Eleven.  ELEVEN!!!  Seriously!  My how those 11 years have flown by, and what a handsome and wonderful young man we have to show for them!

Karter is the oldest of my oldest, Kristoffer.  On Father's Day weekend, we celebrated this sweet boy's birthday with family.

A great meal, served inside because of the iffy weather forecast.  (I can't remember a day this summer when the forecast hasn't been "iffy"...)

I had gotten up early Sunday morning to make, at Karter's request, a jelly cake for his birthday.

Whatever the grandson wants....

Papaw with the youngest of the Gray cousins, Babydaniel...  

One of these days, we'll have to call him by his real name Daniel, but for now we all call this precious child Babydaniel.  The cousins adore him!

Kaden always has a smile on his face.  An ornery smile!

Abram doing what Abram loves best, collecting sticks for a pretend fire.

Daniel doing what Daniel does best...looking adorable with those big blue eyes of his.

Presents!

Gramaw and Papaw are fostering his love for Legos.  Another challenging set (ages 16+, but he finished it in less than 2 days) from his favorite Architecture series...

Yep, we ALL loved looking at these nerdy books.  Karter will have them all read (and probably memorized) in a week or so.

Concert tickets to "For King and Country" this fall!  He's excited about his first concert!

Happy Birthday, dear Karter....

May all your birthday wishes come true!

Cousins are the best!  (Note the floating baby in the background...)

Karter has such a kind heart and he has a special bond with Emily's foster daughter T.  She adores him and he gives her lots of much-needed attention.

Such a sweet moment....

First piece of jelly cake finished!

Lucy doesn't want to miss a single taste!

Afterwards, the kids had fun playing outside.  Krew was trying to master his technique....

...so Mommy Anique gave him a demonstration.

Meanwhile, Aunt Emmy couldn't wait to get her hands on the math book....

Jelly cake, round 2...

To finish off a fantastic birthday week, I took Karter for clothes shopping and lunch at Bravo.  What a handsome date I had!

So proud of the wonderful godly young man Karter is!  

Growing up so fast.

Eleven.