Uncle Quinn

Uncle Quinn with some of his children and some of mine.

I "met" Quinn for the first time through letters while he was on his mission.  He didn't get home until I was officially his sister-in-law.  I have had a few years since then to get to know him in person, even though, once he got married, they became the travelling family for a while, living in a few different states before coming back to Utah (Hooray!).

Quinn and his wife Tonya have five children and I write about visiting them quite a bit since they are always graciously hosting us at their home.  I suspect we invade their home, eat their food, and enjoy their hospitality more often than any other family.  This is nice for us, and I have written about it before.  My kids still talk about the family home evening we had while visiting when we had a marshmallow battle using marshmallow guns.  Some of us laughed so much we had a hard time "shooting" those guns without inhaling the marshmallows!

Quinn is an occupational therapist who is good at caring for people.  He does a good job of listening.  He listens to neighbors, friends, family members, and the people he works with.  This is, I suspect, one of the reasons that Dan follows him around talking whenever he's here or we're there.  Quinn is also patient when Dan tackles him or otherwise does kind of pesky things. Connor describes Quinn as "fun", and all of my kids love him. 

Quinn has a notorious sweet tooth, which I think he has been trying to curb.  There are lots of family legends about Quinn eating all of his Easter or Christmas candy in one sitting, and then not feeling too well later.  Fortunately he enjoys being active too and so the candy hasn't killed him off.  He likes sports, and hiking, and he's done lots of scouting activities before -- both while earning his Eagle, and while being a scout leader.

There are lots of good talents and qualities that Quinn has, and I'm sure I don't know them all.  He does have a gift of making people feel like they are important to him.  He has a good sense of humor, he is compassionate, he is thoughtful, and he has a good sense of adventure.  He loves his family, and works hard to take care of them, and his extended family too.  As of yesterday he is my age (for a few months).  If only I could remember how old that is........I have conveniently forgotten.

Happy Birthday Quinn!