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.

Adventure Boy Turns 15

Adventure boy turns 15 today. In honor of this memorable occasion I am posting fifteen things we love about Josiah and photos. I scanned some photos from our albums with Brad's phone (it IS smart) so that I could have some non-digitals. Love it.

Fifteen Things We Love About Josiah:
1. He has a great sense of humor. He's been that way from earlier than he should have been. It just didn't seem right having a 4 year old being funny, not because he was a kid, but because he really was funny. He used humor in ways that none of our other 4 years olds did - well, except for Micah (and they are my most similar kids!).
2. He is very musical - a kid after my own heart that way. He plays guitar, piano, and is learning mandolin. Music is his passion - it makes him tick. He is pretty much self taught (except for some early instruction by Mr. Lee....thanks, Gale!) and he is good.
3. Josiah is a thinker....which makes for great conversation. And he likes to talk!!
4. He is compassionate towards others
5. He knows Christ as his saviour and wants to follow Him all through life.
6. We have the same taste in music - and that is really fun.
7. Josiah is a great friend - he is very loyal.
8. He is a quick learner and is good at just about everything that he tries to do.
9. He is determined.
10. He has a great sense of style.
11. He is extremely athletic (see #8 for more details!)
12. He is our in-house go-to techy guy.
13. He is so much fun to be around - one of my favorite people.
14. He plays a great devil's advocate which helps anyone (and himself) understand why they believe what they do.
15. He's my son and first born to boot - that's the thing I am most thankful for in Josiah....I thank God that, in His sovereignty, he gave Josiah to all of us in our family. I don't know what we'd do without him.

I love this one!

Always in costume. For years, he was a "fire guy" wherever we went.

the King and Queen.

First grade - don't you want to just pinch his little cheeks??

First Tee Ball team. He was very serious.....all the other kids were picking daisies, but Josiah was in the World Series. also, each time he got to base, he'd pick up the base, dust it off and put it back down.

The Incredible Hulk showing us how big his muscles are and how NOT skinny he is.

2nd grade cute little punkin'.

The mighty Celts. Homeschool history at its finest. Check out Elias - he has been crazy from the get-go.

He loved his baby sister.

With Grandma Riggs

With Dad before one of his All-Star games

Goober - first day of school photos - homeschooler.

Still loves his baby sister.

He is happiest with his guitar

Happy Birthday, Josiah, we love and thank God for you.

Hiker Boy

Hiker boy after a three day backpacking trip in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. You should have seen his hair up close. He wore a bandana for three days - wet hair, dry hair - and slept in the woods with no shelter. His hair stood on end when the bandana came off. Even with high winds, cold weather, and a little rain, they had a great time. This mom prayed a lot in those three days - the wind we had at the ranch had me thinking that trees were blwoing down all over them, that he got swept away in the river and that he was suffering from hypothermia - silly mom. Nothing scary happened - except the hair. And all the dirt.

The New Him

Ta-Da!!! What a cute kid - odd....but cute! ;)

Say "Goodbye hair"

Today is the day - the long hair is going bye bye - give it a wave!!

I think The Edge is in my Basement!!

For Christmas, Josiah got an effects pedal for his guitar from my folks. We haven't seen him for about two days unless we venture to the basement. He comes up for air and food.

My view from the front seat

Have guitar, will travel. It makes for really nice background music - USUALLY! ;)

Remedy Drive

When we heard that Remedy Drive - no, when we heard that A Christian band, any Christian band, was actually coming to Kalispell, we fell out of our seats. Then, we got up and bought tickets. I had never heard of Remedy Drive, but Josiah had read about them and by the time we went to the show at a local church, we had heard their newest album a few times. When the bass player started jumping off speakers and they all started head banging, I was okay, but when the lead singer started standing on his head/shoulders on top of his keyboard with his feet in the air, I started getting a little worried! It so happened that, other than the few strange antics, the concert was really good. The sound left a little to be desired, but I enjoyed their music. It was really fun and I felt really old. After the show, Josiah went up front to check out the guitarist's effects pedals. It struck me as funny that everyone was crowding around the door waiting for the band to come out and he was at the stage checking out their equipment. We hung out until things died down and talked to each of them. Since then, we have followed their website and Josiah keeps up with what they are doing. A couple of them mentioned really enjoying CS Lewis and Tim Keller on their blogs. I was impressed with the Tim Keller part - not your typical rock band. It was an exciting night for Josiah and I. I miss that part of my life - the music part. It is especially fun sharing it with my own kid who loves it too.

