Happy Birthday MICHAEL!!

(Left) Michael - Hospital picture - weighing in at 4295 grams!






(Right) Michael 2 hours old.

Today is Michael's 15th Birthday!

Michael was born in Taipei, Taiwan on July 13, 1993 at 8:40 p.m. He weighed in at a mere 9 lbs. 7 oz. I remember looking over at him when they were weighing and measuring him and seeing his little (big-little) fist and saying to Matthew "How big is he?" Matthew laughed because the nurses kept calling him "Little Giant" in Chinese---they hadn't seen a baby born this big!

After delivery, I was famished and really needed something to eat. I was told, "Too bad. There is no food available..." (It was after 8:00 p.m. after all!) They took no pity on me.....





March, 1994 - 7 1/2 months old

Michael was a wonderful baby. He was so content and happy. I think he smiled at the earliest age of any of our children and smiled all the way through his childhood.











October, 1995 - Beijing, China - 2 1/2 years old

When Michael was little, his favorite things were playing baseball with this ball and bat, his pacifiers, and READING.

He talked everyone and anyone into playing baseball with him. He would "run" the bases in our family room.

He loved his pacifiers. He felt most comfortable when he had one on every finger of both hands and two in his mouth.

Michael has always loved reading. I remember the first word he read to me. We were sitting in the Chapel in Menlo Park, California. He looked at the sign above one of the doors and said, "Mom, that says EXIT." He was right! And he was 3.




July 13, 1998 - 5 years old



By the time he was about 2 years old, Michael became fascinated with dinosaurs. He could not get enough of them. When we moved back to the U.S., I think we read about every book there was to read on dinosaurs in the Springville, UT library.

By the time this picture was taken, he was determined that Paleontology was the career path for him. He could spew off more facts and figures about dinosaurs than a Jeopardy champ.



(Left) July, 2001 - 8 years old

(Right) July 13, 2003 - 10 years old

Michael has always been very sweet, kind and thoughtful. I don't think there has been more than a handful of dinners in his lifetime that he hasn't told me they were good and thank you! (And even if he didn't like the food all that much, he still ate it!)

He has always had an immense curiousity that has kept me on my toes.



September, 2007 - 14 years old

The last few years have been a real challenge with the development of his Crohn's Disease. However, I have seen Michael grow and mature because of it. He has learned to stick things out even when they are really hard and to endure to the end.

One of the positive outcomes of this whole ordeal is it has peaked Michael's interest in possibly becoming a Gastroentrologist. With his great compassion and keen mind, he'd be a great one!






June 2, 2008



Here's to another great 15 years!


Happy Birthday Michael!!