Sweet 16

In October of 1982 a really exciting thing happened.

I turned 16 years old.

It was milestone to say the least.

My parents surprised me with a bday party. I had no idea. I worked at Burger King that morning and was planning on going to a restaurant called Chi Chi's that evening for my Birthday dinner. Instead I was brought home, in my BK uniform of course, and as we approach the house I see my sisters and my cousins standing out at the side of the road in front of the house with all of these signs.

Happy Birthday, Kris

You're 16, now you can drive! (I remember that one!)

and other stuff that the under 10year old set thinks is fun lol




I had a boyfriend at the time that I was just crazy head over heels for at the time. He came to the party and someone took the greatest picture of us together. I haven't seen it in years. I'm afraid it might be in my possession. I haven't seen my photos in years.

The picture above is also one of the best photos I took that whole year. My hair looked great, my smile wasn't goofy and that shirt looked good on me.




The flowers in the photo are from my relatives in Maywood, NE. I remember when the flowers arrived the day before, it was so exciting. I'd never received flowers before - not delivered anyway. The card said that the red rose was from my cousin Arlas. He was my very favorite Nebraska cousin.

Here's Arlas and I in 1974.

My mother is remodeling her kitchen and there is a small space above a cabinet section that is going to get sealed up. We have decided to use that section as a time capsule and to put photos of the house and the occupants and notes to the people who find the treasures, about those of us who lived and loved the house. The photo of my 16th birthday was not taken in the house where the remodeling is taking place, but because we've unearth so many photos and so many memories, I had to scan this photo and talk about it.

I swear I need about 10 more days in Michigan to get all of the family photos copied and documented. Strike that -- 10 months. The scanning is probably the easiest part. Talking about each photo, memories about the day that the photo was taken. Laughing about who was there or what's in the photo - that's what takes up the most time. But then again, that's the fun part!

I love my family.

I've had such a nice trip home to see them.

I'm glad I've still got a few days left.

Have a fabulous week!
Kristin