James turned 11 last week!  Eleven is so close to twelve, and 12 seems so old!  I just can’t believe he’s 11.  He asked ahead of time if we could take the day off from school work, so that’s what we did.  The kids enjoyed plenty of time to play together through the day. 

We couldn’t go anywhere or invite anyone over, so we wanted to make sure that James chose the food for all three meals of the day: Donuts for breakfast, french toast and scrambled eggs for lunch, take out from La Casita for dinner, and macaroons for dessert.  So fun. 

And, we worked in a few surprises for him too.  A family from our small group came by the house honking and singing to James. 

And, I arranged for his best friend, Caden, to drop by.  Because of quarantine, the plan was for Caden and his mom to stay in the car and we’d keep our distance while the boys chatted.  As soon as they stopped the car, Caden hopped out and hugged James before any of us could stop them.  It was very sweet. 

James’s teacher asked the class for a word to describe James (typically they’d share these in class with James) and she sent those to us, and many of his classmates sent a birthday card in the mail.  

His teacher’s birthday video to him was so special.  With her permission, I wanted to share it here.   

At the end of the day, with everyone piled on our bed, James said this turned out to be one of his best birthdays.  I love that.  James, we’re so thankful for you and thank God for the gift that you are to our family.  We love you!