This is the reason this birthday post is a bit late. I had to wait for an official picture of The License. He’s got a double date set up for Friday night, he will start driving Naomi to school next week, and we have hit the ground running. People wonder out loud all the time things like, “Where has the time gone?” and “How are we here now?” My dad has been reminding me for years…we get here one day at a time. And man, has this kid had some good days.

He’s been a world traveler and Lego aficionado since the beginning. His monkey feet are legendary and he tolerates farm life. And he obviously knows style. Bow ties have always been cool.

We celebrated this highly significant birthday earlier in the month with a paintball adventure. The week before his actual birthday he got to go live at a college campus on the coast for a week at a Church camp called FSY (For the Strength of Youth). It was life changing and really continued the momentum of moving from man cub to Young Man.
Video games continue to be a love and even inspired his cake choice…he asked for a Black Forest cake because it is the infamous cake from the Portal games. It also is German in origins and he is teaching himself German.
We had the traditional birthday dinner and I totally forgot to get candles. Grandma saved the day…even if they were pink. Real men can have pink candles. The cake was a rousing success as were all the gifts.

In the spirit of honesty I must say that not all of our days have been good days. In fact, this first born boy child of mine, has given me some of my very worst days. I’m grateful everyday that I’m not carrying the responsibility of ushering him to manhood alone. Neil continues to be a better father to this young man than I ever could have hoped for. They are in the kitchen building a computer right now and listening to them “talk shop” makes my mom heart sigh. I am also seeing my Father in Heaven’s hand in my life even more as Neil and I work hard to train Garyn to become the man the Lord needs him to be. It’s hard…harder than I thought it could be, but I feel strengthened and inspired everyday. This one’s smile though. Also spontaneous bear hugs. And tickle wars with his sisters. The fact that they adore him and he them. He is definitely a keeper.