I had my 16th birthday
party on July 23, 2016. It was American Ninja Warrior themed and we built an
awesome obstacle course in our backyard! It took us two weeks to plan and
build. There were three age groups that participated. These included: Youth,
Teen and young adult, and senior divisions. There were only two contestants in
the senior division though, my Grandpa and Grandma Andersen. Grandma won.
The obstacles included the Quintuple
steps, fence crawl, tabletop, climbing wall, mud beam, rings, wagonballs,
jumprope board and log hop. In real Ninja Warrior, if a contestant fails an
obstacle, they are eliminated. In ours, we made it so if you failed, a minute
would be added onto your time, but you could continue the course. This way
every participator finished. You can watch the videos to see my sister and me
competing. Many people competed so it took about two hours. After that, we ate
dinner and the boys played basketball. Then I opened presents. My brother and
his fiancée gave me the board game Carcassonne,
and it’s really fun. It’s like Catan, only shorter and like a puzzle. My sister
Elizabeth gave me a Dust Devils game. My sister Stephanie’s family gave me a
$10 Yoke’s gift card, a stuffed animal hedgehog named Spike, and two bags of
sunflower seeds, along with driving 13 plus hours total with two young babies
from Lynden, WA. Little sister Rebecca gave me a new pair of earbuds and some
candy. Danielle gave me cool souvenirs from World Youth Day in Poland. Not only
that, but they were blessed by Pope Francis! All the other gifts were pretty
much money and gift cards, which was awesome. Now that I have my license, I
might be needing some gas money!
On my real birthday on the 27th,
my mom and I went to pick up my license at the DOL. We drove home and she
agreed to sit in the back seat. Moms are great. Later that day, I drove off by
myself for the first time. I was close to tears and I’m sure my mom was as she
was filming her baby drive away.
Cutting the apron strings is not fun. Luckily,
I haven’t cut all of them yet; I still have two years at home before I leave
for seminary. Everyone else is always telling me how tall I’m getting and how
old I’m getting, but I guess I never realized how fast it really would all go. Just
like the quote from that old Irish man, “Youth is wasted on the young.” I have
a few regrets, like not being nicer to my sisters before they left, and not
stopping to smell the flowers more often. But the best thing about this is that
these are things I can still change. Not only while I’m at home, but for the
rest of my life. Being a man isn’t something you grow into; it’s something you
have to work to achieve and choose every day. Turning 16 has helped me realize
this. I can still love my little sister, I can still slow down every once in a
while. I can give God an extra ten minutes a day. I’d say he’s earned it.
Train
the young in the way they should go;
Even
when old, they will not swerve from it.
-Proverbs 22:6
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| Dirt cups were a lot of work! |
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| Gianna hanging out with Mom and Grandma |
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| Becky showing us the dirt cups we made |
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| All the kids from the party |
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| Caleb was very helpful in making dirt cups |
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| Gigi is distracted again :) |
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| What a cute little nephew :D |
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| Making a pyramid. I'm glad that guys on the upper rows were so happy because my spine was breaking. |
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| I love this picture. |
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| Everybody just dropped me. |
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| Cranking 'em out |
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| My personal attendants dusting me off |
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| The girls know how to make a real pyramid |
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| I barely had enough breath to blow this many candles out |
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| Greatest mom ever |
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| I love my gals |
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| Becky gave me Skittles and earbuds, which I really wanted. |
That's Awesome!
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