Noah Daniel - Yesterday and Today

Today is Noah's 12th birthday!

Noah is an important part of this large family.

And an even more important part of this smaller family.

He was our 13th grandchild and 8th grandson.

And here's Noah 'through the years'.  (These pictures were taken approximately every 9 months.)

So you can see that Noah has been busy growing and maturing at a rapid rate.   I've written about how he's changed in previous posts.  You can check them out by clicking on the year:  2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. So now we're going to concentrate on Noah throughout 2015.

Here are some of his highlights:
He entered 6th grade where there are many more classes and more teachers and where they use their lockers much more than ever before but he still got almost straight A's.
He started band where he plays the baritone and is very good at it.
He continued with swim lessons which he enjoys.
He enjoyed playing baseball over summer and usually played right field or second base.
He's grown a LOT and is almost taller than his mom.

He used to be taller than Anna but she shot up all of a sudden and now she's taller again.
He and his family went to Louisville to spend almost a week with his cousins and aunt and uncle.
and he spent a week in Michigan with his dad at a beach house.
He went to Boy Scout camp where he enjoyed archery and swimming.
And now spends more time than ever outside playing basketball with his friends when it's warm enough.
And then of course there was that week in Gulf Shores with his mom's huge family.

We're very proud of Noah.  He's amazingly sweet and considerate and is a great and patient big brother to Clara and Eli.  He's always thoughtful, helpful, and cheerful; and he's smart and hard working, too.  We really couldn't be more proud of him.

All and all, it's been a good year for Noah and we're wishing him a very happy birthday and many more years even more amazing than the one he just had.   Happy Birthday, Noah!  We love you very much!

Dueling Brothers

A couple of years ago we were lucky enough to be in Colorado Springs for an important event for the Dans.  While Dan and Teresa were in taking care of some business, I stayed outside to try to catch some good photos of the kids.  You know.  Like this:

And while I was shooting, I noticed that Evan and Grant went into 'competitive cool' mode.

Each one trying to out-cool the other while Tessa tried to ignore their contest.

Then Evan's ultra cool facade started to crack.

And his coolness fell apart because obviously he thinks Grant is the funniest guy ever.

Then Grant caved too.  But Tessa?  She maintained her cool better than anybody.

Every time I look at these pictures I smile and laugh.  That's what's great about pictures.  They take you back to the moment.  And it could be a moment that you would never have thought about again without the pictures.  And this series does another thing.  It reminds me of a couple of other brothers who think the other is hilarious.

And there was one more perk.  We got a pretty good group shot out of it too.

Jack Victor - Yesterday and Today

Today is Jack's 7th birthday!  

Jack is an important part of this large family.

AND an important part of this smaller but large family.

And an even more important part of this smaller, large family.

He's our first great grandchild and sets the bar pretty high for all the great grandchildren who will follow. 

Following are pictures of Jack taken about every six months since he was born.

So you can see that Jack has been busy growing bigger and stronger all the time.  I've written about how he's changed in previous posts.  You can check them out by clicking on the year:  2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.  So now we're going to concentrate on Jack throughout 2015.

During this momentous year Jack lost two teeth and started at a brand new school.  He's doing well in this school because he loves it - or because the school loves him - certainly his teacher does.  He's reading at a 4th grade level and the teacher who he loves says he's the best reader in his class.

His little sister Emma was born this year and he loves her very much so he tries to be very helpful with her.

He also played soccer this year and is considering switching to hockey or maybe baseball.  During the summer he and his family visited his Grandpa's house 'Up North' where they hunted for Salamanders and went to the swimming hole.  They also had fun riding around on Grandpa's new golf cart which he even let him steer sometimes.

But the very best part of the year for Jack was the trip to Alabama during Christmas break and seeing his friend and second cousin, Zachary.  He loved going to the beach,

finding shells and sand dollars, watching Star Wars with almost the whole family and having ice cream cones.  He also got a hermit crab named Spike who lives with the hermit crabs that his brothers and sisters got. 
But most of all he loved having all his cousins and aunts and uncles together in that big house, being with them every day, and sharing a room with his fellow posse crew - Zachary, Trey, Eli, and Dane.

Left to right.  Clara, Jack, Aubrey, Zachary, Eli, Dane, Wade, Trey

You can see he loves his family by this project he did at school.

So that pretty well covered Jack's 2015.  I must add that Jack was a super baby and he's grown into a super kid!  He's loving, kind, smart, adventuresome, and sensitive; and we couldn't be more proud of him.  So, Happy Birthday, Jack!!  Grandpa and I hope you're having a wonderful day that's only half as great as the many more birthdays to come!