iMaryn

I come from a rather talented family. Seth sings (and plays the guitar and woos the women), Lauren plays the piano (and is SuperMom), Sven is pretty much a genius (a guitar-playing genius), Mom quilts (and sings and plays the piano), and Dad is the genius from whence Sven came. But I would argue (and I believe most of my family would agree), that Maryn might just be the most talented of all--a kind of uberTalent, if you will.

Exhibit A: Maryn sings. Most recently, she was in iHappy, a musical revue at her junior high school. I didn't get to go, which is iSad, but I've been told she rocked the house with her rendition of "My Favorite Things" from Sound of Music.

Exhibit B: Maryn plays the piano. And the guitar. And the clarinet. In fact, she was so good playing the clarinet (with minimal practice time, mind you), that her band teacher begged her to stay with band this year. (I believe she declined in favor of. . .

Exhibit C: Maryn speaks Mandarin Chinese. Please join me in excessive eyebrow lifting and exclamations that only a Mormon would make.

Exhibit D: Maryn designs clothes. Not that unusual for an almost-14-year-old girl. But how many 14-year-old girls have already had designs put into production? Seriously, folks. (She designed a dress and a sweater for this clothing line. Unfortunately, she wasn't given artistic control over production, and doesn't love the results, but still--.)

Exhibit E: Last, but not least, and certainly not all, Maryn is a particularly gifted aunt. I hate to admit it, but she is the Abby Baby's favorite aunt, as indicated by her Abby-name, "Quack-Quack," meaning "the funniest, nicest, most attentive, patient aunt in the world."

Happy Birthday, Quack-Quack.