Owen Is 17 Years Old!

Today Owen is 17 years old! 

Owen was born on MLK Day so this year his birthday is on the exact day it was when he was born in 2007. 

I can not believe that in one year this guy will be an adult! 

Let's see what Owen's been up to this last year. 

For Owen's 16th birthday his siblings set up a scavenger hunt with clues that he had to solve in order to figure out what his gift was. They ended up buying him this computer game called Hades. 

Owen still loves to play with Jenga blocks. In fact he and Zeke have been doing all sorts of set ups lately, playing together and enjoying it. Ella drew Owen's name for Christmas and she got him 2 new sets of Jenga blocks. I honestly don't think our kids have ever actually played the game Jenga though. 

In February Owen had his second piano recital. I so enjoy listening to him play. He loves the piano and it really comes naturally to him. He's going to have another recital soon. Josh has been such a great teacher for Owen. 

So proud of this guy! 

Every now and again these kids can be sweet to each other. ;)

Owen and Jack are probably the ones that have the hardest time getting along. They are polar opposite personalities so it's not surprising. We have rotating daily tasks that each of the kids are responsible for. We rotate them every quarter with school. Awhile back we decided to start having the kids work a task together in order to encourage them to work as a team and get along. Owen and Jack have been tasked with doing the dishes. To say it's been a struggle is an understatement. It's been so bad that at the end of this quarter they aren't rotating. I need to see some drastic improvement in their attitudes towards one another and then they'll get to change jobs. 

On February 25th, Owen officially became a licensed driver. This pictures was taken on March 2nd when he was on his way to piano lessons. It was his first time driving all by himself. This milestone really hit me. This was truly his first time doing something alone and on his own. He's never walked to the store by himself. I've never dropped him off at the movies by himself. He's always been with someone. Crazy! 

There he goes!!! 

Owen driving has honestly been the best thing. He's so responsible and it's made things so much easier for me. If Zeke isn't finished with school, I can now stay at home while Owen runs Jack to his orthodontist appt's or he can run up to the library and return books and pick up the new ones that are on hold. It's been so convenient! He has had one small incident...he was coming home from youth group and it was around dusk. He took the turn too sharp and ran over the curb with the tire. He saw that their was the low tire pressure light, but decided to drive home. By the time he got home he was driving on a totally flat tire. The tire was toast of course, but we weren't really that mad at him. Just a week or so before that him and I had been to the orthodontist and the low tire pressure light came on and we drove home. We had picked up a nail and so the leak was slow. It did end up getting completely flat after we got home, but we were able to get home just fine. So Owen had that experience to gleam from. He just thought if he could get home it would be fine. We did tell him this was his one free incident and next time it would be on him to pay for it. We paid to get a new tire...thankfully he didn't damage the rim. 

 

Owen loves his Charlie so much. Charlie can do no wrong in Owen's eyes....who am I kidding...in any of our eyes! He is one loved cat! Owen and Charlie do have such a special relationship though. Owen is the only person that Charlie will groom. If Owen leans down to Charlie he will always clean him on his face. It's so sweet! 

On March 28th, after 2 years it was finally time for the braces to go bye-bye. 

Look at those nice straight teeth! 

Also in March, Owen had an interview at Wild Waves. He was hired as a Ride Operator. His orientation was on April 1st. He really enjoyed going to work and was doing really well. It was fun seeing him be all responsible and doing something on his own. 

Here he is in his uniform. 

  

All 3 of the boys have been sharing a room for years. In the springtime, I decided it was time for Owen to have his own space. We took everything out of the play/game room and got to work making it his own. We let Owen pick out the color. He chose Magnetic Grey.

On June 3rd, Owen went to work and while he was at work we got his new room all set up. 

When he got home from work we got to show him his finished new room. He was so happy! 

His own reading nook under his bed! 

His awesome Nerf Gun wall! 

Owen is not really good at experiencing new things. He likes to keep to the things he knows and feels comfortable with. Last summer Michael decided to take the boys on our church rafting trip. They all ended up having a great time and can't wait to go again! 

On June 16th, Owen finished up with his sophomore year of high school! 

Owen ended up working at Wild Waves for about a 2 1/2 months and then it just didn't work out. It was a very monotonous job and it ended up not being what he thought it was going to be. I was really disappointed in how the whole thing went down on Wild Waves' end. It could have been handled so differently by them, but oh well. 

One of the nice things about Wild Waves not working out meant that Owen was able to come with us on all our camping trips. Chocolate Malt Milkshakes are something that Owen and I both love! We always get one at DK's Drive-In in Ephrata! 

He did enjoy getting to use his debit card to buy himself some more ice cream treats at the campground store. 

Christmas of 2022, Ga-Ga got each of the boys these miniature games. Owen's was Monopoly. He asked me to play so we did and it was hilarious! 

 

Owen absolutely loves to play games with friends. He and Caleb have a mutual love of this game called Twilight Imperium. Sadly no one else in our family likes it so he doesn't get to play it that much. For his birthday I asked Miss Christina if Caleb would be able to hang out and play with him. So two days ago Owen drove down to Caleb's house and spent hours getting to hang out and play. 

 

We are truly blessed! 

Look at how tall this guy is! I don't know his exact height, but I know he's not as tall as Michael and he's 6'1". He got to be at least 5'10" though. Owen was so sweet this year when it came to giving people cards for their birthday or Christmas. The cards he wrote to Pa & Ga-Ga were so precious! 

Camping at Taidnapam....Owen loves the outdoors to a point and then he needs to be inside with a good book. 

