birth of a chipmunk

A lot of people tend to feel sorry for my brother because he's the only son in our family.  But really, who wouldn't want to have three wonderful, considerate, loving sisters like us?  ;)

I can recall many interesting memories of Kelly and me torturing Alvin during our childhood.  Dressing him up as a girl, making him watch "Pepper Ann" and "Clarissa Explains It All" instead of "Power Rangers" and "Pokemon," and scaring him into thinking that the ghost of Benjamin Franklin was following him around (I honestly don't know how or why this one happened, but we used to get a huge kick out of whispering "Beeeenjamin Fraaankliiiiiiinnn" in Alvin's ear and watching his panicked reaction).  Oh yes, we were the most wonderful, considerate, loving sisters ever.

Fun fact: Out of all my siblings, I used to get into the most physical arguments with Alvin while growing up.  I think it was because we were so similar in our personalities that we knew exactly which buttons to push to make the other angry.  Thankfully, God has been faithful despite my being a poor older sister, and over time we've refined our relationship and don't fight (as much) anymore.  I attribute that partly to our increasing maturity over the years. Okay, and the fact that he's too strong now for me to fight back.



He's still very young, but he's accomplished so many of the things I only could have imagined doing at his age.  That list includes ASB president, photo intern at the OC Register, budding photographer/graphic designer, and the first YouTuber to be featured on David Crowder's website (yes, his claim to 2 minutes and 14 seconds of fame).  I always crack up when watching this video -- can't believe this was four years ago.



Oh Alvin.  You are one of the many joys in my life, and I'm truly blessed to have you as my brother.  I'm constantly inspired, challenged, and humbled by you.  Your life is evidence of God's faithfulness and perfect sovereignty (I mean seriously, you turned out to be a pretty awesome guy despite living in a female-dominated home), and I couldn't be happier to see you growing into the creative, thoughtful, silly and serious young man you are today.

I hope you have a wonderful 18th birthday, broham.  Te quiero mucho!

P.S.  I'm sorry that in 1992, my favorite TV show was "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and when Mom asked me to pick out a name for you, my 5-year-old self insisted on "Alvin." But hey, it was a pretty (Alv)incredible first birthday gift, right? :)