Mom-
Dad- This guy was such a baby for such a long time I thought he would never grow up. What do I know? He was the first student athlete from FMHS to play football in the East West Bakersfield Game. He was such an athlete that he was given a chance to play Tight End and wound up playing the whole game because of his excellent ball playing ability. There were guys in the stands with his name painted on their chests. Does he stop there? No. He gets so good in soccer that he plays for BYU Idaho. Then after his mission, the guy that can't put two sentences together in English in High School, winds up with an academic scholarship to college and translates Conference talks into Chukese. He and I think along the same paths and I like to discuss intellectual stuff with him.
Aaron- Our brother Luke has always brought excitement into my life. I remember when dad brought him into our room shortly after he was born and said here is your new brother! I can remember the excitement I felt when I looked at him in dads arms, with the thought that here was another brother we could wrestle with once he was big enough. As both Luke and I got older my time spent with him was not that much because he was quite a bit younger than me. However when I would come back home for visits Luke was always willing to bounce on the tramp with Mandi and I. In fact Mandi still remembers how much fun it was to be able to wrestle with Luke on the tramp. I am also glad that Luke played football in high school because that too provided me with many enjoyable Friday nights for those 4 years. Especially when he played in the senior bowl in Bakersfield, that was especially exciting. Now that Luke has married his eternal companion he's providing me with a new spiritual excitement. I have had some great spiritual discussion with Luke wherein he has educated me on many things pertaining to the gospel. I am so thankful for Luke and his contributions to our family. I love you Luke, and thanks for everything you have done thus far to make my life better.
Nate- Luke is like Nephi and has been chosen to rule over his older brother. To illustrate this point, I will share one of my favorite memories with Luke. Before my mission Luke and I used to slap each other in the face all the time for no reason at all other than it was our thing and it made us feel tough. Once I returned from my mission and Luke was a few years older the slapping would sometimes turn into wrestling. I began to realize that even though I was six years his senior Luke was right on the edge of being stronger than me. I remember one particular instance when Luke and I slapping faces turned into a wrestling match in the living room, and right at the moment when I was about to be overpowered or ruled over like Nephi over his older brethren, I decided with all my strength to jump in the air while bear hugging Luke. I hoped that this would send the message that I would not allow him to beat me and in the end all that was left were two brothers laughing and mom’s whicker baskets smashed into smithereens by Luke’s back. That was the last time luke and I wrestled because we both knew that my time as king had passed. Love you bro thanks for making me feel more like an older sister than an older brother.
Kurt- For me a synonym for Luke is the Hulk. Not because he's strong or buff, both of which he definitely got a healthy portion of, but because his threshold for pain knows no limits. Let me explain....... After many years of being the youngest of five whack-jobs Luke started developing some beastly attributes. I first realized Luke was unlike any other when we were renting a house in Lebec. While our charred remains of the farm were being rebuilt the boys shared a huge upper room at this house in Lebec. While on that note I'd like to add that it was totally awesome. Any way Luke and I were wrestling in the upper room and at this time I was the bigger and the stronger and thus had the advantage. I wind up getting Luke pinned on the lower half of the bunk beds and decide to squeeze him into submission.......Ya........so I got to a point where I was squeezing Luke so hard I thought any more and his brains will start leaking out his ears. I let up my grip to get a response and to my angry surprise.........no yield. I was so angry and frustrated that Luke would rather die then yield.
On another occasion while living at the farm when Luke and I were home alone and the house looked like trash I decided that we should clean up. I decided I would clean one room and Luke could clean another. Well Luke didn't want to so I tried to convince him it was in his best interest by telling him if he didn't clean I'd beat the crap out of him. He stands right up looks me square in the eye and says "I'm not doing it" and turns his back to me and starts to walk away. For a split second my brain didn't compute what just happened cause it had never happened before. In that same split second as my brain rebooted my mind was flooded with rage at Luke's humiliating act of defiance. Luke's back became my mortal enemy as I focused all my rage into what was the hardest punch I'd ever delivered. No sooner did I pull my fist out of Luke's upper back then was Luke turned around looking me square in the eyes as if nothing just happened. In that same moment as calm as a mid summers breeze he asked me "dude what are you doing?" Still in reboot mode my brain now completely shut down. For a few moments no words could escape my lips. Finally as I stood there my brain was able to bring some words to my mouth "Clean up" I said. Luke quickly responded in his same tone "I'm not doing it". And turned again and walked away. In that moment I was mentally KO'd. You know that feeling when you wake up and you can't believe you were dreaming cause what you experienced was so real? Well opposite that I can't believe what happened wasn't a dream for being so unreal. Tolerance for pain...... Ha! More like immeasurable tolerance for pain. In my minds eye no man can ever measure Luke's tolerance for pain. Only one creature has truly put Luke to the test. Heaven only knows what that bull did to him. Is it possible that on that day the spirit of man and the spirit of the bull became one in Luke? It sure would explain a few things.
