the BOY becomes a MAN today.....

This young boy is 18 today!! 

I can't even begin to think --where has the time gone?  

For the past 10 years - our lives have been dominated by soccer! 

And it has paid off - Scholarship to FAU to play Division I Soccer...Amen!  

And yet - he is still just my little boy.....

As I said - where has the time gone?  I know where it has gone...I can see it in the wrinkles around my face.  He was to be my 'easy delivery' - I was heading to the hospital and going to have 4 days of BLISS as he would be a C-section and I would get REST!!!   We had his name ready - Hunter Edwin Lowell Pritchard....after two paternal grandfathers that helped shape our lives. 

 The initials...H.E. L.P...well, that should of clued me in. 

 Anyway, after one attempt of him coming, I was sent home to WAIT another week.  On June 6th, 1995,  he did come - into this world - BLUE....but here. 

 His birth weight went from 8.6 pounds to 5.9 when we brought him home and the NICU nurses named him a 'whimpy white boy'....needless to say, he caused a good scare - but, God healed him and his lungs began to work as they should. 

 I never got those 4 days of rest....I don't think I rested until I went back to work  that August as I held him every day!  By then I had spoiled him and his sitter had to deal with a child that wanted to be held all the time.  Bless her heart -- Miss Joanne, his first sitter....We always laugh as he set her into retirement....Not really, but baby sitter #2 was Miss Nola - his 2nd mom and God knew. 

He was in great hands.  

Anyway, today he graduates from Okeechobee High School  and he turns 18 all in one shot.  

It seems again, very unreal...the photo of him in red is when he graduated from Kindergarten.  Rachel was his teacher - so very blessed to have Rachel and Todd both at the Graduation this eve as Darby will graduate with Hunter and the other 20+ TEACHER kids that were born that year....Vanessa, Katie, Dayla, Jacob,  Brooke,   ( and those were just the CES kids!)  .....and more.....  Rachel and Todd were some of HP's first visitors in the hospital!  

Anyway - I could write and write.  

I remember her telling me the kids would be the 'Class of 2013' at the time and it seemed so far away.

Again -- where has the time gone?  

This boy has become a man today in the eyes of the law. Taylor reminded him he could 'only buy cigarettes and go to war'.   It was sort of funny hearing that come from her.  Last night he was finally opening the package of the Cap and Gown to let it 'steam' out  and he was seeking her help to accomplish that.  He did not attend the Baccalaureate last night, ( so this was the first time he had actually hung up his Gown )  as he had mandatory practice in Boca that he had to go to - soccer first....but I was fully assured that HP has been prayed over LOTS lately!  

This boy was my 'cuddler' as a child and still will snuggle up to me here and there.

This boy was my  goofy kid, that kept us on our knees many times.

This boy was the one that endured countless trips south and stuck to  a goal of playing soccer well.

This boy was my fourth grader and I cherish that time.

This boy got in LOTS of trouble with Ben and Diego....

This boy made Mrs. Steiert smile often.

This boy was voted "most talented".

This boy has endured without a car...a job...and has been at the mercy of his parents for any spending money for years - cause Soccer sort of limits his time and he has never really complained once.  ( Well maybe once.) 

This boy was my HELP or HP or 'hunterman' as we called him.

This boy would crack us up all the time.

This boy would determine 'which' restaurant we ever stopped at - depending upon his attention span.

This boy would make up these words and use them over and over and begin a 'trend' with his friends..and for the life of me I can't think of one of those STUPID words as I write but I wrote them down in his baby book.

Speaking of baby book - this boy is the 2nd child...he only has a box of 'notes' for a baby book. 

This boy does not even have a pair of dress pants so his grandmother will take him today to accomplish that - why does it seem that the 2nd child gets forgotten at times?  

This boy has been nicknamed by his sister as the 'golden boy'....  She will claim we love him more - and she is so funny .....so funny!  

She teases but I know this boy is her favorite!  

This boy was my 'man' for a short time  as I would watch him check doors, lock doors and I knew he felt the pressure of being the 'man of the house' for a time but praise God he could watch another man fall in love with God and change.   God I am so blessed.  

This boy has changed in the past two years. 

I sit here amazed at what I want to share but time is escaping me.  

This boy loves Jesus and we know and believe - in his heart and head - he wants God's best for him.

This boy is smart....3.86...or maybe 3.88?  (Unsure - but he is a scholar athlete! ) 

This boy kept that GPA up - with all that travel and soccer - many nights doing homework at 11pm!  

This boy has a super bunch of friends that we have enjoyed for the past 2 years as we have lived in town and fed many a LATE night helping of brownies!  

This boy is sweet - and so sensitive, and funny!  

This boy has 'voices' that he uses to make you laugh....I should not add this, but we were clued in when he could quote and sound like 'mike meyers' of those famed British movies...and we'd laugh and then remind him -- THAT was not very appropriate - better not share that with others.   Talent...

This boy is deeply loved.

This boy is blessed. 

This boy is ours...Brendan's and Michelle's.....

This boy has brought MUCH joy and today this boy becomes a man - legally.  

18  

18 years old today - Happy Birthday Hunter Pritchard 

I love you - 'ma'

Lord,  this prayer is for my family and me.  I have not stopped thanking God for 

Brendan , Hunter and Taylor and me    . . . I pray for them  constantly, 17 asking  you God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give Hunter   spiritual wisdom[f] and insight so that he  might grow in the  knowledge of  YOU, God. 18 I pray that his  heart will be flooded with light so that he can understand the confident hope YOU have given to those you  call—MY  holy people who are rich and in  glorious inheritance.[g] 19 I also pray that Hunter will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with him.  Lord, Hunter is a  part of that body, may he understand that he is loved.  Amen.