***I know I’m a day late with this, but we were having computer issues yesterday.  Besides, it’s still the 15th in the U.S.***

Happy 15th Birthday to my son Ben!  When Ben was a baby, he was like a little roly-poly potato bug.  I immediately fell in love with his funny little personality.

As a toddler he was almost cartoon-like.

I let him get away with way too much, because I had the hardest time disciplining that little face.

And he had a way of saying things when he was naughty that would make me laugh and get him out of punishments.  One day, when he was about three, I was particularly mad at him.  Jason was out of town and I was a frazzled mom at the end of my rope.  I put Ben to bed in a huff and this was his prayer:  ”Dear Heavenly Father, Mom’s mad at me – but she’s not the boss of this house!  Cecily’s not the boss of this house and Noah’s not the boss of this house!  I’m the boss of this house!  Amen!”

Ben also went through a stage where he blamed Jesus for all his bad behavior.  ”Jesus said I could jump on the trampoline in the rain . . . Jesus said I don’t have to eat my vegetables . . . Jesus said you can’t make me go to bed.”  Jesus took the rap for a lot back then.

When Ben’s little brother Noah came along, I felt like I was raising squirrels.

Like most Mormon kids, Ben was baptized when he was 8 years-old.  When he and our bishop walked out of the bishop’s office after Ben’s baptismal interview, the bishop was laughing and shaking his head.  When I asked him what happened, all he would say was, “That was very entertaining!”

Through the years, Ben has fought with the Rebels:

Re-enacted Lord of the Flies:

And earned his Black Belt:

Moving to Taiwan 2 1/2 years ago wasn’t easy for Ben.  He has faced challenges that would crush some kids.

But Ben is strong, he is good, he is smart, and he is a fighter.  I am so proud of the young man he is today.

And I still can’t resist that face!

This is a picture my photographer extraordinaire sister-in-law Julie (of http://www.julieparkerphotography.com) recently took of my Aunt Janet.  Janet turns 81 this summer.

Yep, I got those genes!

Seventeen years ago today, I gave birth to an adorable little penguin.

That little penguin grew . . .

And grew . . .

And grew . . .

And grew . . .

And grew . . .

And eventually became this beautiful swan.

Happy 17th Birthday to my Cecily who is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

Yesterday my heart stopped beating for a few seconds.  I was in the midst of doing my weekly hundred loads of laundry.  I was moving a load from the washer into the dryer when I saw (it was so horrible!) my daughter’s iPod lying, face down, at the bottom of the washer. NOOOO!

You see, we have this little family rule.  It goes like this:  Mom and Dad aren’t going to give you an iPod.  If you want an iPod, you gotta buy it yourself.

When Cecily was 11, she saved up $250 and bought herself the (then) top of the line video iPod.  It took her months to save that much money.  And it was a super cool iPod.  She could listen to music AND watch movies!  Nothing could ever be cooler than that.

Or so we thought.

Then a few years later, Apple came out with the iPod touch.  Whaaaaaa!  It was so cool!!!  Cecily had to have one.  So she sold her video iPod to some outdated college student, saved some more money, and bought herself an iPod touch.

And then yesterday, that iPod touch went through the wash.

But here’s the amazing part:  After I fished the iPod out of the washing machine, I put it in a bag of rice.  Then last night, Cecily took it from the rice and (miracle of miracles) THE THING TURNED ON!!!!!

Steve Jobs (may you rest in peace), you Rock the Casbah!

BTW, Noah (age 13) just bought his first iPod (the latest and greatest iPod touch) last month.  Now he thinks he’s all that.  He listens to it with his rad Beats headphones (purchased from a street vendor in Hong Kong 4 months ago, and now held together with tape).  Ben (almost 15) is still carrying around an iPod that years ago Jason’s former company gave out free as a spiff.  There were boxes of them lying around the company.  Even though it was free to us, Jason made Ben pay him $40 for it, because like I said before, we don’t give our kids iPods.

We’re so mean.