I wish I had remembered to take a good picture of Evan when I saw him. He just turned 21. He and Liz will be going SNOWBOARDING for his birthday. He is so surprised and excited.

I knew that Evan always felt like the black sheep or something, but always went out of my way to make sure he was included. When He became engaged, he asked to look through old pictures, and suddenly said(out loud), "huh, there are lots of pictures of me!" and later, "I am not smiling in any of these pictures." ( I wanted to cry) The pictures he was not smiling in were taken in his teens, when, yes, he WAS largely grumpy. It was one of those things that I had hoped would not happen, since you know, we were homeschooling and all. I actually forced him to accompany us on many field trips. I hope he is glad now.
I even bought him a Calvin and Hobbes book even though I kept catching him reading them instead of doing his schoolwork. Did I mention I bought the spanish version? He was in Spanish one and I thought it would inspire him. He was SO excited when the books came and there was one for him, a Calvin and Hobbes we did not have! He literally grabbed it and ran to his room. Five minutes later we heard the loud groan! I was in stitches!
When Evan approached his ninth birthday, I racked my brain for what to do as as some kind of theme. I really love doing these for birthdays. At that time, he loved detective stories and rocks! I just did not know what to do. Finally, I came up with a team scavenger hunt. I made up clues(rhyming of course!) and hid them or gave them to the participating neighbors. I also passed out the food for the party, which the kids had to ask for and then bring back to the house. All was in place, and then.............it snowed! We decided that we would carry on, since living in England had taught us never to cancel our plans because of the weather. What a memory!
Evan is an intellectual and a philosopher. He likes to debate EVERYTHING. And with the certainty of the young, he KNOWS whereof he speaks :). He loves to read, and holds strong opinions. He has spent the last 18 months or so deciding exactly where he stands in his faith. HE and his wife are now in classes to join the orthodox church. I was able to attend a service with him. To the unitiated, it was a little intimidating. I knew there would be ceremony, but not so much audience participation. Fortunately, there was a playbook to follow. Kind of like extended responsive reading, but sung/chanted. The words were beautiful,but the service seemed long. I am still not really clear on the topics of saints and the icons, but the people we met were so warm and friendly.
Funnily enough, I discovered that the other children have long assumed that I actually preferred Evan's company because they think we are so much alike! I guess his theories
are busted! I DO like that he ENJOYS scrabble and other word games, where all the others refuse to even play with me!
Here's wishing you a happy birthday on your trip, Evan!