Friday's FIVE!

Margaritas in Chicago!

Betsy "Erckle"

Aunt B

Been in the dress up box at Grandma's

Kermit and Miss Piggy

Rock Stars!

Bruce and I enjoyed a day in Chicago with Betsy and Debbie yesterday. We had such a wonderful time - celebrating Betsy's (and Debbie's August) birthday...and wishing them a farewell before they head off for their Hawaiian commitment ceremony. We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, enjoyed great Margaritas and dinner at a Mexican place and then packed up in a cab and enjoyed the view from the Sears Tower - we always have fun with Betsy and Debbie.

Betsy has been the life of the party since she was a child - she is natural born comedienne...

She has always had the ability to make all of us laugh... Betsy was born 26 years ago, on Oct. 31st at 9:33AM weighing in at 9# 9oz - with a head full of dark hair on her petite 19" frame...Betsy has brought joy to my life since the day she was born... I'm the luckiest mother in the world to have two wonderful daughters. In honor of Betsy's birthday - this weeks Friday FIVE! is a celebration of five things about Betsy that make me smile!

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1. When Betsy was about two years old, Katie was in preschool... Betsy and I would spend a few morning hours with Grandma Isabel and Grandpa Pete. Betsy loved her Grandpa Pete - and she would go back to the bathroom to 'shave' with him in the mornings. The look on her face and the determination in her walk walking back to the bathroom with Grandpa still makes me smile! She would proudly walk out with shaving cream on her nose ... knowing she would get a laugh from Mom and I. Her toddler and childhood antics were just a glimpse into the joy this child would bring to me...

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2. Betsy has always loved hats... When she was child - she always had some kind of hat on her head. A railroad hat, a baseball hat = you name it... she had a hat a on her head. She would wear the hat as part of her 'costume' - as a prop... or just to keep her long pony tail out of her eyes. She had a huge collection of hats and most childhood photos of Betsy are those with something on her head. I still laugh thinking about Betsy in all of her hats and head-dresses.

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3. Betsy has an incredible sense of rhythm...and she is a very physical comedienne. Her body movements - head movements and facial expressions are often enough to just send me over the edge. It doesn't matter if she is 'dropping it like it's hot'... or singing Talking Heads "Once in a Lifetime" or... Barenaked Ladies "One Week"...I just start laughing. She is so funny - and she has so much rhythm and she moves her head and body with so much energy... that it usually has all of us laughing to the point of tears.

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4. Betsy loves movies - any movies...she always has. She knows the dialogue to many movies - line by line...and she can flip through a movie and edit the bloopers for all of us to see. Betsy has extremely high level perceptual skills and she has the ability to 'see' things most of us cannot - it always amazes me the detail she is able to percieve that most of us would never even recognize. Some of Betsy's favorites (that I remember)... are Fried Green Tomatoes, My Girl, Sandlot, Late for Dinner and many, many more. She has a collection of movies that rivals the local rental shop.

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5. Betsy has a compassionate heart - and a deep love for animals. She had so many little 'critters' in her room when she was growing up. She had siberian dwarf hamsters, fuzzy hamsters, guinea pigs and geckos. Our dogs were usually 'Betsy's' dogs... she was Prissy's forever companion... she loved her pets - but her ability to love isn't limited to animals. Betsy is warm and loving and has the ability to bring us all together. She and her sister have a very close - deep love for each other... and she is Aunt B to her nephews and I'm certain that Trevor will grow to love her as much as Tyler does. I'm so thankful for the love of both of my daughters...and for the love they have for each other... and the love they each have for our family and their partners.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETSY - I LOVE YOU!