Sweet 16

November 20, 2010
Yesterday my little brother turned 16. Crazy.

Kurtis is such a good kid. I love him. Seriously, he is so sweet to everyone, he rocks at lacrosse, he's funny, and he loves his family as crazy as we are. He's subjected to all of our inappropriate conversations - most of the time in front of his friends too-, complaining, and knows more about woman issues than any 16 year old boy should thanks to me, my mom, and sister. And yet, he still hangs out with us.

I have a hard time thinking he is really 16. I remember Kurtis as a five-year-old who liked Pokeman. My first year of college, I used to take him to class with me while my mom was at work. He'd come to my sociology class and Institute. Then we'd head over to the student center for a Marv&Joe and then visit my Dad at his office. I tried to avoid talking much in Institute, even though our neighbor was the teacher, so you can imagine how horrified I was when my teacher Bro. Merrill asked our class if anyone had anything to share (as he did at the beginning of every class) and Kurtis raised his hand. He then proceeded to tell the class his favorite joke. "Why didn't the pirate go to the movie? Because it was rated ARRHHHHH!" Everyone laughed... and even I chuckled. I'll never forget it. And Kurtis will never hear the end of it either.

And if you're wondering... yes that is a chocolate chip cookie with 16 candles in it. I made an entire batch just for Kurt. My dad was a little upset with me that I almost burned the house down over it but I wasn't going to let this momentous birthday pass us by without a funny "cake" and birthday song.