Guitar Hero

Or so he wants to be.....I went outside the other day because I heard strange, outside noises. This is what I saw. HA! Amp and all. I thought it was pretty funny!! A trampoline makes jumping around on stage a bit easier, wouldn't you say?

Happy Birthday Josiah

Josiah is a talented kid. He is very athletic, creative and musical, smart, funny as anything, and a thinker. He loves: baseball, hiking, horses, talking, driving 4-wheelers, music, SWITCHFOOT, guitars, the computer, laughing, shooting, friends, and his mom!! I'm writing this, so I can add anything I want! He does NOT like: oatmeal, getting out of bed in the morning (especially when we are having oatmeal!), and math. His biggest passion is music. He often cannot get to sleep at night because he is writing music in his head. When he was a little guy, I would stand outside his door and laugh, because he'd lie in bed and sing crazy songs that he made up at the top of his lungs. It is such fun talking music and sharing songs/artists that I have always enjoyed with him . I am so thankful for Josiah and for being a part of his life. Josiah is one of my favorite people to hang around with. He makes me laugh with his witty and dry sense of humor and he likes to talk. It is hard to believe my once-little-guy is now a young man. Josiah, I love you. May God continue to bless you and grow you into a man after His own heart! Happy thirteenth birthday!!

Sharp Shooters

A local sports store (Snappy's) hosted an air gun competition this fall for the homeschoolers in the valley. The kids had a great time practicing and competing. We have some sharp shooters in our family. Josiah got second in his age group and Isaiah got first in his. Exciting stuff.

A Boy and His Horse

Okay, so the horses don't belong to him - what I mean is the boy and horses, any horses. He has been looking forward to this summer because Karen Nelson has agreed to teach all of the kids to ride. Josiah L-O-V-E-S horses. He has read every horse book that he has been able to request through the state of MT library system - most non-fiction - on training horses, riding horses, horse breeds, the whole gammit. He is now, officially, in horse heaven.

There are 6 horses at the ranch. Dreamer and Tina are old faithfuls - anyone can ride them. Zippy is well named - he is spirited. Mocha is a sweet horse but has not been ridden much - not what you would put a kid on without help. Becky is just being broken this summer. Karen Nelson has ridden her a few times, but she is not ready for anyone else. Lily is the newbie - three years old and big. Karen is working with her this summer. So there is a lot of horse activity going on at the ranch.

Last week, everyone went riding with Mrs. Nelson and had a great time. When they were done, she told Josiah that he could go ride bareback by himself if he wanted to. So, he took off on Mocha (he likes Mocha) for a ride while we were all hanging around outside. She was being stubborn and would not go anywhere he wanted her to go - she wanted to go back to the hitching post with all her buddies. He stuck to it and made her get moving. It took a long time, but he finally he got her across to the other end of the archery field where she couldn't see the other horses. For another hour, that horse fought him off and on, but he didn't give up. She threw him off twice and bucked once (he was able to stay on that time, he says due to some instruction Karen had given him that day). It was great that he was alone, because he had no choice but to get back on and ride. If he had been with other people, it would have been easy for him to give up or be afraid. When he got back he was so excited - he had a great time. When you get thrown off a horse - TWICE - and can talk about how great it was, you know that you have a thing for horses. Yesterday Karen gave him the green light - he can go to the field, choose a trusty steed and ride whenever he wants. Now he is living the dream.