1. I remember when Lori was 3 1/2 and suzi hansen learned to tie her shoes so Lori had to learn to tie her shoes.
2. I remember when Lori and Suzi went to Kindergarten, they were the teacher's favorites and she gave them little gifts and things that she didn't give the other students.
3. I also remember that Lori came home and told me every detail about every day in kindergarten and Aaron Good didn't tell his mom anything. Mrs. Good would always call me and ask what happened at school.
4. I remember when Tim's gum ended up in Lori's hair and we had to cut it out.
5. I remember when Lori used to shout "you have no more spunk than a jellyfish" (from Cyrus the Sea Serpent).
6. I remember how good she was at softball. One time she pulled her facemask off as catcher and caught the pop up. I missed it with the camera. Dad remembers watching her play softball at the diamond behind West Oakview.
7. He also remembers when she called from college one year when they were making a turkey and she asked where the giblets were. They had looked in the cavity and couldn't find them. We told them to look for another cavity in the turkey and screams went up when they discovered that there are 2 places to look inside a turkey.
8. We both remember going to Oakland and San Francisco with her and she scared us nearly to death as she darted in and out of traffic at full speed. We also remember the taco truck and the mango ice cream.
9. Dad remembers Lori driving the Saab out to Utah. She was so brave and had so many problems with it but she kept going and got it out there... that's Coco. She grabs the bull by the horns and does it!
10. Dad also remembers when she played for the Kentwood soccer league and we all enjoyed going out to watch her.
11. Dad loves to watch Lori and Annette get together. It is like they just pick right up and have never been separated and they make us all laugh.
12. Mom remembers all the times Lori camped out in her dorm room at education week and the time she went into room 212 Hinckly hall instead of where I was at Chipman. A lady was in her bed knitting and Lori just said "you're not my mother' and fled.
13. Dad remembers how mad Lori got because she couldn't ever be a cub scout. she tied better knots than all of them and passed everything for the Wolf and Bear badges.
14. I remember getting a call at 5am from Mrs Pellerito saying 'where is Lori". She had planned everything for their trip to Toronto but hadn't packed yet and hadn't gotten traveler's checks. she thought it was the next day but she was one day off! They gave us 10 minutes and we threw everything we could in a suitcase and took off for school. Mr. colley joked that she had the lightest suitcase of anyone and he asked her if she had taken a shower.
15. One of my favorite memories was all of those eventful drives to and from Seminary in the winter. Especially that one time we ended up sliding halfway onto the east beltline median, though Lori claims she just brushed the curb.
16. I remember when Lori ran a marathon! Which was hard core, but then I heard that she did it with a walkman and I was in awe.
17. I am jealous of all the traveling Lori has done. It seems like she has covered the globe and I’ve only ever been to Canada!
18. I remember when we lived on houseman and Tim locked Lori in the trunk of the car.
19. I remember staying up late to watch Pensicola Wings of Gold. We loved us some burner and spoon!
20. I remember making the drive from Michigan to Utah in Warren :) Everyone doubted us, but Lori always had faith.
21. I remember ARRIVING in Utah and finding a basement apartment that made me cry and demand that we drive BACK to Michigan. Lori took me to wingers with a coupon so that I would have time to calm down and then helped me clean the place up (including the freezer which was COVERED in mold).
22. Our trip to Chicago. I remember going to the lottery for the tickets to Wicked. When people were picked they kept just raising their hand and walking up slowly. when Lori's name was called she screamed the whole way up to the front and ran like she was on the price is right!
23. Our obsession with David Chokachi...need I say more...
24. I remember going on a trip to Oakland with Lori and stopping in at the Jelly belly factory and enjoying some delicious “belly flops.”
25. On that same trip we stopped at Lake Tahoe and I remember sitting on a rock DEVOURING a whole roasted chicken. I also remember diving off a dock at Emerald Bay and we could see a HUGE tree branch on the bottom and I thought, this can’t be safe, we’re going to hit that branch, but the water was just SOOOOO clear that you could see super deep and no matter how far down we went we couldn’t touch that branch.
26. I remember having tea parties with Lori underwater at the pool.
27. I remember when we bought a BUNCH of mangos in Oakland and after church one day we were STARVING so we ran out to the car and I said to Lori, “how do we eat these without any utensils or plates or napkins or anything” and she was like, “you just do it!” I felt like such an animal. It was awesome.
28. I remember buying an absurd amount of mango ice cream and saying to Lori, “what are we going to do with this?! We don’t have a cooler and it’s going to melt.” Lori was like, “it won’t last that long.” And it didn’t.
29. I remember at Lori’s graduation she still had slightly puffy cheeks from her wisdom tooth extraction. Probably because her roommates were the WORST and she ended up with dry socket!
30. I remember Lori going with me to the temple for my first time. I was VERY nervous and she understood exactly how I felt, said all the right things, and gave me comforting looks throughout the session. She was exactly what I needed. I’m also very impressed by her dedication to make going to the temple a priority. She goes ALL the time!
31. I remember doing a countdown EVERY night to turn off our room light and turn on the lamp. We’d always try to do it at the EXACT same time. It never got old.
32. I remember when we were driving, it was probably that same oakland trip or a trip out to Utah and Lori had driven most of the way (shocker). I finally agreed to drive and Lori took a quick nap, but first told me exactly where to exit for gas. When she woke up I proudly told her that we had made it PAST that exit and we were just now getting low on gas. She FREAKED because we were in the middle of NO WHERE and the gas light came on. She calmly said that I should slow down, turn off the A/C, and say a prayer. We just happened upon an exit that was JUST a gas station. The gas was expensive, but we didn’t die in the desert :)
33. I remember that even though there was a large age gap between us Lori never seemed to get annoyed with her little sister always tagging along trying to be just like her. I remember countless matching outfits which I thought were soooo cool. She probably was less excited about it, but she never said anything.
34. I remember coming home from school one day when I was pregnant and feeling super gross. Lori had researched morning sickness remedies and had FILLED my cupboards with peppermints, crackers, ginger flavored stuff, etc.... She also would cook dinner when I felt sick (which was often) and would always cook whatever sounded good to me. One night I said, “I want chicken and dumplings.” She didn’t know how to make it so she looked up a recipe and did it!
35. I remember when Lori made her own temple dress WITHOUT a pattern. She is so freaking amazing at sewing it’s ridiculous.
36. I remember always being jealous of how good Lori is at EVERYTHING. I remember all those paper mache masks that she made and how she got into cake decorating at what now. She was always just so good at everything she tried to do. She still is.
37. I remember staying up late, hoping that the cheerleaders would be on SNL. And then of course, the re-enactment that we did with dad.
38. Getting that heinous couch into the basement apartment. A lot of laughs and a little danger, but we got it in!
39.When she got home from tonga and she would look at the drumsticks that I ate and would show me how much I was wasting and then would eat the cartilage. I just thought it was funny because I would be done and she was picking up mine and eating them and almost didn't need to get any for herself because I wasted enough for her to have a meal!
40.Also, I remember when Lori let Annette drive the car home from church in the winter when the roads were icy and she almost killed everyone at Leffingwell and 3 mile.
Happy (late) birthday Lori! We all totally love you because you make everything better!
