Sixteen Candles

Yesterday my youngest brother Brett turned 16.  I seriously can't even believe he is that old!  The other day someone asked me how old he was, and I replied, "14, oh no, I guess he's 15"  and Matt chimes in, "he'll be 16 next week!"  HOLY COW  that snuck up on me!  I really think the older I get, the faster time goes.  When I was little, a year seemed like so long, and now it just flies by!  It's funny how that happens.  I remember going to the ultrasound appointment with my mom when she was pregnant with Brett.  A BOY. I cried.  I wanted a sister so badly, but once he was here, I sure was glad he was a part of our family.  Brett is such a great brother!  He always helps me with my kids.  Helping me in and out of the car with them, picking up a cup over and over again that Cooper keeps dropping on the ground during dinner, playing with them... He is great with them.  He is such a hard worker.  I don't think I've ever seen a teenager with as much determination as him.  He has a cumulative 4.0 GPA; he took a summer math course this year and got 100% in the class, learning an ENTIRE years worth of math in ONE MONTH!  He works hard in baseball, and does P90-X all the time.  I often wish I were more like him.  Here's to 16 Brett!  I'm so excited for you!

We have been excited for Brett's birthday for a while now.  Sydney is very into birthdays and is always asking who's birthday it is.  So after Molly's birthday was over,  Brett's was next.  She would call him almost every day and ask him if it was his birthday yet.  Sydney and I, with help from Matt, tackled a big project, and made Brett a cake for his birthday.  It was fun to keep it a secret and Sydney was so excited!  It was a nice day because Matt had the night off work, and so did my dad and mom.  So the whole family was able to be together, which doesn't happen all that often between all of our workaholic schedules.  We went to dinner at Winger's and then opened presents and ate cake and ice cream!  It was great!

Cooper slept through the whole party, and isn't in the whole family picture, so I thought I'd document his involvement...

Gotta love self timers!