I'm 91% Successful and 9% a Failure!

On April 4, 2009 I set one of my famous "goals" (Melissa mocks me for all of the goals I set...I'll admit, I DO use the word "goal" a lot...oh well!). My goal was to write a blog for every family birthday. I knew I couldn't write one for every.single.family.member. So, I set parameters. My children (in-laws, grandchildren), brothers and sisters and in-laws, nieces and nephews (no in-laws or children...sorry, I'm good but not THAT good).

I had no idea how many family members I have. Holy cow! I ended up creating 49 (FORTY-NINE!!!) birthday blog posts about my family members. I can honestly say that I know so much more than I did. It was fun to look for pictures and drum up my memories of family members. I loved every moment. Seriously.

So, back to my title! I did have failure...9% failure...I missed 5 of my family members. It wasn't on purpose, I promise. It was an oversight. Of the five I missed, I looked back at my calendar and I had not put them on the master calendar. MY BAD. And I DO feel badly about missing them. So........here they are. I hope that Doyle, Brandon, David, Cameron, and Brenton will forgive me. I love you just the same. I just messed up. So, here you go:

FEBRUARY 23:

I could NOT find pictures of Brenton and his family (I'm sure he must go by Brent by now but he'll always be "Brenton" to me). These were all I could find. His wife's name is Tami (like me) and he has four gorgeous daughters. He is Rhonda's second oldest son. I should probably call him Dr. Loose since he is an optometrist and all. Brenton lived with my parents for a summer. I remember him beginning his monthly fast the evening before so that he would be able to fast for a full 24 hours. I honestly think of his example every month.

MAY 26:

This is Cameron. He is Rhonda's third oldest son. He is married to Jodie. I met Jodie in Vancouver when we went to Darin's wedding (many years ago) when she and Cam were still dating. They have three children (?). The one in the picture is Carter. I remember my mother going on and on and on about how smart Carter was. He was obviously a favorite. My fondest memory of Cam is the day at my mom's when we were playing with the fake arrow! (I really need to find those pictures) During that same activity, Cam took a mattress (YES! a mattress) and tied it around his body. He then covered it with a bedspread and tied it around his waist. He looked like a large woman sumo wrestler. Good times!

SEPTEMBER 29:

This is Brandon. He is my sister Donna's second to youngest child. As you can see, he has a little family of his own now. He is married to Tia. They have a cute little girl and a cute little boy. I haven't seen Brandon for quite a while. He did come to Erika's wedding reception. I miss him.

OCTOBER 27:

So...here's Doyle Talbot! He is my sister Donna's husband. Wow! I have many, many memories of Doyle. I spent almost every summer with my sister between the time I was five and 15. Of course, Doyle was a big part of that summer. Looking back, I wonder what he thought of his sister-in-law invading his house every summer. My most prominent memory of Doyle is that he worked SOOOO hard on his farm. He would go out early every morning and come home late at night. He was a great big brother for me.

DECEMBER 6:

This guy has a very special spot in my heart. He is a gentle giant of a man. His name is David Talbot and he is my sister Donna's second oldest child and oldest son. He is married to Tansy and has two girls and a boy who looks just like he did as a child. As I mentioned before, I spent a lot of time in the Talbot household during my younger years. David was one of my very favorites. Just ask him about our 'WHEEEEE rides". One of my favorite stories about David is when he came up to Canada with his family. He was only about four years old. We were visiting my Uncle Chet who is quite the character. We were having a family prayer (probably on the food) and David was asked to pray. In the middle of his prayer, he used his thumb to point to Uncle Chet (I was peeking) and said "...and bless that me and him (pointing) will have a good wrastle later". I love that kid.