actually tried to arrive on time (which was more than his 2 older sisters did!) I checked into the hospital about 10:00 p.m. on the 1st but he was actually born on the 2nd - pretty good. He weighed 9 lbs. 2 oz. but even then he was skinny because he was so long. He was a good baby. He was a thumb sucker no matter how hard I tried to stop him. Once I discovered what good babies thumb suckers were, I stopped worrying about buck teeth and just planned on orthodontia. The weird thing was that Brad would never sleep in the car. He would cry and cry in the car and he wouldn't suck his thumb. I knew that some babies didn't like the car and I just figured he was one of them... until we were going somewhere for the night and I threw his blanket in with us. He immediately grabbed his blanket, sucked his thumb and went to sleep. Are you kidding me? This discovery was about a year into his life! We finally realized he only sucked his thumb when he was holding his blankie.

Fun facts about Brad:

He had the cutest speech impediments. He pronounced his r's like w's so he was actually "Bwad" for quite a few years. David used to practice with him saying "rock". Brad also pronounced his th's like f's so theater was "feater". That was another word that David worked on. We don't really know why rock and theater were important words to David, but it seemed to work - or more likely he just grew out of it.

Brad had the measles when he was about 2. He fell and cut his head and needed stitches. The emergency room said that they had just had some cases measles in there that day so to be sure to get him vaccinated but he came down with them just a short time later. He was so sick. Once he recovered, he was so week that he would just sit on my lap and watch other kids play. It broke my heart. It took him about a month to fully recover.

When Brad was about 3, we forgot his blankie at my sister Lori's house which was about an hour away. He cried for the first couple of nights but soon was able to go to sleep without sucking his thumb. This was unplanned but turned out to be a perfect time to stop the thumb sucking. We told my sister to get rid of the blankie. She didn't understand that we meant permanently. About a year later (with no thumb sucking at all mind you) at a family gathering, Brad found the blankie in one of her closets and immediately stuck his thumb in his mouth. Great! David has the wonderful idea of having a blankie turning ceremony like in "Mr. Mom". Brad says yeah, yeah, yeah. My brother-in-law Chris was not so keen on the idea because this is southern California and you just don't light fires in the back alley like David was planning to do. I, of course, am somewhat hesitant myself but David has got Brad all excited and I don't want to wean him off the thumb again so what the hec. Well, Brad was happy and excited until he saw the blankie start to burn. Apparently, he either didn't quite understand what David meant or he underestimated his own attachment to the blankie. So the blankie is burning and Brad is screaming like someone has lit him on fire. What do you do? Well, David lets the blankie burn, Chris keeps an eye out for the cops or the fire department which he is sure is about to come any minute and the rest of us (siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles) try to console poor Brad!

This is Brad holding Bryan with Courtney, Kendall and Kylie looking on.

Brad has always been pretty quiet. His personality is nothing like David's. But those who are lucky enough to get to know Brad find out that he is hilarious. Brad reminds me of Jared Bates. He doesn't say too much but when he does you find out that he is intelligent and funny - that's Brad too. Maybe it's not so much that those two were quiet - maybe they just didn't get a word in edgewise growing up around Ryan, Collin and Corbin? Hmmm...

Brad never won a Pinewood Derby. In fact, I don't think Brad ever won an individual race in a Pinewood Derby. He always had the worst car. David is an amazing father in so many ways but building derby cars was not one of them. Every year after losing miserably, I would insult his manhood and tell him that I didn't care if he had to pay someone to make it for him, he better come up with a decent car next year for his son. The closest we ever got to success was with Bryan (mind you, success meant not totally sucking) was when David worked alongside Phil Law and Phil gave him some tips. David really thought we had a good one. The practice runs were going well. There was liquid metal involved to weight the car. There was graphite involved to help the wheels turn. This was our year! That 3rd place ribbon was so close we could taste it. We gathered our family around with anticipation of possibly beating someone - anyone! We held our heads held high just like the other families who knew their dads had built a winner. The cars were set on the track, the button was pushed, our car dashed out into the lead and then stopped dead in the middle of the track! Oh yes - it stopped!! The metal on the bottom had caught on the track, yada yada yada. It will be interesting to see if Brad and Bryan tell their sons that Pinewood Derby is stupid or if they will work day and night on a winning car?

Brad has had some good friends and I think he has been a good friend too. This is Brad skiing with Michael Tucker. I think they are both wearing their sisters' hand-me-downs but we were smart enough to buy black! Michael accidentally gave Brad a bloody nose during their yellow belt test for karate when they were about 8. Yes, Brad cried. Michael just returned from a mission in Mexico.

This is Brad with Quinn Baker after a Big Bend basketball camp. Brad and Quinn played together on the high school team. Quinn was younger and better, but Brad was taller and more even tempered. If we could have combined those two, we would have had quite the player! Quinn is currently serving a mission in Fiji.

This is Brad with his cousin, Bryce Mordoff. There aren't as many cousins on my side of the family but Brad was lucky enough to get a boy just his age! Brad and Bryce didn't get to see each other as often after we moved to Washington but they were always good buds. They have a lot in common - mostly that they are both exceptional young men but I'm not sure that they are even aware of it.

This is Brad at his high school graduation with his cousin, Mitch Roylance. Brad plans to go into dentistry and has already started pre-dental classes at BYU.

Brad is somewhat of a daredevil. He is not super crazy like some but he is pretty adventurous especially for someone 6'4". He spent quite a bit of time boating with his buds Jake Bruce, Mitch Poth, Tim and Niko. He also did quite a bit of skiing and snowboarding. In fact, he taught snowboarding up at Sundance while he was waiting to leave on his mission.

Brad was not a big dater. I pretty much had to force him to attend the school dances. I told him if he didn't go that meant some poor girl had to stay home and girls didn't like that. So after a considerable amount of prodding, he generally got someone asked. He is going to make a terrific husband to some lucky girl out there!

We thoroughly enjoyed cheering Brad on during his high school basketball career. Brad is definitely a team player. There were lots of times when he should have hogged the ball but that is just not his style. There are just so many things I admire about Brad!

And now he is 21 and finishing the last 6 months of his mission. I know he will be home before we know it and I can't wait. I am so proud of how he has handled himself as a missionary. Opening up a new area is not easy.

Here he is in the little tiny meeting room where they hold sacrament meeting. I guess you don't need too much space when there are only two members. Someday, there are going to be so many members in Slovakia that they will look back on this picture and wonder if it was ever really so!

I love his positive attitude. Missionary work is extremely rewarding but it can be hard. I can't wait to see how much he has grown and matured.

We love you, Brad. Happy Birthday!