In Honor of Paul's 24th Birthday

I decided to solicit some help from my family to compile a list of memories of Paul. I was aiming for 24 but we did much better. Enjoy the trip down memory lane!

#1 If it weren't for Paul, I would have never known what a hangy-ball was.

#2 Remember when Paul thought it was a great idea to ride a skateboard behind a friend's moving car? Was anyone really surprised that this adventure ended with a trip to the hospital after he was run over by the car?

#3 Remember Paul's passion for winged creatures? Remember the aviary in the basement? Remember when Brenton discovered that there weren't any birds in there one morning but found instead a cat that "looked full".

#4 Mom & Dad get kudos for not strangling Paul as a teenager. I was ready to do a lot more than that to him when I was left in charge of him while they were out of town and I discovered that instead of going to school each day he would go out the front door "to school" and then crawl back in his window and spend the duration of the day hiding out in his room (or at least until 3:00 when he would crawl out his window and come through the front door on his way home "from school").

#5 Remember when Paul started a bonfire in the garage when Mom & Dad were out of town? Remember how he closed the garage door to disguise the flames? Remember that he owned a lawn mowing business at the time and that the garage was full of gasoline cans and equipment?

#6 Without Paul how would we know that Bisquick can disguise holes in the wall?

#7 One of mine is when we all went ot Brick Oven for Pauls Birthday last year and Paul was took some medication and was "HIGH" as a kite..... He was standing on chairs and taking pictures of everyone and was having a good Ole time.... Good times....

#8 Then there is the ever popular "Iron board surfing" down the canal.

#9 And who could forget the "scratch" on Angie's cube (formerly a Ford Taurus). He did keep the rear view mirror and owner's manual for her to remember her car by.

#10 One of my favorite stories is when they went down the big hill in shopping carts. How they ever survived, I don't know.

#11 Paul taught us all how to do Jell-o shots (sans alcohol) at a buffet in Las Vegas while we were on vacation.

#12 Because of Paul, we all have the privilege of knowing Brenton. So, I'll toss one in here in Brenton's honor. Remember when Brenton had to be rescued from his seatbelt after he was talked into wrapping it around his neck and then his cousin pushed him up against the door locking it in place?

#13 I remember when Paul asked grandpa to put a matchbox car back together that he had taken apart. When grandpa couldn't do it very quickly for him he told grandpa that he "needed a man to do it". Grandpa laughed for months!

#14 Remember the Hot Air balloon Paul and Brenton made that landed in Bill Logan's back yard? Or better yet the firecrackers that he lit on the O'Neill's front porch? Brother O'Neill was chosen because they thought they could get the best reaction from him.

#15 Remember the city councilman that came by to say "hello Paul" in the American Fork ER when he broke his arm? We didn't know until then that Paul and Robbie had been attending city meetings to try and get a new city park!

#16 Can't believe I didn't have a heart-attack. After running away from us at the mall when he was about 3 years old, he came running back after 5 LONG minutes and wanted to know where WE had been!

#17 Remember when he used to hit us and then grab his arm like we hit him and then we would get in trouble with mom and dad?? It was rough being the only boy with 3 older sisters.

#18 Remember when Paul's favorite movie was Annie?

#19 Remember the "power ditching" experience, complete with a car chase?

#20 Remember when Paul built a hot tub out of snow in the backyard?

#21 Remember when Paul that "boo baby" was a swearword?

#22 Remember when Paul was frustrated that Kambree all of the sudden wouldn't listen to him? And he refused to believe it was because she is almost 2.

#23 Las Vegas trip - Paul wanted to play the games in Circus Circus and win big animals. We tried to talk him out of it, but we couldn't. Finally he left and came back with a big animal prize. In fact I think he won two big animals and Grandpa Hudson had to bring them home in his truck because we would not have room on the airplane.

#24 Knott's Berry Farm - Paul always loved to collect things. On this trip he was always collecting nuts. So when he laid down to rest we would empty out his pockets and he would start all over again.

#25 Epcot Center - at the end of the night as we were leaving we had everyone get with a partner and we took off running. Paul and Mom were together and Paul was trying to get mom to jump over benches as we were leaving the park.

#26 Paul and his friends were up American Fork canyon and we received a call that Paul had split open his leg. He was riding an old bike off a jump and landing in a dirty pond. Paul's foot slipped off the pedal and cut his leg open. We got a call from one of his friends that they were headed down to our house and that he would need to go to the doctor. It seemed to take a long time for them to arrive and I was worried he might have bled to death. Finally they arrived and after seeing what happened, I called AF ER and told them that we were on our way in.

#27 When he broke his arm before we went to the ER Mom made him come in and change his clothes. She would not let him go the the ER looking the way he was. This is because Paul is colorblind and was horrible at picking clothes that matched.

#28 Paul recently spent a small fortune to make himself a black backdrop for his homemade photography studio. He had the ladies at the fabric store help him select some sturdy fabric that he could dye black. They gave him a packet of dye and some instructions and sent him on his way. He went home and did as he was directed. He was a little disappointed when it turned out gray, but decided to work with it. That is until Jenn came home and informed him that it was actually purple. He marched right down to the fabric store and demanded a refund...and got it.

#29 Once while on a family vacation to California Paul assumed the role of co-pilot/navigator. After studying the map he told Dad to "stay in this lane". Then he rolled over and went to sleep. It's a good thing they didn't follow his instructions or they would have ended up in Mexico.

#30 Paul once put Stacie in a garbage can in Las Vegas for "fun".

#31 Remember when Paul used to call his micro machines and matchbox cars "beauties"?

#32 When he was 18 we (Dad, Angie, Paul & I) went to Catalina. Paul wanted to swim in the ocean so he stripped down to his boxers and jumped in. He had a hard time keepin his boxers up after they were wet and he gave the people at the restaurant quite a show.

#33 Remember when he was small and refused to let anyone ride with him in the motor cars at Disneyland and how embarrassed we all were when he rounded the last corner coming back and we could see that a Disneyland employee had joined him.

#34 Paul loves changing diapers. Especially when his one-year-old daughter gives him step by step instructions of how to do it and then follows him around to make sure he complies. Change diaper, wipe bottom, put medicine on, throw away diaper, wash hands.

#35 Remember when Paul was the self-proclaimed "Dentrix slut"? (This one almost got left off to preserve my G-rated blog!) He declared that he was tired of being passed around from department to department and being used.

#36 The other day Paul was complaining about how so many of their ward members--especially the ones without children--are late for 8:30 am Sacrament Meeting. He doesn't think anyone has any excuses because they (Paul and Jenn and their 2 young children) show up each week "looking nice and smelling good". And that, my friends, is a direct quote.

#37 Would the words "greaser", "hoser", "gimp" be words that would have graced our vocabulary without Paul around? I think not.

#38 Remember when Paul sent us an e-mail that had the following message:
As you all know, the anniversary of my glorious entry into the world is upon us. I'd like to remind you all that we (Jenn and Myself) are not giving birthday presents for a couple years and we'd like it if we didn't get any either just to make it fair. A few kind words and a gentle smile is all that I require!

Paul-I hope that you are able to find a "few kind words" somewhere in this collection of memories. And you better believe that there are smiles all around! In other words, be careful what you ask for...you just might get it!

Everyone Else-Feel free to add more to the list. Put them in the comments...