your not-so-average cup of Joe

As some of you know, I made a quick trip up to Portland this past weekend to surprise my not-so-little baby brother for his 17th birthday! i remember how hard it was on Joe & I when our older brother Braden moved away, so I can't even imagine how difficult it must be for Joe to be kind of an only child right now. I love my brothers so much and wholeheartedly believe that we shouldn't be without each other especially on our birthdays. It was so much fun being able to surprise Joe, which let me tell you wasn't easy. Due to some super excellent secret keeping by my friends, and some trickery by my parents, Joe was completely shocked!

For those of you who don't have the extreme fortune to have a brother (in my case two), let me tell you- it is one of the most amazing things! And I have even more luck than the average Joe (pun-intended) because I have one on either side of me.

Braden is [to put it lightly] the most free-spirited, creative person I know. He approaches life with a perspective I could only dream of having, and has so many mediums to express his incredible viewpoints. From poetry, to multimedia art, to theater, to having his own radio show, to being in several different music groups, he has been able to share with the world some incredible personal discoveries as well as some over-arching truths about humanity. He's amazing.

Joe, on the other hand, is wise. He is by far the most kind-hearted, sensitive, sassy, and intelligent 17 year-old I know, or have ever met. And I'm not just biased. Joe has this uncanny ability to win everyone he meets over, and whats more, he somehow gets to the core of their being and really understands who they are and where they are coming from. And he is smart! My little broseph Joseph can code with the best of them, build computers from scratch, and I can call him from three states away and he can troubleshoot my computer for me! Amazing! This past year I've been able to watch (figuratively) Joe transition out of an incredibly hard year with grace and poise that most people would kill for.
 It's crazy for me that the little Bud whose diapers I used to change, who I taught how to ride a bike and swim, who used to flying-side-kick me and who I could run blocks around is now over half way out of his teens, and fast approaching college & adult hood. Crazy.

It has been one of the biggest joys of my life to be sandwiched between this two incredible men, and as we always say to each other: At the end of the day and our lives, it's just the three of us against the world! And man, am I lucky to be their sis.

On top of seeing my incredible brother (wish you could have been there Brade!), I also got to take in some of my special home-state that I have been craving since I moved away and see all of my friends. I could write a whole blog about how special Oregon is to me (oh wait, I already did), but instead I'll just post some of the best pictures I took in the day and a half that I was there: