16!!!

Look who turned 16 years old recently!
The transformation this young man has gone through in the last

three years is nothing short of dramatic!!

It takes our (his parents's) breath away.

We would never be able to classify him as our "easy" child,

but I think that he has grown physically and become more pleasant socially

in these last few years more than ever before that.
Like at lightening speed!
More than making up some ground!

What awesome moments when folks from church or our neighborhood

tell us some lovely thing that he did for them or said to them.
I kinda peek over my shoulder to see if they are talking about my child!!

But God has been good in His life and we're starting to see some fruit

of the years of labor we've invested into him.
We love you, Grant,

and can't wait to see what God is preparing you for in the future!

Just the week before his birthday,

 Grant had the awesome opportunity to take his first ever flight

out of his home state to California.
What an adventure for him!
While there, the group he was with took an afternoon to visit
Six Flags Magic Mountain.
I was a little nervous for him because the last time he went to
Six Flags Over Texas (last summer),
he spent half the time losing his lunch.
To compound that problem, he wouldn't tell the adults he was with

when that was about to happen.
Surprise!!!!  (On the floorboard of the van)
So I quietly, discreetly prepped the adults he was traveling with
to not badger him about riding huge roller coasters if he was resistant!
While they were gone, I got these fun pictures from a Mom who kept an

eye on him for me!!!

Grant's birthday fell on Sunday this year,

 so we spent a good part of the day with our church family.
It was also "First Responder's Sunday" and we had
a delicious Bar-B-Que lunch served for our family as well as other

families of first responders.
Our minister of music is very special to our family
and he gave Grant just the most precious spoken blessing
to encourage Grant on his special day!!

  

The following evening our family took Grant and Ashlyn to dinner

to celebrate their milestone birthdays!

Happy Birthday, Grant!!!
We love you!!