Happy Birthday Carrie

This little cutie was a fraternal twin.  As I remember her babyhood, she was the calm to her brother's colicky, into everything, storm.   She was quiet and easy, not very aggressive.  She crawled when she got around to it and didn't really seem in a hurry.  Come to find out, that was her gift to us, it was not her nature.  In real life, nobody gets things done like Carrie Lynn Miller Stephani.  She's a goer and a doer and a mover and a shaker.

Her true personality began to emerge a bit when she was a toddler rooming with her twin brother.  They say that twins have a false sense of security from always having a partner.  I'm going to say that this is true.  It was interesting to see my mom deal with the creativity of these amazing little cohorts in crime.  She would put them down for a nap.  They would come out.  Mom installed a hook on the outside door to lock them in their room until nap time was over.  Whatever, They pulled the dresser down onto the floor.  Mom bolted the dresser to the wall.  Whatever, they climbed on the dresser and jumped onto the steel hospital beds over and over until they broke.  My mom replaced the beds with camping cots.  Whatever, they used anything they could find to write on the wall.  My mom confiscated anything that could be used as art media throughout the house.  Whatever, they took off their clothes and opened the windows and ran around outside.

Peter, Melinda, Megan, Susie, Heidi, Mary, Carrie

They were a lively pair, but we adored them.  Carrie was feminine and cute with long curly hair and a darling smile.  She was a fantastic little dancer.  Mary remembers taking her as a five year old to Mary's aerobics class at the high school.  Everyone raved about little Carrie's dancing and agreed that she was the best dancer there.  Once, during scripture study, the family was gathered together and little girl confidently contributed "I have a congestion to make."  She never wanted to be out of shape so she went running on the canal road.

Her talents developed as she grew.  Carrie went to BYU and served a mission in Canada.  She travelled the world on BYU's touring ballroom dance team.  She caught the travel bug and took a job with American West Airlines when she graduated.  That was great for our family living in Kansas.  Aunt Carrie paid us numerous weekend visits and always brought the fun. Her personality sparkles.  If we're with Carrie, we're laughing.   We particularly remember her Kool-Aid pie.  Her adorableness always caused a little ripple at church. "Who's that?"  Having her as my sister made me feel a little cooler.

Polly, Amy, Amanda, Carrie, Trevor, Abigail, Eliza

She married Gabe Stephani and has 4 great kids.  They're down in Florida rockin the Panama City Beach world.  Other mom's take their kids to the park so the mom's can talk.  Carrie and her friends take the kids to the beach so the mom's can surf.

Here's an awesome little video from a family reunion about 10 years ago.  She was a mom and still killin' it.  (She's at the right of the screen as the clip starts.)

Visiting downtown Chicago because Carrie came
and made it sound easy.

We took our first trip to Florida when we lived in West Virginia.  We drove about 18 hours at Thanksgiving time.  The weather was not sunny, but she knew we wanted to have a beach experience.  Just a note,  if you are going to the beach, go with Carrie.  She packs her push cart containing sand toys, umbrella, towels, etc. and loads the surfboards on top of the car with lightning speed.  We grab the crackers and red vines and away we go.  When you get to the beach you may think of something you need.  No worries, Carrie's got it.  Anyway, on this particular day the wind was blowing and it was raining with temperatures in the the 60's as I recall.  She wouldn't let us quit as the kids went out for surf lessons, and the rest of us stayed inside the tent she had put up to keep the babies warm.  When we're with Carrie nobody gets to quit.  She can find a way to make it happen.

Paige, Josh, Carrie, Little Gabe, Big Gabe, Jacob, Rebecca, Eliza, Andrew

Paige, Jacob, Gabe, Josh, Eliza, Rebecca, Andrew, Carrie, Claire

Carrie still runs and is still beautiful and takes her family around the country showing them new things and is still adding pazazz to the lives around her.  I love you, Sister!

Me, Carrie, Sam, Megan, Mary, Charlie