Happy Better Birthday Shavonne!

Thirty years ago, my dear sister Shavonne was born. I have six sisters and Shavonne is just above me in the line-up. The last one of the older kids. I begin the line-up for the younger kids. She is 2 years and 8 months older and a great big sister. She and I shared a room for a long time, even in college she and I shared a room. I would always have the top bunk, while she luckily got the bottom bunk. When I was in eighth grade, she was a junior in high school. She was in seminary and I would constantly complain at night for her to turn off the light so I could sleep. She would be reading her seminary scripture assignment. Finally, one day she said, "Why don't you read your scriptures too Courtney!" (I'm sure my whining was driving her crazy.) It was at that moment that I started to read my scriptures and soon after gained my own personal testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whenever I think of the moment I recieved that warm burning answer, Shavonne also comes to my mind... So, that was a tangent, but, oh well. Anyways, so she and I shared a room for a long time. We would take masking tape and run it down the middle of the room. She had her side and me the other. She would clean up her side, and me the other. Now, my side of the room was across from the door and sometimes she would say I couldn't step on her side so I would have to get a running start and leap to my side of the room. Ahh, good times! We would also play this game where she would be reading a book and I would take it and hide it. Okay, okay, it was my game, not hers. She would get really mad at me for hiding her book. I just wanted to play with her!

Other games that we often played was this game where you had a bouncy ball and we would kick it back and fourth to each other and try to make a goal. Or, our favorite that mom would always get mad at us for...Shark. One of us would be on the top bunk and the "Shark" was on the bottom. You had to reach up and touch the person on the top bunk, but you couldn't stand or climb up the bunk. When mom would say, "no more playing shark," we would change the name to fish, or whale, or dolphin and continue on with our games.

Shavonne is a great big sister, and according to another one of my big sisters, Shaina, Shavonne is a great little sister too! We had a lot of fun together growing up. She would let me hang out with her when she was a Senior in high school and I was just a freshman, and when we lived in Spokane together, we had some great times living with Shaina and Heath, and when Shavs and Karla got an apartment and I lived there with them illegally, I think.

Happy Birthday Shavonne, I hope you have a great Day today! Love you tons!