Ethan James - Yesterday and Today

Today is Ethan's 11th birthday!

Ethan is an important part of this large family.

And an even more important part of this smaller family.

I wrote about Ethan in these previous birthday posts:  2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

So they tell a lot about Ethan 'through the years' and these pictures show how his appearance has changed in that time...

but now I want to talk about Ethan in just the past year.

He's always had a great imagination and he's always been very creative.

and loving and protective of his younger siblings

He continues to be a great student and is in advance placement classes in school  where he consistently lands on the honor roll.

He had a very successful cross country season

despite the fact that he powered through all but the last meet with a developing stress fracture.

He got contact lenses this year 

And he and his family visited Hilton Head during the summer

And Gulf Shores over the Christmas break where he couldn't enjoy the beach quite as much because of the stress fracture however he always made the best of it

And he did a good job faking the jump during the famous grandchildren jump shot!

So you can see what a wonderful boy Ethan is!  He's sensitive, loving, smart, and creative; and he makes the best of the most difficult situations!  We're very proud of him and love him very much so we're wishing him his best birthday ever but one only half as great as the many more to come!

Happy Birthday, Ethan!