Happy 7th Birthday Calvin!

Dearest Calvin,

Today is your birthday!  Today you are 7!  It's hard to believe that the little baby we took home from the hospital is growing up into such a nice, young boy.  You have a zest for life and learning and we love it!  You are inquisitive about so many wonderful things and really enjoy learning about science topics, like dinosaurs, animals, and space. 

Today is also Solar Eclipse day.  The first Solar Eclipse that the United States has seen in many years.  That's kind of neat that your birthday ended up being the day of the Solar Eclipse.  We watched it live on the NASA streaming page and went outside and looked at crescent shadows on the ground.  We watched the world turn a little bit darker in our town, but not completely because we weren't in the path of totality. 

Saturday was your party, an ocean themed party.  You had so many nice friends come for the party.  It was a fun time and there are some pics of your cake (which was decorated partially by you) and the games played. 

This year you start 1st grade and we are so excited for the things you will learn.  We love you so much Sonshine!

All our love,
Mommy, Daddy, Mia and Asher

The octopus was intended as a bean bag toss game, but then you and your friends quickly figured out that it was perfect as a stage prop for taking pics in!

Life

I miss blogging.  I remember when Mia was born and I sometimes updated the blog daily, if not every other day.  I felt guilty for missing a day.  I've missed six months!  Just like that, in a blink of the eye. 

What have we been up to?  We finished our first year at Legacy with the kids.  They had a great year and we are looking forward to another great year this coming fall.  Mia will be in 3rd and Calvin will be in 1st.  Asher has one more year at home, so he will be with Grandma Cheri while I teach a few hours each morning.  

We've managed to do a few fun trips this summer.  We spent a day at Morro Bay, a day up at the Sequoias and a day at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.  The kids are getting bigger and have been able to manage day trips much better.  That works for us because it is a lot of work to pack up and get a hotel, if we can do a day trip, then we can be back home and in our beds which is perfect. 

Jon, Carmen and the boys were here for about a month, so we've enjoyed quite a bit of family time with them.  The kids were so sad when the cousins had to leave, they play so well together and love being with each other...we were all sad when it was time to say goodbye.  

We've been doing a lot of driving to LA working on Mia's scoliosis with specific therapy.  It reminds me of when she was little and I was driving to LA for so many doctor appointments.  Thankfully, there are no babies to feed or fussiness...well, not a lot of fussiness ;)  That makes it easier. 

Mia continues to be seizure free.  We've had a few incidents where she has made comments or acted differently that have put us on higher alert, but so far, she continues to be seizure free.  Our prayer is that she would have another great year without any seizures!  Praise God that she is doing so well.  

Happy 4th Birthday, Asher!

Dearest Asher,

It's hard to believe that today you are 4!  We remember the anticipation of your arrival and how excited we all were to be getting another baby boy.  Out you came weighing 10 pounds 4 oz!  You were a big baby.  And you are still a big boy today, you weighed in this morning at 40 pounds (practically the same weight as your brother and sister now!).  You are now 42 inches...taller than any other kid of ours at your age! 

You love everything Lego these days.  That makes Daddy very happy.  It's amazing to watch you look at the Lego directions and figure out how they go.  You are very good at building things. 

And you love to sing.  Right now, you are a humming your own tune while building a Lego.  The perfect day, quite possibly! 

Your favorite foods are pizza, macaroni & cheese, and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.  You like most fruits and tolerate most vegetables.  You'd rather have desert first, though.  Who wouldn't? 

These days, Mama is still your best friend, but you are developing a strong friendship with your brother and sister also...especially your brother.  You want to do everything he does...except go to school.  :)

We love you sweet boy and are just so blessed to have you in our family!  We continue to love watching you grow and develop into who God created you to be. 

Love, Always and Forever,
Mommy and Daddy...
Mia and Calvin

Happy 9th Birthday, Sweet Mia!

Dearest Mia,

We can't believe that you are 9 today!  This is your last year of being a single digit!  That just can't seem possible, but it is.  This year you sprouted up another 3 inches!  We couldn't be happier that you keep thriving.  Calvin and Asher are going to have to eat more vegetables to keep up with you!

Since May of this year, you have been seizure free.  We are so grateful for each day that God grants you without a seizure.  We continue to pray that God will keep you seizure free and hope we never have another one again. 

This year we started a new school and you've adapted and embraced this new school.  You've always loved learning and you continue to enjoy school.  You have such a nice, caring class and we are excited to see your new friendships blossom and grow. 

You keep doing various activities.  You love riding horses at MARE and you especially love going to AWANA.  It's neat to see you take a verse and apply it to your life. 

We can't wait to see what year 9 holds for you.  We trust God completely for His plans for your life.  We are just so grateful that He chose us to parent you.  We love you sweet pea!!!

Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy & Calvin & Asher

Happy 6th Birthday, Calvin!

Dearest Calvin!

We can't believe you are six!  You've grown into such a nice, helpful, young boy.  We love you so much.  You sprouted three inches this past year and have hit the big 4-1 in weight!  As you can imagine, you are a tall, lanky boy...just like your dad was at your age. 

This year you are starting Kindergarten and we are so excited for you.  You know so much already, but being in a class of kids that are your age will be so much fun for you. 

You and Daddy went on your first mission trip with our church this past June.  You had a great time and want to do that again.  We love watching you develop a heart for helping others. 

You love God more than us and that makes us very happy.  Things are very black and white to you, we love watching you ask questions about your faith and making it more real for you. 

We pray that God would continue to mold you into the man he would want you to be.  We pray that you would fiercely love God and want to serve him always. 

We love you sweet boy, our sonshine!

Love always,
Mommy and Daddy, Mia & Asher