Jeremiah the Reader

Our church is reading through the Bible together in one year. We have made it a part of the night time routine and reading through it together as a family. Tonight we were up to Psalm 23, and I thought I would video Jeremiah reading. He reads the excerpts from Psalms and Proverbs every night. His reading has improved SO much this year. His teacher is FABULOUS (have I mentioned that?....I am trying to convince her to teach 3rd grade next year) and she makes reading very fun for the kids. I never imagined Jeremiah would ask if he could stay up past his bedtime to read! How can I say no?

J reading Scripture

Jeremiah's Party

After a week of raining and flooding and a leaky roof, we were blessed with a partly cloudy day for having Jeremiah's party. We had a really fun time. My parents, sister, bro-in-law, and their boys came in from CA for the festivities. Jeremiah was very excited to have his cousins here. He also invited 6 friends. It was a Transformer-themed party. We had a pinata and played some games (freeze dance was a big hit). Of course, there was cake and ice cream. And presents! Jeremiah's friends and family were very generous with their giving. It's hard to believe we have an 8-year-old now. But, it brought me such joy to see him full of such joy. It reminded me how joyful our Heavenly Father must be when we our joyful. And I am SO thankful to Him for blessing us with Jeremiah.

Pinata


Cake




Friends


Freeze Dance

8-Year-Old Boy

Our son is 8 today. I know its trite; I know it's a cliche, but it really is incredible how fast the time has gone. He is halfway through second grade (and doing fantastically, I might add). He is very independent: he rides his bike to and from school, takes showers, vacuums (!), and so much more. As time goes on, I feel less and less "needed" by him. He sometimes makes his own lunch (at his request) and almost daily asks to help with dinner. We decided that this year we would start giving him an allowance. We still need to get the details ironed out, but he has shown that he is ready to learn about earning, saving, and giving money.

On my other blog, I wrote a list of why I think Jeremiah is such an amazing kid. I thought I would re-post it here so that those of you who don't keep up with that blog can see it too. Today is about celebrating Jeremiah and the incredible young man he is becoming!

8 Reasons My Son is Awesome
1. He is a great joke teller
2. He is spontaneous
3. He is F-U-N, FUN!
4. He is TERRIFIC at math (he's on multiplication, in 2nd grade, way ahead of the other kids in his class)
5. He is fearless (sometimes this terrifies me, but mostly it means that he won't be afraid to take chances and try new things, and will probably be a "leader" and not a "follower")
6. He is a GOOD eater
7. He has a passion for learning about God
8. He has a BIG heart--I pray that his compassion only grows and will someday be used for God's glory.

We are having a birthday party for him Saturday. Of course, rain is in the forecast (it has rained at EVERY SINGLE birthday party we have had since moving here, no exaggeration). We will have fun nonetheless!

THEN:


NOW:


Happy Birthday Jeremiah! It is such a joy to watch you grow and mature with each passing year. Here's to Year 9!

Trip to Flagstaff

We took a little jaunt up to Flagstaff for Saturday and part of Sunday. There was still some snow and the kids had never really experienced it before, so we thought it would be a fun thing to do on Peter's last weekend off before his shift changes. It was really beautiful! The sky was crystal blue, and the snow on the ground made everything look so peaceful. We left EARLY Sat morning and got to Flagstaff by 8:30am. We went up to a snow play area called Wing Mountain, where the kids did some sledding for about 2 hours. What a blast it was! The snow was slick and a bit icy, not great for skiing or snowboarding, but perfect for sledding. Our noses and toes got cold and we were hungry for lunch so we called it day and had a picnic in the van at the base of the mountain. Then we pulled over to this meadow area where they could run around and play in the snow. We hiked up a ways and sprinkled some of Ezra's ashes among some trees and rocks. We also did a walking tour of Flagstaff's quaint downtown area and ate dinner at a local taqueria. It was tasty! We were beat by 6pm, so we went back to the hotel and called it a night. Asleep by 9pm! Sunday, Jeremiah and Peter went out for more sledding and Alayna and I just took in the sights at Northern Arizona University. We ate lunch and then headed back to Mesa. It was a great little getaway and we are so thankful that we got the opportunity to do it. Friends lent us clothes, and boots, and a sled. And we got the money for food and hotel in the form of a Visa gift card from Peter's grandpa (Christmas gift). It was a huge blessing to get away one more time before our weekends aren't available anymore! Yay for snow!!!