HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER!

Yesterday was Amber's birthday. I had jet lag so bad I didn't even know what day it was, so I am posting a little about her today.

When Amber was a baby she was really a fireball! Her 2 sisters were well-mannered, quiet little girls who I could take anywhere and people commented on how well-behaved they were. Amber was always into everything and curious about things and had a lot of energy. Even my pediatrician said when I took her into a check-up: "You don't need any boys, you have Amber!"

We always said a family prayer at the dinnertable,and we would kneel down beside our chairs to say our family prayer, then sit in our chairs to say a blessing on the food. One day we were all kneeling beside our chairs and my husband was praying. All of a sudden Amnber started saying, "Where'd they go? Where'd they go? I don't know. Where'd they go?" The girls and I were trying so hard not to laugh but it was so funny. When my husband finished praying, we all three burst out laughing. He thought we were being so rude to laugh during the prayer, but it was really funny!

As a little girl, Amber favorite place to play was my kitchen cabinets. She and Survival Knife and Babs would play in the pots and pans cupboard and the big tupperware cupboards. If they took a few things out, they could fit easily in there. They loved to play in there especially if I was in the kitchen cooking or cleaning up.

I used to think it was funny because Amber always seemed to be able to boss her younger brothers into getting them to do whatever she wanted them to do. They were always running upstairs to get her something out of her bedroom. One day Babs came to me and complained that she was telling him to go get her something. I said to him, "Tell her no - that you won't do it." He said, "No, I can't." I don't think he was afraid she would retalliate or anything, I think he just thought he couldn't because he felt he needed to do it for her.

When Amber was a teenager, we would tend my oldest daughter's baby at night while she worked. One night I had to go somewhere and Amber was tending the baby. It was a stormy night and while I was gone, the weather service issued a Tornado Warning. When I got home, the boys were sitting in the den watching tv. I said, "Where is Amber?" They said, "She's in your closet with the baby." I went to my closet and there sat Amber with the baby, a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER! WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!