Perseverence

My brother-in-law, Mike Stevens, has had a busy year. Shortly after his youngest daughter, Lacey’s wedding to Chris Killinger, Mike got his hip replaced. He really needed to have it replaced before the wedding, but he did not want to be laid up during the wedding. He was determined to walk his little girl down the aisle, and to do it without a cane. That was very important to him!! He did his best to do as much as he could to give Lacey her dream wedding. Chris and Lacey did a lot too, as well as Chris’ dad to make that happen, and it was gorgeous. The wedding was in late October, and his surgery was in mid-November.

Mike was in so much pain last summer, that he couldn’t play much golf or do much hunting. He did go on a fishing trip to Alaska with brother-in-law, Mike Reed and Mike Reeds brothers-in-law. While he was in some pain, he persevered, and the guys had a great time. He is planning to play a lot of golf this summer and go hunting in the fall, because the knee surgery he was hoping to avoid is going to have to take place this November. Another thing Mike and my sister, Alena Stevens plan to do before his knee replacement is to travel to Mississippi and the other gulf states. Then, Alena can cross those states off of her bucket list. They are very excited about that trip.

Mike also really enjoys watching Barrett-Jackson auctions. They auction all manner of vehicles and depending on the vehicle they can bring in well over $100,000. One day, he hopes to go to some of these auctions. His brother-in-law, Mike Reed is restoring and 61 ford flatbed pickup, two corvettes and 80’ish short bed pickup. Mike Stevens (Yes, we have to distinguish between the brothers-in-law with last names, hahaha!!) enjoys coming out to help him with these sometimes. Mike has been helping Mike Reed restore a couple of cars too. The guys have had a great time with that process. Both men are mechanics, and love working on these older cars.

And of course, one of the highlights of the Stevens family summer is the annual Stevens family reunion every fourth of July. They all meet up out at Pathfinder Reservoir to swim, suntan (the girls anyway), play horseshoes, and probably some other games, to see who the reigning champions will be for the next year. They even have trophies for the winners. It’s shaping up to be a great summer for Mike!! Today is Mike’s birthday!! Happy birthday Mike!! Have a great day!! We love you!!