B22 Birthday Update

It's hard to get a good picture of B22! He doesn't like getting his picture taken, so you have to sneak them when he's not looking at the camera. (These photos were taken on Christmas Day, at Brother Rooster's home in Chicago.)

(This is why you use a knife and cut your meat into bite-size pieces, B17, especially when your father's camera is out.)

B22 actually ended up with two jobs during the holiday season--we were so thankful! He worked at a downtown toy store beginning in the late summer and in November he also was hired by Marshall's, a small department store, for just 8 hours a week. However, he was considered a seasonal employee at both places, and after the holidays ended, both jobs ended as well. But he has some good experience on his resume now, and good references, and he made enough to begin paying back his college loans, have a little in savings, and a little to spend on soundtracks and new speakers for his iPod.

I am so thankful for the help he is getting through the local Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. He has to call in every Friday and tell them what jobs he has applied for, and they follow up with those employers. Right now, it's tough. No one is hiring in January.

So it's a good thing he has a class to keep him busy. There is a technical college here in Kenosha called Gateway, and he has decided to work toward their associate's degree in Graphic Design. We are hoping that some of his TIU coursework will transfer, as electives at least. The class he's taking this semester is on designing presentations in a number of different software environments. It's four hours once a week at the Racine campus, which is nearly 30 minutes away. So far, he's enjoying it very much!

For his birthday, we went around the table and said why we were thankful for B22. Recurring themes were his willingness to play Legos with his three younger siblings, his sci-fi knowledge, his steadfastness in the Lord, and his faithfulness with his chores. Since he has more time, he has all the biggest chores--doing dishes, vacuuming the main level, putting away all groceries, cleaning a bathroom, remembering to put out the trash and recycling bins each week. He is so reliable and consistent--such a help and a blessing to us all!

For Christmas and his birthday, he asked for books--Star Wars graphic novels, Eragon's Guide to Alagaesia, The Inheritance Almanac, Awakening: The Art of Halo--and a Lego set, the Star Wars Striker-class Republic Starfighter. With an iTunes gift card he received for Christmas, he purchased the Sherlock Holmes movie soundtrack and the Halo 4 soundtrack, and he also is enjoying the newest Owl City album which his brother shared with him. The other thing he asked for and received for his birthday was for his dad and brothers to watch a movie with him--Halo 4:  Forward Unto Dawn.

Happy Birthday, B22! Your faithfulness in the Lord and in our family is a blessing to us all. May your 23rd year hold many good things and new adventures!