This week, we celebrated 14 years of the blessing to whom we gave the name Cordell.

He has been a most amazing kid.

He's kind, thoughtful,

 loves to serve (makes a great butler when we have guests), and

puts others before himself (almost too much).

 He is creative, intelligent, and great at entertaining younger kids.

His vocabulary - I wish I could take credit for it - but it's beyond anything I've ever heard come out of a teenager's mouth.  Sometimes, he has us in stitches with his choice of words.

Certainly not your everyday 'Joe'.

He totally thinks outside the box - sometimes we're not sure he's aware that there are boxes.

He's not limited by my culture nor the culture he's grown up in,

but has his own set of rules by which he experiences life.

He's detailed - writes everything down,

journals regularly (which I wish I'd do, and nobody else in this family does), 

and, believe me, it's entertaining!

Celebrating his birthday was not hard.  Even though we didn't have a gift.

I had picked up a card when we were in PA last summer -

add some money to his savings-

 that's all he needed.

We started the day with a sit-down breakfast, which doesn't often happen in our house.

But we did it 'cuz that's the way Cordell would like it.

I made pancakes and bacon (neither of which is a regular occurrence in our house), and we had fresh-squeezed orange juice and hot chocolate to drink.

 Cordell wanted to invite a few of the guys in the neighborhood to a party in the afternoon.  

Even before breakfast, we set about making invitations.

And Cordell hopped on his bike and delivered them to each of the guys' homes.

His choice for our main meal of the day (at our house it's lunch)

was to go to a local restaurant called "La Jungla" (the Jungle).

He chose the steak - with fries, rice, salad, and tortillas, of course.

I had fajitas - YUM!

Back at home, we started preparations for the 'party'.

I made donuts.

For about the last 5 years, Cordell has chosen donuts instead of a cake for his birthday.

This year was no different.

YUMMY!  Again!

Cordell gave each of the guys a simple slingshot that we had picked up at the market earlier that day, they lined up coke cans on the picnic table,

and they had competitions to see who was the best shot.  Jaime won - no contest.

They spent a lot of time with those slingshots.

But they also played a round of croquet (yes, we have a set here),

a couple innings of baseball,

and hung out on the playgound set in the backyard.

I don't have pictures of the water baths.  

Early in the party, Cordell was lured to the back of the house.

He was suspicious that something was up so he was not going willingly.  Two of the guys got most of the water turned back on them, but Cordell was no match for Asher, who had a large bucket and thoroughly soaked him.  Normally, that would feel really good, but this week is actually cool, so it wasn't as refreshing as sometimes.

Then, the winner of the croquet game got dowsed.

And the winning team at baseball also got it.

As we sat down to dinner, after all the friends had gone home,

Cordell suddenly realized how uncomfortable his wet jeans were!

So, we let him change before our candlelight dinner.

Did I mention Cordell is a hopeless romantic?

Not when it comes to girls, mind you, OH NO, not that way,

But he loves candlelit dinners, and the glass dishes, and the 'good silverware'.

So we had chicken quesadillas and fruit,

by candlelight,

for supper.

I pray that God will grant us many more years together!

Happy Birthday, Cordell!