November 27 A small party for Chris

Saturday: Chris's 18th birthday is this coming Monday. We invited Chris, his girlfriend Ella, Matthew, and Kaity over for a small party to celebrate. Arrival time was 3pm. Emma paid for pizza for us all (thank you, Emma!) and we played games, ate pizza, and enjoyed birthday cake for a few hours together. 

I was very happy to get to know Ella a bit today. I learned that she has lived all of her 16 years in Sparta, the first 10 or so out in the country in a home that her dad had built. When one of the bad economic downturns occurred, her dad lost his job and consequently the family lost their home. Ella said this was a really hard time for them. They rented a house in Sparta for awhile afterward but now they are in another home that they own. She and Chris have been "dating" for a solid year or more.

I asked Chris what his favorite cake was and he texted back that he loved Ice Cream Oreo Cake. Emma and I picked one up yesterday as we were out and about. I had never tasted this before and agree that it is really yummy.

It's good to have a few more recent pictures of Chris. I hardly see him any more. He is grown up! He and Matt don't often come over ... so this was a real special time for me as their grandma.

I love your smile, Chris--always have!

I coaxed the kids into a game of Pachesis. KT and I did not play because only FOUR can play at once. Kaity and I played UNO instead.

Playing Pachessi with FOUR is quite a WAR. These four battled it out for nearly an hour (!!!) until Ella was victorious! Congratulations, Ella!

Chris and Matt played for #2 winner. Emma gladly stepped out of the game at this point.

Chris opened his gifts. He had requested a particular NIKE hoodie from me, which I was able to find at Kohls yesterday. 

Here he is reading his card. I should post a better picture of the card ... I will do that below.

Then he opened Emma's card and gift ...

And then we just relaxed for a bit until everyone decided it was time to go. Everyone did OK together. It was good for Emma to be with her brothers, who she hardly sees anymore--this is very sad for her. They are a "tricky threesome" though with so much history and quite a bit of dysfunction. STILL ... I am thankful for this time with all of them here together.

This is the inside of Chris's birthday card. This quote is from Tony Gungy, a former NFL coach of Superbowl champions, the Indiana Colts. Gungy is the first black Superbowl (coach) winner--but more importantly, he is a faithful Christian. 

That's Chris wearing the #15 jersey ... this was the last game of his senior year, the playoff between Comstock Park and W. Catholic.

This is the front and back of Chris's card ...