Uncle Steven

Steven became my favorite younger brother when I married Kevin back in 2003! A few months into our marriage Kevin and I moved to his home town, right out the road from Kevin's parents and Steven who was still in high school. Steven spent a lot of time with us back in the early days of our marriage (I think it had something to do with our computer game, but I pretend it was because he thought we were that cool). One day while hanging out at our place I noticed Steven making "fighting" noises. Then I realized he was using two of my hair barrettes as swords and they were fighting each other. This may sound like a random story, but I promise it will make sense by the end of this post.

A little over a year after being married Kevin and I had our first child, our son Lathen. Steven became Uncle Steven (or sometimes just to pick on him or threaten his life "Aunt Steven"). Uncle Steven and Lathen had an instant bond.



And even though Uncle Steven left for his mission when Lathen was only six months old, they instantly picked up where they left off when they were reunited.


It's been good for Lathen to have Uncle Steven, they are so much alike. Both love swords, both have endless energy and surprisingly important they share hair color. Sharing hair color may sound odd, but when your five year old comes to you truly concerned that everyone (mom, dad, sister) have red-hair and wants to know why he doesn't; it's good to be able to say "Your hair is like Uncle Steven's!" And it totally worked, the kid was happy with that answer!

So Saturday Lathen again showed us just how much he really is like his Uncle Steven. While sitting at the table I heard "fighting" noises and walked in to see this:


Yes, that is Lathen pretending two of his sister's barrettes are swords and they are fighting each other.