The Birthentine Boy

The first birthday in the calendar year to be celebrated in our home is a very "sweet" birthday.
Daniel was born on Valentine's Day.  I suppose it's a good thing that his favorite color is red, it makes for easy decorating.  ;-)

Birthdays mean a special birthday chair...

Gifts in the morning before Dad goes off to work...

a photo-bombing big brother...

and a special dinner of their choice. 
Daniel chose hamburgers and bacon-wrapped shrimp. {And in true style of the foodie that I am not - I forgot to take pictures of the food!}

But, I remembered the finale - Birthday apple pie.

When the older children were little, we often had a birthday parties with several friends in attendance, but even though we planned simple themes, it always seemed to cost more than we planned.  Then we had a light-bulb idea.  Instead of spending money on parties, we could use the money to celebrate as a family and go somewhere.  We have all really enjoyed that.  What we chose to do depended on what the birthday child liked at the time.  
We've enjoyed ice skating, the Children's Museum, the Fort Lewis Military Museum, the Reptile Zoo, the Museum of Flight, the aquarium, the zoo, just to name a few.  It has been a great way to be able to do and see some fun things, that ordinarily a large family can't just do just on a whim.
  
This year, though, Daniel asked if he could have a party.  Why not?  It had been a long while since we had done that.  We decided to have a scavenger hunt because eight boys, all about the age of eleven, need to be outside and run around! 

Eric decided to divide the boys into two teams.  He had previously made up several clues that he put around the property for them to find.  

In the end, each team found a box that contained a Lego mini-figure for each boy.  A true treasure, in their opinion. 

Matt grilled hot dogs {in the rain, no less} while the boys searched. 

After their treasure-trackin', the boys came inside to eat.  They had a grand time being together,  talking about Lego and newest Lego movie out in theaters.  Gifts and cupcakes followed, as did getting entirely soaked running around outside again.  All in all, it was a complete messy success. :-) 

I am thankful for the fun bunch of friends that Daniel has made.  

Here are some things about Daniel that you may or may not know.

1. He is just about 2" shorter than me.
2. His favorite toy is Lego (Bet you couldn't guess that.)
3. He loves to read.
4. His favorite subject in school is history.
5. Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are his favorite. 

He has such a joyful disposition and a tender heart and we are so thankful that God gave him to us.  The BEST Valentine gift ever!