19 Years Wasn't That Long Ago!

19 years ago our little family was living in Bountiful and was involved in a very extensive house-hunt. I was very pregnant--in fact I was so huge, strangers would always comment to me that I must be having twins and when I would say, "no, just one very big boy", they would act shocked.

19 years ago, I lugged little 3-year-old Dani through two feet of snow as we followed a realtor to look at six more houses. It was an exhausting day and when I returned home, I had to get out of the car and lift the old garage door to park. It continued to snow throughout the day and I couldn't quite bring myself to drive to the hospital even though I was definitely in labor. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry, scrubbing the floors and making Thanksgiving pies for the feast I would be hostessing in two days.

By 6:00 pm there was another foot of snow on the ground and there was no denying that we had to leave for the hospital. I labored for a few more hours and dilated to a 10 by 10:00 p.m., but still no baby. Finally the doctor decided to break my water and as soon as he did, the cord compressed and an emergency Cesarean had to be performed. As soon as Bryan made his appearance, the doctor's response was, "Well, no wonder he wouldn't come...look at the size of that head!" My 9 pound baby boy was perfect in every way! I couldn't stop smiling even though I'm sure I was in shock over the fastest slice-and-dice delivery on record. Bryan's birth took place just minutes before midnight on November 20, 1990.

Bryan and I got to spend Thanksgiving Day in the hospital. The next day Bryan weighed in at an even 10 pounds; I got a dozen metal staples removed from my belly; and Rob, Kevin and Dani came to take us home.

19 years later, Bryan, Kevin and I are packing for our great voyage to Asia. We need to leave in the wee hours of Bryan's 19th birthday so tonight I wish my wonderful, talented, and amazingly intelligent baby boy a very happy birthday!

Nineteen things you might or might not know about Bryan:
1. He graduated from high school with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a 34 on his ACT
2. He earned a "full-ride" scholarship to every university in the state and several outside of Utah.
3. Bryan accepted the offer from the University of Utah and is majoring in Computer Science.
4. Bryan is anxiously awaiting a mission call!
5. He works for Weber School District Technical Support, setting up and maintaining the computers in every school in the district.
6. He doesn't like to shave, but will soon have to do it every single day!
7. Bryan is fearless when it comes to heights; he has rappelled down many cliffs and explored many canyons over the last few years.
8. He loves his own style of music...none of the rest of us can figure it out.
9. Bryan is very musical, he plays trumpet, baritone, bass and piano.
10. But he does not sing.
11. Bryan loves Larissa!
12. Bryan doesn't like football, basketball or baseball.
13. But he has a blue belt in karate.
14. Bryan has acted in two plays and played in four pit orchestras for musicals. He was also drum major for the marching band and played in symphonic and jazz bands.
15. Bryan is hilariously funny. If you want to laugh, spend a few minutes talking with him.
16. Bryan collects strange band shirts.
17. He is buying a footlocker to protect all of his band shirts and expensive electronics from the family during his mission.
18. Bry gets to tour part of South Korea and Japan over the next week and a half.
19. Bryan is very loyal to his friends and family.