Eli

Today is Eli's 7th birthday!

Eli was our 19th grandchild and 12th grandson!

He is a very important part of this very large family

And a very important part of this wonderful family.

I wrote about Eli on his birthday last year in this post and visiting there will show the links to all his previous posts.

And those links will take you to many pictures and stories of how he's changed over the years.

So I'll just post a few pictures here

and talk a little about what's been going on in his life during the past year.

First of all, Eli is now is first grade and continues to excel in math but the change is that this year he's also excelling in reading!  In fact, when he and his mom went shopping today for his birthday,

the first place they visited was Barnes and Noble where he picked out this awesome book!

Also this year Eli played soccer and played very well!

He continued to be comfortable in the pool

and out of the pool

and even in the Gulf of Mexico!

Another change in Eli's life this year was losing even more baby teeth.  So far he's lost three this year alone!

Also this year he became a Cub Scout!

But somehow the most important things about Eli right now are the things that haven't changed.  He's a very bright, very cheerful boy!

He's athletic and active and even has aspirations to be a wide receiver when he grows up!

He's also very cooperative and loving,

has a great sense of humor, is eager to please, and he's interested in almost everything!

Tonight he's looking forward to card games with his family and a meal of spicy foods that he picked out.  All in all, you couldn't ask for a more wonderful kid!  Which is why we're so proud of him and we could not love him more!  So, Eli, Happy Birthday!  We're hoping it's the best one EVER but not nearly as great as the many, many more to come!