Even though it didn't work out with Wild Waves God had something better in store for Owen. In mid-July he had the opportunity to do some yardwork for a friend of mine from MOPS. He made some good money so I asked him if he'd be interested in doing more yardwork and he said yes. I ended up advertising with our local FB group and he got such a great response. The best part was he was able to decide when he wanted to work so he didn't have to miss out on any of the fun stuff we had planned. It was such a blessing and helped boost his confidence. He really enjoyed getting to do different jobs and meeting new people. His business has pretty much dried up now that it's winter, but he does have one client that he works for every Wednesday from 1-3pm. She has him help her with all sorts of odd jobs. 

Look at all that work he completed during his sophomore year! He is still technically trying to catch up some, but he's worked so hard. 

First day of his Junior year. How can that be?!? 

Always loving on his cat! 

This guy made me a mama and I think he's super cool! 

We've always told the kids that we will be in their finances as long as they live at home. The kids give 10% to God, save 50% and then live off the 40%. Owen also has to pay $40 twice a month to cover half his insurance so he's actually living on less than that. Of course we still want him to be able to to spend the money that he makes on things he wants to buy. He ended up finding these cool off brand Legos where the sets are things popping out of a book. The one he's building here is an open book with the Eye of Sauron coming out of it. They are really cool! The Eye even lights up. For Christmas Ga-Ga got him another set that was the Black Pearl coming out of a book. 

Thankfully he still humors me and let's me take these silly pictures with him. 

Being such a gentlemen! 

Owen and Ella volunteered together at our church's Fall Festival. They ran the Axe Throwing Game. Owen also volunteers at church at least once a month to run the projections for service. He was a huge help this year for the Kids Christmas play. They would have rehearsals every Sunday after church and he would stay and run the projections when needed. It was also nice since Zeke was in the play we didn't have to go back to church later to pick him up. 

 

Ga-Ga bought us this pumpkin carving kit a year ago and it came with this book with all sorts of designs. Owen decided to do use one of the designs this year and it turned out so nice. 

Last year Owen bought himself a cloak to go with his Grim Reaper costume. This year he had to buy a new set of skeleton jammies. 

One night the kids were ready to go to youth group and they looked so cute I thought it would be fun to do a stair step picture. 

Christmas of 2022, Owen got this orange blanket from a White Elephant gift exchange. He has lived in this blanket for the last year. He has it wrapped around his shoulders like this most every day. Owen prefers to wear certain things. He loves his hoody and long sleeve shirts. This summer he very rarely wore shorts or even short sleeve shirts. 

Since Owen now has his own room it has made the living situation upstairs so much more enjoyable for everyone. Jack and Zeke do great sharing a room. They both tend to be a bit messier so they just have to keep their mess under control and Owen doesn't have to deal with a mess that's not his. He isn't super clean either, but it's mostly just stacks of Jenga blocks in a pile on the floor or books. 

Such a handsome dude! 

Owen and Jack volunteered for the Women's Christmas Dinner for the second year. I love seeing them a dressed up. They don't like it, but they sure look nice! 

My favorite picture every year! 

See...wrapped in the blanket! 

Owen drew Jack's name this year for Christmas and he spent a good deal of money buying him a really nice Lego set for Christmas. Making all that money came in handy that's for sure. 

Owen loves to play on Ga-Ga's kindle since hers has different games than his does. 

Owen's Christmas shirt he has on says. "I'm here for the cookies!" I got this for him because he told me that during summer camp he loved getting to eat as many cookies as he wanted each day. I think they ended up putting a cap on the amount of cookies you could have each meal, but it was still 7 cookies and Owen would make sure he'd get all 7! 

Ringing in the New Year with non-alcoholic sparkling wine. The kids did not end up liking it! 

My sweet Owen I can not believe that you are only 1 year away from being a full-fledged adult! This is your last year as a kid. Crazy!!

Owen...

This has been such a great year of growth for you. You got your driver's license and have had the freedom to go where you need to when you need to. Not that you've gone a lot of places for pleasure. You still pretty much only drive when you have to. I'm so proud of you for driving down to spend the day with Caleb. There are so many more adventures that await you. 

You stepped out and got yourself a job....it didn't turn out like you had hoped it would, but that's not a bad thing. Situations and circumstances happen in our life and they shape us, mold us and help us grow and develop into who we are. Because of that situation you were open to the doing yardwork and it turned out to be a great opportunity for you. I know that God has something amazing in store for you work wise we just have to keep moving forward and praying that He reveals His will for you. 

Owen you are so incredibly smart....you have been working so hard at school. You still have a bit of work to do, but I know you'll accomplish it. This year I think has been the easiest for you and me working together. I've actually had fun getting to learn Geometry with you....I seriously can't remember if I ever learned it in high school. I have also enjoyed saving and watching funny cat videos with you on Instagram. We could watch cat videos for hours. 

Your other hobbies are....playing on the computer or the switch, reading books for hours or watching movies. You are definitely an electronic junkie! You do love the outdoors and I'm so glad that we purchased the tent trailer since that does get us outdoors where we make memories. The paddleboard was the best outdoor purchase for you. 

I know the next couple of years are going to be filled with even more growth for you. Since you are the firstborn, Dada and I don't really have anything to go off of so you are the trailblazer. I know it will be nerve wracking, frustrating and exciting watching you grow into an adult. To spread your wings and start making decisions for yourself. We pray that you will always remember to put God's will first in your life. To cry out to Him when you need guidance. Owen we love you more than words can say, but God loves you immensely more than we do. I pray you'll never ever forget that! 

Love you bubba! Happy Birthday!