My brother Mike

I was planning to go to South Carolina sometime next week. Then I found out that my brother Michael was visiting my parents and leaving early Saturday. I don't get to see Mike much because he lives in Utah and is hard to get a hold of (no cell phone or email address). So, after Lizzie's doctor's appointment Friday morning we raced down and spent Friday evening with him and his girlfriend, Cat. It was really nice to see them, especially since they are contemplating a move to Oregon this fall. Mike and Cat are really into cooking and treated us all to a gourmet meal (thank you! it was delicious). Afterwards we enjoyed a late night swim, Liz especially. We enjoyed eating on the back porch. Cat is dishing out one of my favorites, miso soup. Yum.Mike grilled some tuna and fried breaded catfish. The catfish was my favorite. Liz even ate some when we called them "nuggets" and gave her ketchup for dip.Lizzie and Nana are playing with Nana's vast amounts of buttons. It's one of Lizzie's favorite things to do here. I also remember playing with buttons when I visited my grandmother. Since I don't sew the tradition will end with me and my grandkids will have to make do with something else.

Mike's hair is a little longer than when we saw him at Christmas. It's funny that just the day before our trip I had to explain to Lizzie that boys can have long hair too. She had been referring to a couple long-haired little boys at the pool as "she."

Lizzie loves her Nana. When she is upset with me she often cries: "I want my Nana!"Mike, it was so nice to see you. I appreciate you being so sweet to Lizzie. She enjoyed shooting your dart gun and putting on "shows" with you in the pool.

We celebrated Papa's birthday a couple days early (it's actually today) with chocolate cake. We'll have another celebration next week when Scott, Dave, and company are in town.