Sixteen Candles!!!

Wow, I can’t believe it.  Grayson is 16 years old!  I don’t remember turning 16, but I remember being 16…very clearly.  What a joy it is to see this young boy grow into the young man of character he is today.

To his dismay, he can’t get his license until May. Guam required young drivers be 15 1/2 before getting a learner’s permit – Grayson missed it by 2 months.  Once we arrived in Alabama, school, cross-country, and the teenage inability to look deep into the future caused further delays in getting his permit (which he now proudly has).  But in Alabama, a driver must have his “learner’s license” for 6 months before being permitted to test.  So May it will be.  It’s a good thing too…he might need a little more practice.  :)

Nicole and I decorated his door, bathroom, and the kitchen table with balloons and streamers while he was sleeping.  (It turns out, Quattro really likes balloons.)  After church we spent the afternoon hanging out as a family.  His brothers and I went to a local field and shot up some cans with Grayson’s pellet guns.  It was COLD…so that didn’t last long…but long enough to make a few holy containers.

The Battemateer tradition is to let the birthday boy (or girl) choose the restaraunt and the cake of his choice.  Grayson chose the Olive Garden and an chocolate and ice cream cake topped with homemade chocolate sauce.  YUM!!  (“Thanks mom!”)

Next week, Grayson, his buddy Josh, and I will try our hand at skeet shooting at the Lower Wetumpka Shotgun Sports Club in Montgomery.  A month or so ago Grayson and I went trap shooting for the first time and he was amazing.  Out of 100 targets, he shot at least 89 by my count.  That’s truly incredible for a first timer.  And he smoked me…which competitive me thought was the best thing ever.

Grayson applied to a Clydehurst Christian Ranch for a job this coming summer.  If hired, he will do very much the same thing I did when I was a teenager at Camp Joan Mier – light maintenance and grounds keeping.  It’s in the hills of Montana on beautiful property.  His application is in and references have responded to the camp director. Now, he anxiously waits to hear.  We are praying for this neat opportunity.

They grow too quickly.  And I could not be more proud of my firstborn!

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