Papa Joe Turns 90 Years Old

On Wednesday Papa Joe turned 90 years old. We celebrated by having dinner with the family. Shannon's brother John flew in from Virginia, but the rest of his family were not able to come along.

Today we had cake and ice cream at Papa Joe's house. Several of Papa Joe's nephews and their wives visited, as well as my parents. I did not get a photo of the entire group, but did get one with the great-grandkids.










Papa Joe passed his driver's exam,so he is legal to drive for the next two years. We're trying to convince him to stay within city limits.










Jackson was in charge of cousin patrol. What could possibly go wrong?

Riches and honor are with me, Enduring riches and righteousness. ". Proverbs 8:18


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Little Boys

If you are a little boy, and you are four years old, and it is a quiet, rainy afternoon, and your mom is lying on the sofa watching TV and ignoring you, and everyone else in the family is busy doing something else, then you can absolutely sneak downstairs to the craft room and put as many dinosaur stickers on your belly as you possibly can.










And if you are super sweet and love your mama best, you will share some of those stickers with her.

"A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24

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COLTON IS 14!!

Today is Colton's 14th birthday.  It has been a memorable day for him...but not in a good way.

Early this morning he missed the bus.  Shannon had the honor of driving him to school.  Then he got a crappy grade on his algebra test...along with the rest of his class.

We brought him home some leftover pancakes, but Macklin ate them.

We made the MONUMENTAL decision to get him a puppy, but the one we were interested in was not available by the time we pulled the trigger and made the call.

We pulled him out of school early so we could go get his driver's permit.  Then I remembered that we do not have his birth certificate because we had to mail it in with his passport application.  There was a chance that we could get a copy of his BC at the Grundy County courthouse, but then discovered that it has to be done at the original county of birth.  So he was not able to take his permit test.

No one baked him a birthday cake.  Katie is I am now in the process of mixing up a pan of brownies. Maybe that can salvage a little bit of his day.  

We have a substate soccer game tonight for the Rebels, then we'll decide if he wants to go out for dinner after that.  He mentioned something about Hickory Park.  I'm not sure we are up to that this evening.  We'll see.  

Colton is so much fun to have around.  He is funny.  He has a great personality.  He does a great job in school (despite his algebra test).  He is great with his little brothers, and has fun hanging out with the older brothers.  He is having an awesome soccer season. 

He enjoys serving in our church, and is looking forward to the planned mission trip this summer (thus the passport application).  He's going to do great things in high school this fall!

Being stuck smack dab in the middle of our large family is not always easy, but it's not often that Colton doesn't have a smile on his face.  I know that I can depend on him to help me out when needed.  Despite his crappo birthday, I suspect if you see him yet today, he's gonna be smiling.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CO-CO BEANS!!!!

"My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands."  Proverbs 3:1