Happy Birthday, Monkey!

I had so much fun planning Will's party this year. Currently he has been on a Curious George kick, so that fun & friendly little monkey was the inspiration. We kept things pretty low-key again this year, and thought we could get away with not having an official "friends" party for one more year.

We did, however, invite his friend Landon , as they seem to be best buddies at the moment. My mom was planning to be here, but she's been experiencing a lot of back pain, so she had to post-pone her trip for a few weeks...we missed you, Gigi (and of course Papaw, too)!!!

Will was excited about his party from the moment he woke up. He kept saying throughout the day, "I want my birthday right now." As in, "I want to party right now." He used to not like being the center of attention, but that seemed to have changed this year - in fact, he enjoyed it thoroughly! Aunt Kristin and Dan got Will a super cool tent...Dave set it up in his room while Will was eating breakfast. When he went up to his room and saw the tent, he was talking a mile a minute.

Thank you to everyone (including those of you who couldn't attend physically, but were here in spirit) for all of your thoughtful and extremely generous gifts. Will is one spoiled 3 year old! He is having so much fun playing with all of his new toys, and appreciated the fact that he didn't get any clothes - ha! Don't we all remember being that age and being disappointed with clothes instead of toys?! Oh how things have changed...well, for me, anyway ;-)

Without getting overly dramatic, words cannot express how grateful we are to have been able to celebrate Will's life of 3 years. What a blessing that God has given us not only 1, but 2 healthy and happy little boys...we don't want to take that for granted. To think how close we could have been to losing him just 8 months ago, we are praising the Lord for his protection, and that we had the privilege of throwing him a 3rd birthday party...thank you, Lord!

We are so proud of you, Will. We love your sweet spirit, your compassionate heart, your amazing ability to love, your serious side, your sensitive side, your silly side, your curious side, your analytical side, and everything in between. We pray for you everyday, and firmly believe that God has a plan (His PERFECT plan) for your life. Just as Grammy always prayed for your daddy, we also pray the same prayer for you...first of all, that you would come to know Jesus at a young age, and secondly that He would grow you "...in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man," and thirdly that you would "...love Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and that you would love others as yourself."

We love watching you grow - not only in years, but also in Jesus!