It's Natural

Evan is very comfortable with his body. Okay. Probably a little too comfortable. He isn't an exhibitionist, he is simply efficient when going to and from the shower. Blame wrestling or football in high school, but my brother just doesn't care or see anything wrong with walking around in the suit his mother gave him.

When we moved to Boston, we stayed at our cousin's house. From our cousin-once-removed's bedroom that we were using, we had to walk five feet in a hallway off the kitchen to get to the bathroom.

I was in the kitchen. Evan walked to the bathroom. He was not well covered.

Me: "Evan! You can't walk around naked here with the little kids!"
Evan: "It wasn't me!"

Evan in Winter

Evan is hard core. When a foot of snow fell only a few days after 2 feet of snow, he trudged off along un-shoveled sidewalks, caught a bus, caught the T, and showed up for work. There were about 4/57 people there due to the weather. He worked his full time, studied in the library, trudged uphill home, and then started shoveling the driveway.

Despite his strength, Evan seems to be tired of winter. He lasted pretty long, considering I have been tired of winter since that first cloudy cold day November.

Evan: Is March Spring in Boston?
Me: No. Spring here is in like April or even May.
Evan: What temperature is it in March?
Me: 20's and 30's.
Evan: What temperature is it in April?
Me: 30's and 40's.
Evan: What temperature is it in May?
Me: 40's and 50's.
Evan: oh :(

He wasn't satisfied with my answers. Sadly, neither was I.

Candy = Cavities

Evan has never really liked candy. Growing up, he was the best person to go trick-or-treating with because he would share everything except the peanut butter cups.

Showing that all of those dentist visits paid off, Evan strongly believes that eating candy gives cavities. Well. He believes that CHEWING candy gives cavities. So he swallows candy whole.

This is a clever strategy with small candy, but not with large candy. Normally, Evan would refuse any sized candy on principle; however, when everyone else is eating a shared snack, it is hard to refuse.

In a religion class at BYU, the professor passed around a bag of Peanut M&M’s. Evan grabbed a few, tossed them in his mouth and started choking. He teared up, slapped his chest, and said, "I'm ok!"

But Evan hadn't finished his handful. And every other student was still eating them. So he started to put more in his mouth.

To prevent premature death, I grabbed the rest away and put them in my mouth. Evan glared at me, waited until I thought I had won, then stood up, walked to the front of the class, grabbed a handful, turned to make sure we had eye contact, and put them in his mouth. He quickly swallowed. Victory over the oppressor of freedom!

One Direction

I went downstairs to give Evan books to return to the library and a piece of paper he needed. He pointed to the place on the floor for the books. When he saw the paper, he said great. And then he casually pointed at the door without making eye contact. It was gentle, elegant, and effective - a refined dismissal.

Evan in Heaven

We finally made it to Universal Studios. Harry Potter Land was not as big of a hit as seeing his real life heroes in real life.

First Evan discussed superpowers with Captain America. Mainly, he bragged that he could fly. Then they both did some power poses.

The Green Goblin asked if Evan knew who he was. Yes, he did. The Spider-man ride was a highlight.

Evan and his nieces and nephew

Evan loves kids. In theory. And in small, quiet, controlled moments away from his possessions and when he is not listening to music or watching a movie or playing a big kids game. Evan is loving and protective and considerate.

In Florida, we were getting ready for the kids to come down and we were rocking out to Selena and Bieber. Evan brought up a concern about whether the music he listens to would be appropriate for them or not:

Evan: Oh, Brigham. Eden and Dean don't like Justin Bieber.
Me: Evan, neither do we.
Us: laughter and apologies

Evan also enjoys teaching younger and less experienced people. I think he has experienced enough tutoring and explanations to want to pass on to the next generation. During dinner, Evan began testing Eden's math skills. She was getting a lot of his basic elementary number questions right, so he raised his game to advanced topics learned at university.

Evan: What is Florida plus eight plus Wisconsin?
Eden: ??????????
Evan: It's math. In miles.
Eden: ??????????

Signs

Evan loves signs. Birthdays must have a birthday sign. Returning from a mission must have a welcome home sign. Graduation parties must have a congratulations sign.

Knowing this, since I drove up to Boston before he flew up, I made him a small sign that said, "Evan. Welcome to Boston!" I colored it and hung it in a visible place.

When he walked in the door, Evan read the sign and asked, "Who is Evan?... Oh, is it my name?"

Evan's Birthday

Evan is a planner. He loves schedules. Evan thinks ahead and figures out what should be done and when.

His birthday is the most important day of the year and it is planned days, weeks, months, and even years in advance. We had restaurants selected for dinner in 2015, 2016, and 2017 while we lived in Washington DC.

Evan also plans gifts. He texted our cousin what he wanted a month ago and he has shown me multiple lists.

Soon Soon Soon

Evan just asked me who's birthday is next. Punk. It's his birthday in less than a week.

I responded by saying, "mine!"

He was not amused. He threw up his hands in disgust and said, "no! It's mine!"

So I asked him why he asked then. He didn't respond.

Another Late Night Emergency

At 1am, I woke up, but I didn't know why. The house was dark and I didn't hear any steps. Then the door bell rang. Then it quickly rang again. And immediately again and again and again.

I went downstairs and checked the back door. Nobody was there. I went around to the front door and Evan was outside with a flashlight.

"I cannot find my cell phone charger."

We went to bed and I gave him mine the next morning.