Jake- Luke is one complex individual. When we were kids I put a lot of effort into convincing luke that if he would serve me I would be good to him. Unfortunately I could never break him in fact I remember one instance where I had is arm in a police hold and I told him if he'd give up I would let him go. He replied that he would rather I break his arm and he meant it. So I was faced with the question, "is it really worth it to break his arm to prove a point when mom and dads follow up wrath will be incomprehensible?" I decided it was not worth it and luke left that interchange victorious over his older brother. I used to make fun of luke for being dumb, imagine my surprise when he ended up riding a full academic scholarship through all of his undergrad. I have always been jealous of Lukes perfect physique, he has a powerful well defined body and none of the other boys were really blessed in both areas. I guess when I look at luke I see the perfect product of the bene geserit breeding program... a super being. I am currently hoping that he will become a big wig in the church so that I can get the inside scoop from time to time on UFO's soon to be opened mission fields etc. And I can't think of a better candidate in our family for the job.
Larkie- One of my favorite things about Luke is that he is always willing to hear your opinion, if even if he thinks it’s the worst. I always felt so cool and special when Luke would come to me for advice on girls, clothes, or anything really. I felt like an older sister rather than a younger one. Thanks Luke for making me feel important and special. Thanks for making me feel like my opinion matters. I know Luke hates to hug but after I had over rung the cash register at Mike’s Pizza three times by like a thousand dollars each time I started to break down. Luke came up to me and hugged me. He made me feel so much better. I was in such shock that I forgot about the registry. Luke I really love you and your hugs.
Audrey- it’s funny how Luke’s and my relationship has evolved through our lives. As children he and I would often play made up games together. The first that comes to mind is doender, this game consisted of Luke running after Larkie and me with a huge couch pillow and when he would catch up to us he would throw these crippling blows that seemed impossible to get away from. That’s why Larkie and I would play together because we needed the other as a rescuer. My doender name was always Johnny, Larkie’s was Christine, and we sometimes referred to Luke as the Phantom. I don’t remember where we came up with the word doender but when we were bored Luke would say we should play DOENDER and he would grab one of the couch pillows and start nailing us over the head. Don’t ask me why but I remember loving that game. The other game that Luke and I would play was white couch, it was a simple game, all it involved was me holding on to the back of the couch and Luke pulling me off. Now it was called white couch because the white couch was a pull out bed and was heaviest therefore if we played on the other couches we would just end up moving the couch around. That game only lasted for about a year because Luke and I started to get to strong, I could stay holding on and Luke would move the couch.
A few years after that I remember really disliking Luke; we had a lot of trouble getting along. I actually remember talking to mom about it and telling her that I was afraid Luke was going to grow up and be a bad person. During that period of our relationship I tried to steer clear of Luke to avoid getting my arm twisted behind my back and shoved into the ground. But despite my efforts that happened a lot.
A few years after that I was in 7th grade and I remember talking in the kitchen with Luke and I said something that made him laugh and he turned to me and said “you know Audrey the older you get the cooler you get.” That was probably the most cherished complement of my adolescent years. After that our relationship blossomed. We shared similar interest in music, and we liked playing video games. I remember one time Luke put on Adam’s song by Blink-182 and was singing it to Larkie. She didn’t know the words so Luke stopped singing and said “ come on Larkie, Audrey knows the words.” This was another victory for me in becoming better friends with Luke.
I have so many more memories of Luke that I would love to share with you, probably because Luke is the closest to my age of the older brothers, but for the sake of time I’ll show some restraint. The final memory I’ll share with you is one of the biggest life changing moments for me. It began when I was at BYU I, another love that Luke and I hold in common. It was on a Sunday afternoon that I received a call from our brother Luke and he proceeded to talk to me about school and my social life. After a little bit he got serious and told me I needed to be working harder, that there was no reason why I shouldn’t have straight A’s. He told me about how he made some social sacrifices so he could get strait A’s. Now why this story is special to me is because I had been struggling not to the point where I was failing classes but to the point that I was disappointed with my self. So I prayed to Heavenly Father to help me help myself. It was soon after this that Luke called me. This experience showed me that often time how Heavenly Father sends help is through the people you know and you just have to be willing to listen. You could ask our cousins Rachel or Jessica, because after this I often declined going and doing stuff with them so I could study. Unfortunately I didn’t follow Luke’s perfect example but I ended the semester with a 3.4 GPA with 16 credits. Also I learned good habits for studying. So I just want to thank you Luke for your wonderful influence in my life. I love you so much.
