Lee and Jae 13 bday1 300x225 A Very Special DayThe phrase “Life is a Journey” could not be more evident than it is today. Today is the 13th birthday of my oldest child, Jae.

She has travelled through life for discovering new and different experiences. She learns each day what life is really about. Life, as wonderful and fascinating as it can be, can be a challenging and sometimes painful place. But as the saying goes, “It is the journey that we learn from.” It is the day-to-day experiences, the feedback, the love, the scary times, and it is the relationships that build a foundation of what life means to us.

Jae is 13 years old now. She has 13 years of experiences in which her foundation has been built on. It is this foundation which will help her build upward and outward as the next 13 years unfold before her.

My wife and I have also followed a journey of discovery as Jae went through her first years. We have learned a lot about not only raising a daughter, but also about ourselves as parents and caregivers.

The foundation my wife and I have built from the journey will help us raise our other two children. Hopefully, we will do a better job in some areas and do exactly what we did with Jae in others.

Happy Birthday, Jae!

Mom, Dad, Bailee, and Brennen

P.S. Here are a few funny sayings about teenagers that I found floating around the Internet. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

-A teenager is always too tired to hold a dishcloth, but never too tired to hold a phone.

-Mothers of teenagers know why animals eat their young.

-Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-o to a tree.

-Teenage is the age when one feels they have inherited all the world s wisdom

-Teenager with nose rings, baggy clothing and spiked hair to a friend: “I don t really like dressing this way, but it keeps my parents from dragging me everywhere they go.”