Happy Birthday Justin! 9 Years Old!

March 3, 2013

Justin really just wanted to go on a train ride this year for his birthday.  It's a good thing because everyone in the house was sick, except Justin, on his birthday.  The day before I came back from CA, Neal and Justin were up all night puking their guts up.  Neal's parents had arrived the day before that.  The next day I came home to Simon barfing, and after cleaning his vomit, I got sick a day or two later myself.  Inevitably, Rodna and Fred would eventually get this horrible 24 hour flu epidemic that had taken over our home.  Thankfully Justin and Neal were feeling well enough on Saturday (the day before Justin's birthday) to take a ride on the Acela (high speed) train to Balitmore and back.  I don't even have pictures to prove it!  On Sunday, I made Star Wars cupcakes and luckily Justin was perfectly content with a very low-key celebration.

Justin has blown us all away with his amazing progress, just in the last year.  We are incredibly proud of him and grateful for all the angels in his life that have helped him become such a great kid!  Justin is reading, doing math and word study independently and truly enjoying school!  He is in a regular 3rd grade classroom, and gets pulled out for some smaller group instruction for reading and math.  He has really enjoyed science this year!  He loves nature, learning about the weather, and the moon-phases.  His favorite hobby is frog hunting and he is extremely good at it.  Since Tuesday, he has caught over 10 bull-frogs, 8 of which are currently residing in a large bucket on our front porch, along with some fish eggs Justin discovered, as well as a couple tadpoles that survived 3-4 winter freezes in that same bucket.  Justin is extremely independent and pretty good at following the rules.  He is also quite protective of his younger brothers.  Justin has really taken an interest in God and Jesus and the meaning of the words we use when we talk about the scriptures and Easter and our Savior.  He is trying so hard to understand and is starting to try and use big words that he hears us use.  It is amazing to see the change in this kid, and we are so thankful to be a part of his journey!  We love you Justin!

Justin asked for a swimming cap for his birthday.  Millie wears one and so does Justin's friend Zachary.  Everyone had to take a turn trying it out!

Unfortunately my camera has weird focusing issues right now.  My kids were unusually camera-cooperative that day.