Tyler's 16th Birthday

Tyler's birthday is this week. He will be 16 yrs old. Where did the time go? I took care of he and his brother, Collin, while their parents worked from birth until they started school. It was so much fun for me. I loved getting up early and answering the door and seeing their bright little faces everyday. We did all kinds of things in those years...painting on the windows with shaving cream, planting gardens, taking nature walks, trips to the park, a visit to the mall....just to play in the area set up for kids to play and riding on the little rides for kiddies. visiting Randall Oaks to see the animals, Bible school in town, visiting my friends with little ones and so many other things. They loved reading books and playing with playdough. At that time, I was painting for some shops...we would set up our "art work" at the big dining room table and do our projects. I've watched Tyler grow from a newborn to the teenager that he is now. He's grown into a "man" almost overnight it seems. So, when I look at him now...I'm so proud that I had a hand in his growing up. Love you Tyler...from Grandma Pat Well, Tyler's dad asked me to bring the gnomes to the birthday party. They were delighted to put off their trip to California tomorrow. As soon as we got to the party...Juliet wanted to eat. She was so hungry and loved all the bright colors on the platter. See where she dipped the broccoli in the dip? Yummm!

Of course Roamy, being at one time a cheese head...delighted in the meats and cheeses. He selected an aged Colby.

No one was watching Ansel...he had fallen into the platter of fruit. His favorites were the strawberries.

Grandson, Collin busied himself making a man out of fruit. The gnome family thought he was so talented and wanted him to make one for them to take on their trip. We explained that the fruit wouldn't keep and besides they were going to California the land of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Walking into the living room, to open presents, they saw John's aquarium. They stood there for the longest time, watching the fish swim up and down. Ansel threw a fit because he couldn't go swimming. We had to calm him down with a bribe of more fruit.

Tyler and his sister, Sydney busied themselves with the gnomes on the floor. They had a stuffed animal and were trying to give the gnomes a ride.

They climbed up on the "turtle?" and Ansel found that he could slide down the head...wheeee!

Tyler started to open his gifts. He got a white shirt, a suitcase filled with poker chips and an automatic card shuffler, some money for a suit. We all talked about when he was 4 or 5 and we had Christmas Eve at their house. Down the stairs came little Tyler with his suit on. He wore that suit for many occasions. He even wore a suit to school for class pictures a couple of years. He loved getting dressed up. I'm glad that he still likes to dress up. He got tickets to "Blue Man Group" and to the Sox game with his sister. I can't remember if he got anything else.

The gnome family was ready for birthday cake. We were too. We lit one candle for Ansel...who is one year old this week...and then the last for Tyler. Grandma Bobbi made the cake extra thick with wonderful butter cream frosting. We all were groaning, when we were finished.

Here is a picture of Tyler lighting the rest of his birthday candles. I was told not to bring sparklers. The last time we had sparklers on the birthday cake...one of them fell and burned the table...OOPS! My Bad!

Well, it was a fun party. So much laughter, so many jokes. It seems that our family loves humor. We laugh at the silliest things. We talk like the whiners, we pull pranks on each other, we bring up silly things we remember in our family history, there's always a story about one of their old great grandparents from years ago, stories about their childhood and the pets they've had. I like to think that this joy makes our family bond strong. So, have a great day on your birthday, Tyler. Good luck with your special day...getting your first driver's license.

Love you, Grandma