Elijah's 3 years old!

Three years ago today, Elijah joined our family! It has been quite a ride since he joined us. It's never a dull moment in our home or family, that's for sure! He makes us all laugh and laugh and take life a little lighter.

For his birthday we headed over the mountain to my parents house for a couple days. There's an aquatic center in Madras (that I recommend!) so we went there for their open swim from 1-3pm. We all had a great time! There's a 90' curly slide, (which you have to be 48 inches to ride), there's a fountain and splash area for little ones with a padded bottom on the pool! Makes it great for parents hanging out in that area. We all enjoyed the lazy river too. It was a perfect amount of time for swimming and playing!

After that we headed to Pappy's pizza in Redmond for some food and more play time! Thankfully it was about an hour drive from the swimming pool to the Pizza Parlor, giving both Caleb & Elijah time to nap in the van. If you have small kids and ever need a break on a trip to Bend, it's a wonderfully kid-friendly place with pretty good pizza!

Months ago, the kids & I were in the car and I asked Elijah, "What kind of birthday cake would you like this year?" To which Abigail replied, "Ooh, Elijah, you should have a sign birthday!!" I totally tried to boo that idea, which didn't work and since then he has said, "I'm going to have a sign birthday (cake) this year!!" As it got closer and closer I kept trying to get him interested in other ideas, but he was stuck. I even googled "traffic signs" to see if I could find one that I liked (yeah, completely selfish of me!!) because I really, really didn't want to make a red cake if he asked for a STOP sign. Well, he did. Thankfully though, he really wanted a green STOP sign cake. Not sure where that came from, but I jumped at the idea, hoping he wouldn't change his mind. He didn't...in fact, he's been saying, "This year is my green sign birthday and next year is my blue one!!" Oh dear.

It's a bit ironic though, that he did choose a STOP sign for his birthday. He really does hear that word a lot!! : ) And I mean, A LOT! : ) I would like to say that a YIELD sign might be more appropriate, but we are in the thick of training this little man and honestly, STOP is what he does hear most often. I'm praying this year will be a fruitful year of YIELDing his strong, determined will to that of his parents and the Lord as he grows in wisdom and discernment.

Besides being incredibly energetic he is also incredibly sweet and tender. When he and Abigail are arguing over something, it's Elijah who is the first to apologize and ask for forgiveness. He doesn't hold tightly to "things" and if something is taken from him, he just moves onto something else. He gives great hugs and kisses and loves to cuddle, especially after naptime in the afternoon. He is the first to greet Joel with a big hug when he comes home from work, saying, "I missed you at work!" He loves life and is full of life! He already is and will continue to be a JOY to our family through the years!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Elijah! We love you!!