Nephews

This is me with my oldest nephews, Ciaran and Ryland. Ciaran was born 14 years ago while my older brother, Daniel, was in the Air Force. Ryland followed 4 years later and now they live with Dan and their mom Lynette near Fort Worth. These are the kids who first taught me the absolute joy of being an uncle.
This is McKy. He belongs to my little brother Ty and his wife Amanda. I met him for the first time this last Thanksgiving. He's a beautiful little boy and I can't wait to see him again.
This is Cayden, one of the coolest kids I know. He's my brother Tom's oldest. Dig his Browning hat and NASCAR sunglasses. He lives in Amarillo with Tom and his mom Marcy.
This is my littlest nephew Liam, Tom and Marcy's youngest. I love this picture because he looks like I feel -- a surprised mess. He's the happiest baby you'll ever meet. Never seen a kid laugh like he does. My dad says it's because he was born with heart trouble and almost died right out of the womb. Since he's only 8 months old and has already had open-heart surgery, maybe he figures the rest of the ride is downhill. Sounds good to me.

I love to talk about these kids. They're all so different and special in their own way. It doesn't surprise me in the least that my brothers would have such good kids. Being together will all of them at the same time this past Thanksgiving was a high point of my life. It's hard for my brothers and I to all be in the same place at the same time, so having all their kids there made it the second best thing next to having us all there. I love these boys because they're rowdy and willful and all love to laugh. It's cool watching them grow up and, in the case of Ciaran and Ryland, growing up with them. I like being Uncle Kiley who lives in New York with his New Jersey girlfriend and works for a television show. We have a lot of fun when we're together. I miss them.