Happy Birthday Scott!!!

My big brother Scott turned 50 this month... wow... that was the age of our parents when I was a teenager!

He happened to be in Utah for a few days the week of his Birthday so we had a little Cafe Rio take-out party for him.

Scott has always been so... well... Scott. He is just him. He has always been fun, caring, hard working and just him. Scott is the perfect big brother -- and I can honestly say making it relatively calmly through my teenage years has a lot to do with him.

* He and his friends thought I was "Fox Lady." Scott always made me feel good about myself even when I was a teenage stick that was 6 inches taller than all of the boys. In 7th grade my best friend made cheerleader and I didn't. I was devasated. When I came home from school Scott and his friends (all cool High school boys) gave me a plaque that said "Foxy Lady." As sad as I was about not making cheerleader having five 17-year old boys tell me I was foxy did a whole lot for my self esteem. I kept that in my room all growing up and whenever I was convinced I was a "loser" or feeling bad about myself I would remember Scott and his friends.

* We fought (physically) a lot. I don't remember yelling or calling each other stupid names. He would just try to tackle or wrestle Jenn and I and we would just scratch him back. (He still has the scars to prove it.) When he would babysit Jenn and I would spend 1/2 of the night locked up in the bathroom or bedroom to stay away from him. Of course we will all best friends again by the time my parents got home. One night he convinced me and Lezlee there was a burglar in the house and he had a butcher knife out ready to stab whoever it was. I'm still not sure if he really believed it himself or if he was trying to scare us.

* He was super, super, super (and one more) super protective. In 5th grade he over heard me talking on the phone about going skating and meeting some friends there. He went to my mom and told her it wasn't someplace I should be hanging out. By the time I went to ask my mom she said "No, Scott said it isn't a good place to be." In high school I met someone he knew and thought I shouldn't date him. It took me almost 6 months of convincing my mom to let me go out with him because of Scott's concerns. He told my mom what I should be doing, who I should be doing it with and probably kept me out of a lot of trouble!

* I loved skiing with him. I couldn't keep up well but it was with Scott I did the cornice at Mammoth, about died in powder and rolled through the moguls.

* After Becki died we would watch "Midnight Videos" on TV and chat about the videos -- Cherish the Love reminded me of him and Becki. He would be at his apartment and I would be home and we'd talk on the phone. I remember one night I could tell he was very sad so I went over to his condo and took him Dr. Pepper and Apple Pies.

* Tipping me and my friends over on the trampoline when they were headed to California, him getting shot in the leg with an arrow by Mike Pope, Scott breaking everything -- his bones, his teeth, moms china and lots of hearts -- he always had girls who loved him.

* My kids all idolize him. He and his rascally sons have convinced Cameron to be a U fan. When he was in town he called to see if he could take Cameron with him for the day. Of course he came home in a U shirt and was torn all evening between Christopher and the Y and Scott and his boys and the U.

Seriously, I couldn't have asked for two better older brothers!