16? How did we get here?

With Micah
And Elias - they were big buds

Elisha and Isaiah, his other partners in crime

ye olde fire guy

rope swing action.

I have no idea why all of these photos say "Elias's" in the corner....reason 74,249 why not to give the kids the camera.

with the Curles on Black Friday this year in San Diego....at 3:30 in the morning.

Crown of the Continent Guitar Workshop this past summer
Below - at the church talent show last year

Yep, the boy is 16. Today. Wow. I loved every minute (well, okay that is a gross exaggeration, but I did really LOVE it) of my kids' baby and little-personhood. I would agree to live it all over again without a second's hesitation. But there is something really wonderful about having your kids get older and watching them develop into the people that God designed them to be. With that said, we all think Josiah is the bomb. One of our little family birthday rituals is (along with your choice of dinner and breakfast on your special day) that everyone in the family tells something that they appreciate or are thankful for about the birthday kid. Tonight, it was really fun hearing the kids are go on and on about what they loved about Jo. Most of them had more than one thing to share that they were bubbling over with. You gotta love that. Some points shared by us all are that Josiah is a thinker who considers what he is doing (even the rotten things, and even if he isn't real quick about changing them, he is thinking about them and trying to go the direction of what is right). He is okay with who he is (meaning that he is just who he is and he is okay if other people aren't okay with that. He knows what he believes about a lot of things and will stand up for those things). Josiah is talented, funny, fun, faithful, and loves his family. He is also really great to be around and we all love to listen to him play guitar....and piano. I am thankful for Josiah and for the man that he is growing into and I am going to bawl like a baby when he moves out one day - but we aren't going to think about that now. Son, we are proud of you and love you to the moon and back, over and over and over and over again.

cheater cheater

So, I am a cheater....and a very lame blogger. This is not new news to any of you reading this. It is always my intention to, at the very least, blog on each of the kids' birthdays. But, somehow, it is only the ones that have birthdays in Feb. and March that get a post. It is not that I love them any more or love the others any less, but that my world is a blur from September through December when two birthdays take place. I have a little better grip on life in Feb. and March. Not sure what my problem is with the July birthday, but pretty sure it relates to the second part of that first sentence above. So, that said, here's the cheater part. I am going to try to do those birthday posts in the next week and post them as if I WEREN'T a lame blogger and have them appear on the actual birthday dates on this blog. Hence the cheater part. So, Dad, this is for you - in the next couple weeks, you can start looking at previous months, and posts may miraculously appear where there previously were none. Or maybe you just missed them while you were wearing out your computer going to the blog to find NOTHING NEW EVERY DAY. Or maybe I am a cheater....but I never cheated on tests...just at blogging. In case you were wondering.