Aaron - Sis there are tons of reasons why I am glad Kurt was born into the family. However the one I want to highlight is his sense of humor. He has the ability to make you laugh. In fact he makes you laugh so hard it brings tears to your eyes. Another thing I want to mention about Kurt is that he always makes ridding a motorcycle more fun when he is around. One time when we were young we both were on our motorcycles and thought that it would be super awesome if we high fived each other as we passed each other. Well as we were headed toward each other and were getting ready for the sweetness that was giving each other a high five we didn't take into account the fact that the speed of both bikes approaching each other was going to aid in the force of this awesome high five. Well we executed the five flawlessly and as soon as we did it felt like I had been hit in the hand by a Mac truck. Both Kurt and I stopped immediately and howled in pain. Even as I write this I laugh to myself because we were lucky we didn't break our hands and just how much pain it caused.
Nate -Kurt is like Neo the anomaly, he is so in tune with the mechanics of his body, I actually believe he can dodge bullets and do the floating crane kick! He has the leadership qualities of Captain Moroni. I truly believe he will lead the Lord’s troops as a trusted General next to the great ones at the battle of Gog and Magog! Kurt is a lot like Dad and always seemingly optimistic and positive, which comes in handy when you feel like jumping off a bridge, or stepping in front of a bus, or flying a rocket into the sun.
His athleticism is nothing short of legend in our family. He is a crazy daredevil and can kick the trash out of any brother. I know I am sounding like an obsessed fan and like he is a celebrity, but I really admire him and am so grateful to have him as my brother and best friend! Love you man, womb to tomb!
Jake(e-mailed, word for word) -Kurt was the perfect older brother to me in high school. I was more than a little off socially and did dumb things on a regular basis but instead of being that older brother that you see on movies who publically denies any relationship to the high school loser (who also happens to be his brother) Kurt would pull me aside after a stupid act and say, "Bro, you don't do things like that in public, a better way to handle it is..." I remember one time in seminary I thought bowels meants butthole so when we were reading a scripture that used the word bowels I raised my hand and asked, "Doesn't bowels mean butthole, why are they talking about buttholes in the scriptures." Kurt could have publically denounced me and made me feel like absolute garbage but he didn't, he's never been the type to put someone down to make himself look or feel better. After seminary he just said, "Bro you don't say words like butthole in seminary." There is something special about Kurt that has endeared every single one of his siblings to him, to the point that when times get rough in the future and like the scriptures say, "brother will turn against brother and father against son," Kurt will likely be the Jedi Glue that holds our family together!
Luke -If you haven’t guessed it yet the boys in our family love videogames. Growing up we would do anything we could to get our hands on the latest and greatest in the gaming sector. I remember when Jake used the money that he got from working with Kim Fogg to… (unbeknownst to the brothers) buy a Super Nintendo. Although Jake and I had fun frying our brains in our own little corner of the house without the older brothers terrorizing us, that fun pales when compared to the kind of entertainment that we had when Kurt took one for the team. I don’t know what got into Kurt but one day after he was done working at the Flying J, Kurt, Jake and I all took a drive down to Bakersfield in Kurt’s white Mercedes looking for some fun. When we got down to Bakersfield we rolled into a Wal-Mart or a Toys ‘R Us and Kurt dropped about 250-300 bucks on a brand new N64 with four controllers. Oh what a blessed day that was. Soon thereafter Kurt, Jake, and I were spending large increments of our days competing against each other in 007, Mario Cart, and NFL Blitz. It is interesting to note the many aspects of my life Kurt has subsidized, when I was young it was things that brought me pleasure like video games, trips to the beach, and riding motorcycles.
The last subsidy that I wanted to mention was when I was going to college at BYUI. During my first couple semesters at BYUI Kurt’s financial backing was what helped keep a roof over my head and books in front of me to read. Kurt is one of the few family members who (during a time of financial instability for me) acted as a catalyst to shorten my path to academic success. I hope that one day in the future I can return the favor.
Here it is.
Larkie(e-mailed, word for word) - Kurt is a very caring brother he is really good at making you feel good about yourself. He is also very selfless and generous. I have a number of stories that I can share but I am just going to pick two. One is when Kurt and Aaron clone aka Neil were playing a game in the living room with a shoe. They were chucking it at each other. I am not sure the point of the game but the shoe ended up hitting me straight in the eye/face. Kurt quickly ran over and took care of me for the rest of the evening asking if he could do anything etc.... Also when I worked for him he was very generous. He even gave me a car. Kurt you are amazing,kind,loving,charitable and a great example of treating others as you want to be treated. Kurt i love you thank you for being such a wonderful amazing man and brother.
Audrey - When I think of Kurt I think of hard worker, kind, patient, creative, and so much more. He consistently demonstrates these virtues/gifts. For example:
Kurt works so hard to care for his family, and does a great job at it. His children love him to death because he himself isn’t afraid to be childlike with them. I was once talking to one of our siblings and they said that Kurt is the best dad ever and any child in the world would be lucky to have him as a dad. I laughed and realized that they were right. Kurt is very good at helping people help themselves because he kindly gives guidance to them. And you can tell that he is only trying to help you because he loves or cares you. I can remember being in similar situations and thinking how can I help this person without hurting them, in other words, what would Kurt do.
Some of my fondest memories of Kurt are of him playing with me and the other kids. One time we were building a fort and it was okay and then Kurt came along and used mom and dad’s light blue satin looking blanket to make the fort into a circus tent looking thing. He made around the TV and put a fan in there for good airflow. I remember thinking that this is the best blanket fort ever. I remember running to him hoping for safety from Luke and Jake. I also love Kurt’s fearlessness; jumping of the cliffs at lake pyramid, jumping the pit, and sliding down the high school’s railings on his feet. These are just a few of the many fun memories I have of Kurt. I love you Kurt I appreciate you being there for me and being a wonderful example.
Kailie - I love being a young kid in our family because it’s like having 9 parents instead of 2. Kurt has always been a good dad, even when he technically wasn’t a father. I remember several times when Kurt showed the understanding of a father, as well as the concern and kindness of one. Kurt went to my Halloween party in the 2nd grade, he helped me figure out ways so that I could keep Mom happy and still get to do fun things. One of my best memories though is from when I was really small, and I still used to sneek into mom and dad’s bed when I’d have nightmares. One night I had a terrible dream and after I got up the courage to get out of my bed and run to mom and dads room before the monsters could get me I found that their door was LOCKED! I sat there and cried at their door for a while and then I somehow got the idea that Kurt could beat the crap out of ANY monster. So I snuck into Kurt’s room and found him on the bottom bunk, I poked him awake and he asked what I needed, I simply told him I was scared and he just lifted up the covers so I could be protected by my big strong brother Kurt.
Elli(e-mailed, word for word) - My story is when we were motorcycle riding and I was going way to fast and I crashed I thought I had broken my leg but no. I sat on the side of the rode waiting for Kurt and soon enough he came he is the brother who is able to drive fast enough to get to me I love him so much
