A protective hand

                                                              Matthew and Laruen Pender  

When Madisen was born my mom bought Tanner a doll so that he would have his baby to take care of. When he came to the hospital to meet his new little sister we gave him the doll and told him that he could name her whatever he wanted and he chose to name the doll Madisen. He put the doll down held and loved his new baby sister for a few minutes and then left with Daddy and doll Madisen for the night. A few days later I came home from the hospital and brought Madisen in the house took her out of her car seat and held her in my lap to feed her. Tanner came in and asked what I was doing and I told him feeding Madisen. I asked if he wanted to hold the bottle and he disappeared into the other room. When he returned he was holding the doll and said, "No Mommy this is Madisen you take that back."  I thought I was going to have a hard time with this new adjustment in his life but after a quick explanation he accepted the fact that she was here to stay and has loved her ever since. In the pictures you will notice how protective he is of her. I love that. He will come and save her from big, mean mom whenever she is getting in trouble and is the first to her side if she gets hurt. He is her best friend and she is his. There is nothing that is more precious to me than that relationship. 

My baby brother turns 25 tomorrow and lives in Florida right now. I miss him and his sweet wife terribly. My kids talk about them everyday and can't wait until they come to visit. Although growing up we had a difficult relationship I love the man he has grown up to be. I treasure our friendship and am grateful for it, especially since I didn't know we would ever really be friends growing up. I have alway felt very protective of him and now he is all grown up and doing the protecting. I am so happy that he found Lauren who we adore. She is the best thing that ever happened to him and we couldn't have sculpted a better eternal companion for him. Thank you Lauren for loving Matthew. We know that is a full time job!! Happy Birthday baby brother!!! We Love you and miss you!!! Come see us soon.