Cynthia's 17th birthday

Cynthia had her 17th birthday recently and she is so cute...she is already starting to feel old. As excited as she gets about birthdays, she was kind of dreading this one. I think it's such a funny age to dread. I have my list of birthdays that I'll have a hard time with and I'll tell you what...17 was never on it. 30 will be a hard one. I'm only 27 and I feel like I will be old and wrinkly as soon as tomorrow. I don't think 40 will be so bad, but 50 will definitely be hard. My life is flashing before my eyes and I have hardly even lived it yet. One day I'm sure 50 will be young and I'll long to be it again. As for now though, I feel like once I hit 50 I will be in the fast lane heading toward old age and death. I can only hope that I'm like my Grandpa John. He's in his 80s but he's so full of life. He seems young to me. I wish my Grandma were here to experience it with him. Anyway, on a happier note, I love my kids. They bring so much joy to us. Kayla is at the age where she just loves mommy and daddy. All she has to do is look at us and she gets all giddy. Jaxton is in a phase of being so curious about everything. Every minute it seems he is grabbing our hand, telling us to "um ere Mommy" and "um ere Daddy". "Look!". And everyone he sees, he says, "oo is dat?!" all excited like...as if we know who every stranger is. He is so much fun!

Kayla enjoying the cool grass

Jaxton and his Noah's Ark boat

who dipped into the chocolate cake?

A birthday kiss for my sissy