Happy Birthday Christian!

I love my mom’s twin sister, Aunt Janet. I really do not see her enough. Every time I see her, the conversation eventually get around to the point where she asks me about my kids.

When it does, I say, “Do you mind if I brag about my kids a little?”

She says, “I wish you would.”

And she really does want me to brag about my kids. She is one of those unconditional love kind of people and it is hard not to love her back just as much.

So today, I am not going to brag so much as talk about Christian a little. He turned into a teenager today. For what must be over a year, he has rued the fact that he is not thirteen years old. It is not so much that he wants to be older, it is that many of the computer sites and technical forums to which he has wanted to subscribe do not let children under thirteen register to make posts and participate. He has taken to reading the fine print at these sites to understand exactly what is and is not permitted. I am very proud of the fact that he has read and understood exactly what is required to do things correctly and honestly. He has expressed his frustration with some of the rules, but he abode by them scrupulously. That kind of honesty will serve him well.

We are going off to a church convention for the weekend right after work today, so we will not get to celebrate a whole lot yet. Our plan is to do a better celebration when we get to Mexico and can do it with all his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents there. Really, the Mexican know how to throw a party much better than my English/Finnish clan anyway. We will have a cake and he will be able to program and work on his new computer during our three hour drive there and back, so he is pretty happy for that. I will post a picture of he and I we took last night and of he, the cake, and his sister if Lorena remembers to take one.

It really would not be Christian’s birthday if I did not mention that on the day of his birth there in the hospital in Tualatin, Oregon, we not only witnessed the most beautiful sunrise we had ever seen shining through the window, but the beautiful new baby with a full head of black hair who has brought sunshine into our life ever since.

June 10, 2004 – Interview in Kirkland, Washington
June 11, 2004 – The family will visit Kirkland