Brotherly Blessings- Day 26

Today I'm Grateful for:

Nate

My brother Nate is only 19 months older than me and we got along fairly well growing up as I remember it. Now, there were times when I was the annoying younger sister (okay, most the time) and times when he was a punk. Like the year a doctor told me I was probably allergic to chocolate so I gave up chocolate for a year. Nate and Rich (my younger brother) made chocolate chip cookies all the time and taunted me. Yeah, for rude! So we had our moments but whatever he did to me in my youth he has certainly made up for in his adult years. He is a really great brother and friend. He doesn't have kids of his own yet so he works hard to maintain a "Favorite Uncle status" amongst his nieces and nephews. Which, seems to work based on the squeals of delight from the children whenever he's around. Emma calls him "Uncle Nate with the crazy hair." There's a lot of names to remember with all our siblings, spouses, and their kids but my kids never forget Uncle Nate and I don't think it's just because of his unique hair. I guess that's part of the reason I like him so much, I'm a fan of any fan of my kids. What can I say, I appreciate a person with good taste :o)

Why's Uncle Nate so "coowah"? Well, I'm having a hard time stealing pics from his blog to really show you why he's cool so if you want to see some great, fun pics. go to Nate Cannon on my blog list. He's a world traveler and has plenty of proof. He's been to Somoa, China, Thailand, Japan, London, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa Peru, Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Korea, and many parts this country. In fact, tomorrow he's heading to Belize where he'll camp and hike some pyramids. Nate loves to learn and explore and do new things. He jumps out of planes, goes on humanitarian aid projects, spelunks, offroads, kayaks, rides elephants, camps in the wilderness, kisses giraffes (or rather lets them kiss him), and captures every moment. He's a work hard, play hard kinda guy. I like living the adventures vicariously within the warm safe walls of my own home. Nate's also way smart and works as an accountant (ha, bet you didn't see that coming)! He's a great writer and awesome photographer and makes the coolest videos of his travels, making his blog a sweet place to visit.

He's not just cool and superficially talented he's a warm, kind, and generous person. He doesn't take trips just to get a thrill but he's done a lot of service, like digging wells and installing pumps for small villages in Mozambique. But he does the most good for people, especialy these little people, right in his family. So why am I devoting an entire post to one brother (I have four and they're awesome by the way) and deeming him Favorite Uncle? Because Nate's goodness was directed at me this week. He used his knowledge, time, and resources to bless me and help the family when I know he didn't have the time. He saw a need and he filled it. And I know he didn't do it seeking praise so I'll spare the details but suffice it to say I'm grateful! Hopefully I'll find a way to return the favor but for now this video shout out to "cool Uncle Nate" will have to do.

Reasons to love my other siblings:

Jesse- he donated 4 cousins to the Cannon Clan

Chris- he just brought another beautiful boy into our family

Rich-he makes me laugh and he's got quite a musical talent

Brooke- she's always helping out and never complains