Happy 14th Birthday, Tyler!

Today Tyler (Biscuit from the "Chronicles of Biscuit" stories) is 14 years old!  He's grown many inches over the past year, but has also grown in other ways.  He's more mature, becoming a young man rather than little boy.  He still gives me hugs, so I'm adjusting with his maturity. I tell him those can never stop! :)

I love having a child with a "winter" time birthday, and it's especially fun having one near Christmas. He didn't care what kind of party he had, just cared about the food!  He okayed a rustic theme, so it was fun decorating with red and black buffalo checks, wood-looking items, and his "tree stump" cake with a camping theme on top.

It's hard to see, but the cake has a red/black buffalo checkered tent, a little campfire, and marshmallows around the bottom, mostly just because I turned the cake board over for the cake to sit on and the greasy icing was making the board look bad. Marshmallows covered it up!

Tyler's next oldest brother and his girlfriend, Camry helped make the banner for me. They did a great job!

Blow out the candles! I didn't have 14 of them. Think I had 10 - oops!

Then this morning, Tyler got to have a non-typical breakfast of donuts!  Since our elf is a permanent fixture and always will be around here, I'm blaming him (Buddy) for the donuts! 

Happy birthday, Tyler!

You are such a blessing to our family. I can't imagine what it would be like without you in the family and wouldn't want to.  You bring joy, laughter, and special moments to our family by your personality.  You're a combination of your two brothers - a little "serious and clean cut" like Zachary and a little "crazy rough and tumble" like Jacob! Ha ha! You think that makes you perfect to be a little like both of them. I won't go so far as to say perfect, but it is pretty neat!  

Thank you for being YOU. Thank you for the example you are to those around you. I pray that you always keep God at front and center of your life, that you continue to walk in the steps of Jesus - striving to live your life always for Him, and that you continue to grow in Him and in your service of the church.  Never forget that THOSE THINGS are most important - not the things of the world.

I love you to the moon and back, forever and always. 

LOVE, MOM