Kailie- I couldn’t tell anyone I’m a self motivator. I am perfectly content with staying at the same place, even if I’m unhappy with the situation. I think Luke definitely recognized that, not only after, but before his mission. Luke has probably pushed me harder than anyone else in my life, Thank You for that. As everyone in our family knows I have issue’s with my self image, it’s hard for me to keep off the pounds because I get complaisant in life. Jake tried to address it by making me a schedule, mom tried to get me to come to Curves with her, I think every person has made some sort of an effort. Luke started taking Tai Chi I think when he was in High School, which means I was probably in 6th grade when this happened. Luke somehow got me to promise to do morning workouts with him, I can still remember doing the Horse pose, which was basically a Squat that u held while keeping your abs sucked in and your back straight. I remember Luke trying to keep me going, I think at some point he realized that if he yelled at me or used a stern voice I’d do whatever he said, so he got me to sit in that pose until I felt like I was gonna cry from the burning in my thighs, and just when I was at my breaking point Luke said that was good and that we could move to the next pose. I felt so awesome for actually completing the pose that I think I did a whole work out with him, and continued for a few days before Luke’s schedule changed or something and we couldn’t do it anymore. Luke taught me how to persevere, and how to stop being such a winer all the time (this took a while to take effect). After Luke’s mission I remember him coming home and talking all the time about how much he detested Laziness. Apparently may of the Islander’s had an issue with it. One day I remember One of the siblings had said something that I found hurtful, I got really upset and decided I would go up to my room and just sit in there quietly and read a book. Luke came in and asked me why I was up there and when I told him he said something along the lines of “Kailie, right now u could be downstairs proving that sibling wrong about u, u could be showing them that even though they hurt your feelings, u are stronger than that, you could be doing stuff that would let u have more fun, but instead, u r up here sitting on your butt reading about something that isn’t real. Do you know why? It’s because you’re LAZY! You’re taking the easiest way out right now.” eventually Luke got me to get out of my room and do something constructive and I think I was much more helpful anytime he was ever around.
My last story is actually one of my favorite memories. I had dropped out of school to help Mom by taking care of Elli, while she took care of Grandma Neville. Mom had planned to home school me, but was too busy to do it, so Luke attempted to pick up the slack. Luke gave me some complex math problems that I had no idea how to do, after teaching me ow to solve a few examples he gave me a sheet of problems he’d made up that he wanted me to do. Luke added on the assignment of a book report, and gave me a somewhat high reading level book. That was the only Homework I ever remember getting for the whole time Grandma was sick. Luke always knew how to motivate me, wether it's by using a stern voice, by giving me a goal, or some other method, conventional or not. Thanks for getting me off my lazy butt and helping me become a better person bro. I love you.
Isaac- I have more memories with Luke than I do with any other brother but in consideration of people’s time I’ll only share 2. I used to love it when Luke worked at Mikes Pizza, he would come home with food that was delicious, and I appreciated him more and more, cuz he was helping feed the family, and he was feeding us my favorite food. I currently work at Mike’s and Luke definitely helped pave the way for me. My other highlight is a lot closer to my heart. When Luke and I shared a room, sometimes me and Brandon would scare each other and then I would start freaking out and not be able to sleep! Then I would start thinking about the massive beast of protection that Luke was. I would reason to myself that since Luke was there anyone who even attempted to come in our room to do me harm would be obliviated in a heart beat. Because I knew I had a Physically dominating brother who loves his family I was able to get a full nights sleep. Thank you for being strong in every way Luke, physically, intellectually, and best of all spiritually. you are such a great example love you bro.
Elli- A while back I went with the family to Grandma’s house, as usual all the kids slept in the living room. I woke up the next morning to Luke right above me. He had me pinned and was tickling me, so I started screaming for help but Luke said Mom and Dad were gone, and that the other kids didn’t care how loud I screamed! So I started laughing and I laughed so hard I almost puked! I told Luke I was gonna puke so he let me up, I escaped and booked it to the bathroom and locked myself in until Mom, Dad, and Grandma came home. I didn’t tell them about Luke’s Tickle Torture, but now you all know that Luke is a great Tickler. I’m so glad I have a brother who was cool enough to play with me.
