Ryan Matthew

What a great kid!

Eighteen years ago today we welcomed our second grandchild into the family. He was born in LaPorte, a town about 10 minutes away, at 4:17 a.m. weighing 9 lbs 3 oz. He was 23 inches long and his feet were so large that his footprints covered part of the wording on his birth certificate.

From the time he was very little, he was loving and friendly to everybody. And I mean everybody.

He and his one older cousin, Amber, got along famously.

And they both welcomed our third grandchild -Ryan's brother, Jared - with open arms.

And speaking of Ryan's brother, he's always been close and loving with him. They are such a fun pair.

Here they are doing a parody of the rap song, Hey You There, last Christmas. That was awesome!!!

Ryan was equally welcoming to his baby sister, Emily, although I haven't seem them do any parodies together yet.

From the youngest age, Ryan has always had athletic tendencies.

And he plays both varsity football and baseball in high school.

We should have known he'd be a good athlete when he starting sporting this look and playing Spongebob Ball.

In addition to his athletic skills, he was academically gifted too and started 'pretend' reading at a really early age.

He's always been a good boy who seldom required punishments like this:

And last Spring (how is it possible?), he was old enough to attend his Junior prom.

Ryan lives far away from us now near Lincoln NE so I can't tell you a lot about his day to day life but I can tell you this. Ryan is one of the greatest kids you'd ever want to meet. He's kind and loving and has a wonderful sense of humor.

We're so proud of you, Ryan, and hoping this birthday is your best so far; and that they just keep getting better and better.

Amber Lynn

Amber was born on July 17th, 1988. I really, really wanted her to wait 3 days until my birthday but she wasn't having it. It was over 24 hours from when Amy started timing contractions until her obstetrician decided it was time for a c-section. I was actually in the operating room for her birth and it was one of the most extraordinary experiences ever. I remember her sitting upright, with her bottom half still in utero and her top half pure blue just before the doctor pulled her the rest of the way out.

And I remember her in the nursery right after she was born. We all looked at her through the big windows and she gazed right back at us. I felt like I could hear her thinking "oh, these are the people I've been listening to all this time".

She was an adorable baby and she got attention wherever she went. Here's a picture of her at around one and I could actually substitute a picture of her son and I don't think anyone would know the difference.

From the time she was born, she was everybody's favorite toy. Her aunts and uncles adored her and so did her grandma and grandpa. It was probably hard for her mother to claim her as her own when so many people wanted a proprietary share of her. But she and her mother were always close back then and they still are now.

Maybe that's why she was such a little performer. She wasn't even three years old when she sang at her aunt's wedding. I have a picture somewhere but I guess it hasn't been scanned yet and it was before the beautiful age of digital photography.

She didn't just sing either. She was also a dancer and I do have visual proof of that:

She has always loved animals and was fearless around the biggest dogs.

But I think her favorites were the cats. Here she is with her uncle's cat.

And here's the cat she has today.

It might seem like she's kind of a ferocious, evil little cat but actually she is. Just kidding. She's just a bit playful sometimes.

As Amber matured per personality did too. She was always smiling, always loving, and always kind.

As her aunts and uncles had coddled her when she was little, so she coddled her brother and sister and nieces and nephews.

Amber and I used to love to have photo shoots. I got to practice photography and she got to practice posing. Here are a couple of random shots.

In 2008 Amber met and married her husband, Chris. A wonderful guy that we all love.

Last year their son, Jack, was born and this year, in fact in about six weeks, they're expecting their second son.

We had lunch with Amber and Jack yesterday. She's just as wonderful and sweet as she's always been and we were grateful to get to spend part of her birthday with her. Jack is adorable and a lot of fun but unfortunately Chris had to work.

So please join me in wishing Amber a slightly belated happy birthday. She has always been and continues to be a joy to us and her entire family. We love you, Amber. Happy Birthday!