sixteen years

the first grandson in our family turned sixteen years old this past valentines day.  nobody ever dreamed there would be twelve years separating him from the next grandchild (dax).  however, it did give us all a good chance to spoil james parker completely rotten.  nah, i promise he is a good kid - but he's still pretty rotten.

 james loves golf, hunting, and the west virginia mountaineers.  to make his birthday special we got him a custom cake with some of his favorite things.  to top it off we selected a ball cap like the one he wears on his facebook page.  he was pretty shocked when we had a little mini hat that looks just like one he owns!  (hey, your mom asked me to stalk you on facebook when you set up an account - so, i had to!)

everyone loved the cake and even found the weaponry very comical.  the rifle ended up being the source of many a conversation and much laughter throughout the day!  it doesn't take much to amuse this group!

james was a good sport and didn't really care too much about the dismantling of the cake, so long as he got the strawberry cake and ice cream!  he raked in a ton of cash (almost $500), remember i said rotten?  here he is opening one of about a hundred cards full of cash.

it was wonderful to have all of our family together for this special occasion.  it was awesome to celebrate with so much love, laughter, and excitement!  kids really do grow up so fast.  it's so hard for me to imagine that this sweet guy is old enough to get a driver's license!  where does the time go! 

so thankful we're all within a drive of each other and we can be together for holidays, birthdays, or just on a whim!  it no longer takes an airplane trip and lots of planning to just live life together!

my sweet sister beth has lost over eighty pounds within the past nine months!  that is the weight of a 12 year old!  so impressive!  she and her husband have embarked on quite a journey and they are really knocking off the pounds.  we hardly recognize them as they continue to slim down!  i love this picture above because i see my sweet sister feeling so much better and her eyes are once again sparkling.  it was so good to be with her and be able to spend time just laughing, joking, and hanging out.  this happy time together will surely be a treasured memory.