Troy turned 17 yesterday! Can you believe it? I can't! Makes me feel OLD! In just 5 years from now, he will have already been home from his mission for a whole year!
Contrast that with just five years ago (5 years that have just flown by!) and Troy was just turning 12. Here he is with the Kitty-litter cake that he just HAD to have! It's made with vanilla pudding, vanilla sandwich cookies chopped up in the blender (some of them mixed with green food coloring to get that authentic look of green crystals in the mix) and microwaved tootsie rolls shaped "just so". Served in a NEW litter pan, with a NEW litter scoop. Good times! Funny thing was, even though all these tough boys talked about how awesome it was, NONE of them could eat more than a bite or two. BTW...this was not Troy's "real" birthday cake. We made this one on his actual birthday just for fun (right before Cliff got home from deployment) but he had a traditional birthday cake at the laser tag place where his party was held (right after Cliff got home).
Just five short years before that...here's Troy's 7th birthday party, where he received his first deck of Pokemon cards! He's speechless! Oh, the allowance that was spent on those things! Not to mention the money I spent on binders, page protectors, other misc. paraphernalia...not to mention the Black Friday of '99, spent in the line snaking around Toys R Us at 2 AM, just to get a limited edition playing mat (that turned out to be folded paper!) and a limited edition code to unlock a character in the Pokemon game for Gameboy Color (the character which he promptly "lent" to a friend--by beaming it over to his game, however that works--and never got back...not that I'm not over it by now!).
And five years before that...here he is turning TWO! Oh what I wouldn't give to squeeze that two year old some more! Not that he'd let me...he wasn't really big on being held and squeezed.
So this year, we celebrated Troy's birthday at a Teppanyaki joint called "Jack's Place" on Kadena. It was very good! Definitely worth doing again.
Here's the anatomy of a birthday dinner:
You know it's gonna be good when there's a tower of butter involved!
And in the "the grosser, the better" category...Troy decided to try Escargot. He thought it was good. I'll take his word for it.
Shrimp cocktails all around (except for Troy, who chose that other stuff...bleck!)
Look at all this yumminess! Kobe beef, shrimp, scallops...something for everyone!
Everything's more fun when you light it on fire!
When we were sufficiently stuffed, it was time for cake and presents...
Was this for Troy...or Dad? Hmmm...suspicious.
Well, at least we know this was really for Troy...Dad already has one.
It was a terrific night, in celebration of one terrific young man!
Happy Birthday, Troy!
1 comment:
Isn't it just amazing? When they're little you think it's forever and once they hit about 12 or 13, it's just like a flash. What great kids you have!
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