8 going on 9

Caleb was sad to be turning eight.  Eight is a pretty big, important age for a kid.  Plus he prefers even numbers over odd so to be giving up the 8 number was heavy on his mind.

 Last picture of being 8 years old.

 But turing 9 was sweetened up a bit by a few special things.  Number one, Jonah and Jonathan came for a sleepover!  That is always awesome!  Number two, Caleb's birthday breakfast was waffles and bacon.  You cannot go wrong with bacon in Caleb's mind.

 Like I said, having Jonah and Jonathan over was so awesome!  These boys love each other and they have such fun coming up with games to play together and talking with each other.  We had an obstacle set up for the boys to run through and as we were almost done with it an exciting thing happened.  In our front yard a hawk swooped down under our huge trees and right into our back yard.

 Well, of course the obstacle course was called off as we spent the next 30 or so minutes watching this hawk fly over our heads, dive down into our neighbor's yards, and soar so beautifully in the sky.  It was amazing and perfect for Caleb's birthday.

After our exciting nature sighting we came inside to design our own tin can robots. Fun times. Oh yes, Jonathan also had some fun playing up his broken toe and using Caleb's crutches a lot. Good times, always.

Finally, it would not be Caleb's birthday without... THE RODEO!!!!  It was a party for sure.  We had almost the entire Gray family there plus Pa.  It was so super fun.  17 in total and we were so glad everyone could be there with us.  For dinner we had Caleb's favorites, country fried steak, biscuits and gravy and of course dessert.  It was awesome!  The rodeo was fun, my boys and girl love watching all of the rodeo stuff, cheering and getting into the music.  Then watching Peter mutton bust made the night that much cooler!

Happy Birthday, my Caleb!  You are wonderful!  We are so proud of you for the boy you are becoming and the spirit you have inside you.  8 is such a special age.  Caleb loved everything 8 represented, I think it was the added presence of the spirit in his life and how special that made him feel.  Wow, a 9 year old!  I want him to still stay young.  I want him to still lean on my shoulder as I read to him, or still want to sit by me at church or hold my hand as we are on a walk.  I am excited for Caleb and what this next year will bring, but I am like Caleb.  Saying goodbye to 8 will be hard.  We love you, Caleb!  May you always strive for the best in everything.