Happy Handy Day! June 20th 2008

What's "Handy Day?", you may ask. It's simple- Handy Day is the birthday of two of America's most important figures... No! not Hannibal Lecter and Andy Williams (though that would be a good guess, and not a far shot from the people whom we are celebrating). I'm talking about Hannah Anderson Stevenson and Andy Scozzafava Szafran. Two of Cedric and Sarah's Top Ten Cool People List. Seriously, we want to wish them a Happy Birthday and just write a bit about why they are on our Top Ten List (not to be confused with our Hit List... that's right, Bono, watch your back).
Let's start with Andy-
Andy has been one our most valued friends. Particularly to me, Cedric. Andy has an awesome sense of adventure and is never timid (though he may seem to be) to try new things. The first time we went surfing together, I took him to a spot in Santa Cruz that turned out to be pretty advanced. There were large rocks just two feet below us and the water was rough and cold. Andy hadn't gotten a wet-suit yet and was just wearing board-shorts and a rash guard I lent him. He jumped in anyway. When a local told him he was crazy, I said, "it's OK, he's Polish! He can handle it!" The guy told him he had some real stones. I'm still not sure what that means.







Andy and Ben Miller and I once went Tub-jumping, which is simply jumping hot tub fences at country clubs and enjoying a cool summer evening relaxing in someone else's outdoor community bathtub. We were always on the lookout for the nighttime security guard and on this particular evening, we were especially wary, because there had been two murders recently in the housing community where we were. Security had tightened, you see. Well, we were spotted and the three of us instinctively jumped into the bushes. Andy dove head-first and right into a large boulder. After we got safely away from the security personnel, We noticed a large red spot forming on Andy's hat and blood began to trickle down his forehead. Upon removing the hat, we discovered a huge gash caused by the evasive dive. I seriously thought Andy was in for it, but he was insistent that he would be fine. So, after a nice long, well-earned dip in the hot tub of the Montreaux club house, we took Andy to the hospital where I worked, I stole some medical supplies and we patched him up.



Andy is a selfless friend (even when it comes to watching subtitled ghost movies with me) and an excellent example. Above all, though, he's an awesome uncle to Scout. He loves her so much and never hesitates to baby-sit her or just come hang out with us if Sarah's at work or whatever. What an amazing friend. We really consider Andy to be part of our little family. Happy Birthday, buddy.



Next up is Hannah-
Hannah has always been the family member that I think I can relate to the most. Our personalities are quite similar. There is one thing that divides us, though. She has always been the voice of obedience to myself and others. I have never been as bold as her when it comes to standing up for what's right. I respect her for that, even though sometimes it's cumbersome, ha ha.



She's also always been a great missionary. For example, when Sarah and I were dating for the first time around (when we were seventeen), Sarah was over at our house hanging out. When it was time to go home, she realized that she had locked her keys in her car. this wouldn't have been a big deal, except that Sarah lived about 40 minutes away. After talking to her parents, we all decided that she should just stay the night. She stayed with with Hannah in her room which was fine, as they seemed to get along. Well, the next morning after Sarah left, Hannah informed me that the two of them had been up all night talking about the gospel. I, as a seventeen-year-old would-be-rebel-dork, was mortified! I thought Sarah would never talk to me again. Well, here we are now... Sarah and I got sealed in the temple and Hannah is one of Sarah's closest friends.
We love Hannah and want to thank her for being a great friend, sister, sister-in-law, aunt and overall good example. Happy Birthday, Ham-bone. We love you so much. I have no pictures of Hannah on this computer, so I'll have to steal one I liked from her blog.

Happy Handy Day, guys. We love you lots!