Mary's 12th

Today is Mary's 12th birthday.

Mary was our 15th grandchild

 and 6th granddaughter (she's the baby on the left - her cousin Tessa was born about 2 1/2 weeks later).

Mary is a very important part of this very large family

and a very important part of this beautiful family!

I wrote about Mary last year on her birthday in this post

and visiting that link will take you to links to all her previous posts that tell a lot about Mary and show lots of pictures so I'll just post a few here showing how she's changed through the years.

and talk about what's been going on in Mary's life during the past year.

Last fall, she and Ethan were on the same soccer team for the first time and their dad was their coach!  They had a tough loss to end the year but came in second in their tournament!

And last fall  she transitioned from elementary to middle school - a big step for anyone!

But for Mary it was a fairly seamless progression for so many reasons.  Mary is a good and conscientious student.  She tackles projects with enthusiasm and without prodding.

She always does her best and it showed when she was awarded the Hilltopper Award in January which is awarded to model students who set excellent examples for their classmates.

And even more importantly, this spring she was inducted into Junior Beta Club which is a club for students who not only make the honor roll all year (which she did), but also show star behavior and leadership skills.

And this spring she made her middle school soccer team.  She's small but she's mighty and she's enthusiastic.  As a matter of fact at the end of the season she was awarded the 2018 Barrett Middle School Soccer Team Spirit Award.  I'm including the next picture, not just because it's blurry or even because it shows Mary's excitement, but because I love the happiness on the faces of her teammates when her name was announced.

So Mary had a wonderfully productive and fun school year but there's lots more going on in her life besides school.  For one thing, her neighbors had a beautiful baby girl named Quinn who Mary loves and for whom she often gets to babysit.

And that's not surprising because Mary loves and gets along well with all small children and babies.

 And she also loves and gets along well with animals.  Here she is with the family pet, Dash

and with the neighborhood stray cat, Brady, who often hangs out on their front porch.

And Mary just returned from a visit with her best friend cousin, Tessa, in Savannah, Georgia.

While she was there they slept in a wonderful tent upstairs in the bonus room,

had fun at the pool,

made slime,

and went shopping - among other things.

And there's lots more to say about Mary than what she's been doing in the past year.  She's artistic (even her snowmen faces are cute)

and creative (she actually did this in about third grade).

She's smart, helpful, thoughtful and loving. 

She and her mom have lots in common.  She loves what mom loves and they both love spending time together.

She loves her brothers and is almost always kind and loving to both of them.  LOL

and she's loving and supportive of her dad.

All in all Mary is a wonderful person, granddaughter, daughter, friend, niece, and cousin.  She's the granddaughter that remembers to take a picture with Grandma when Grandma is taking pictures of everyone else.  She's the daughter that pampers helps her mom when she's having a busy day.  And she's the sister that worries about her brothers any time she thinks they're down.

And she's cheerful and resilient with a wonderfully positive outlook on life. 

So Happy Birthday, Mary!  We're hoping the upcoming year is your best one yet but only half as awesome as the many more to come.  We love you very much and could not be more proud of you!

Grant's 24th

Today is Grant's birthday!

Grant was our 3rd grandchild and second grandson.

He is a very important part of this large family

and of course a very important part of this beautiful family

I wrote about Grant on his birthday last year in this post and clicking on that link will take you to links to all his previous posts.  In those posts are many stories and lots of pictures showing how he's changed through the years so I'll just post a few here

and talk about Grant's life during the previous year.  Right off the top, it hasn't gone according to plan.  The course that was essential to his graduation was a near miss and isn't offered again until the Spring semester.  Therefore, he plans to take two core courses this Fall along with two additional pertinent-to-IT courses in order to remain full time and then take the essential course in the Spring.  During that Spring semester he also plans to pursue a system networking administration certificate which will enhance his resume greatly.

 In the meantime, he's working full time at his college IT job over summer and then back to part time when school starts.

He's sharing a townhouse with two roommates and sharing a roommate's cat, Ollie.  Ollie is a Maine coon cat with lots of fur who's really affected by the heat in Boulder right now.  To compensate, Grant and his roommate, Evan, take him out on a leash and vest when it gets cooler in the evenings.

Grant is also still driving his parents' old Honda Odyssey and he loves it.  It seems incongruous - that skinny, single college student driving a mini van but it works for Grant and he doesn't worry too much if someone else thinks it's odd.  In fact, that might be one of the things he loves best about it.

He's also working with a programmer who has his own website which sets up meetings and networking for businesses and industry.  He's an information services consultant for business management on social media.  Grant is an assistant to him and finds him energetic and engaging which makes him fun to work with.  It's a programming job that he truly enjoys.

So Grant is busy all the time.  He still carves out time to spend with his family every week via face time and he tries to keep up with his many friends when there are special events in their lives.  He visited Gulf Shores with the big extended family over the holidays and was truly the most enthusiastic jumper in this family jump shot!

Right now he's spending his birthday week with his family in Savannah where they've enjoyed visits to the historic downtown area

and the pool among other things.

Tomorrow Grant heads back home and continues his busy life.  He has plans in the future to get back into music - something he was always into and would like to see how far it could take him as a hobby.  (I think he'd make a great musician too because he definitely has the look.)

In addition, Grant is talented and funny and he has all the dance moves.

He's smart and kind and generous with his time.  He spent half of NYE making his Grandma's thousands of pictures display on the big screen and it was awesome!

And he gets along well with everybody.  He's sweet, loving, fun to be around, and an all around wonderful person.  We're wishing him the best birthday ever but one only half as great as the many more to come; and a year ahead full of happiness and wonderful accomplishments.  Happy Birthday, Grant!