Jacob Turns Twenty-three

The cute cake Danielle made for her new hubby!

My older son, my second-born, turned 23 on Thursday. How is it that time roars by so fast? It truly doesn't seem like 23 years have passed since he was the little orange baby I placed in the sunshine to cure his jaundice, the sweet infant who loved to be cuddled and kissed by Mommy, the green-eyed toddler who followed his big sister everywhere, the preschooler who wanted to do everything his daddy did.

And now he's an adult, a returned missionary, a newly married man working hard to support a brand-new family, a social butterfly who is deeply interested in other people, a six-foot young man I have to reach up to hug! Where does the time go?

 

26 June 2010: Jacob on his 19th birthday

This birthday was particularly special for me, because it had been 4 years since the last time I got to be with Jacob on his birthday. When he turned 19 in 2010, we took him out for dinner at El Rancho, where the waiters plopped a sombrero on his head and sang "Happy Birthday" to him while he ate a free bowl of deep-fried ice cream. The next morning my new husband Ed and I caught a flight from Phoenix to Seattle for our Alaskan honeymoon cruise. My, how times have changed.

For his birthdays in 2011 and 2012, he was serving as a full-time missionary in northern California. For his birthday last year, he had moved back to California, where he lived and worked for about 4 months. Thank goodness he moved back home when he did, or he would never have met Danielle!

Still newlyweds: Jacob and Danielle.

Jacob and Danielle had their first party in their new home on Jacob's birthday. Danielle sent her husband away for a couple of hours while she baked a red velvet cake and decorated the house and blew up dozens of balloons (which Jacob enjoyed stepping on and popping during the party, causing the rest of us to beg him to "Please stop!").

Dylan was there, too.

Unfortunately, Sarah and Chris weren't able to attend due to work schedules. I can't say I'm too impressed with Walmart's scheduling practices. With three of my kids being Walmart employees--Sarah, Jacob, and Danielle--it's almost impossible to get the entire family together at one event. On this particular day, Jacob's birthday, Sarah worked until 5pm and then Danielle reported to work at 6pm. Jacob was pleased that he was accidentally scheduled off on his birthday, but he and Danielle rarely get the same days off. In fact, they were both scheduled to work on their wedding day despite having requested the time off to get married!

 

Sarah did come over after work, though, to give Jacob his gift and wish him happy birthday.

Jacob's cake and stack of gifts.

Meanwhile, Danielle's family has pressures of their own. They found out they had to move out of their home right at the time they were welcoming home their missionary son Sterling, celebrating the high school graduation of their daughter Jordan, and preparing for Jacob and Danielle's wedding. They were still in the process of completing their packing and cleaning the carpets when it was time for Jacob's birthday party, but they still put everything on hold to make the 30-minute drive from Snowflake to help him celebrate!

Jacob opens his gift from his brother: Twizzlers and a peanut butter Snickers bar!

Once we were all present (haha, "present," get it?), Jacob elected to begin the party by opening his gifts.

I gave him a set of long barbecue tongs and spatula for his grill.

Danielle gave him the watch he'd been wanting.

"Thanks, babe!"

(Notice both Nathan and Sterling react to the kissing!)

Danielle and Jacob work to light the candles.

 

Then we all agreed it was time for the cake!

All lit up with exactly 23 candles!

The cake was yummy, and we enjoyed two kinds of ice cream: chocolate chip cookie dough and mint chip. We also had great conversations. It's always fun to get both sides of the family together!

Jacob blows them all out in one big breath!

It was a wonderful party and we were sad when it had to end. However, one especially cool thing about the party was that Danielle's parents had gotten Jacob and Danielle's wedding photos from the photographer and brought them along, so we all got to have a look at them. There are several beautiful ones I'd like to share, so stay tuned for my next post...

Happy birthday, my son!