Ryan's Golden Birthday

Happy 9th Birthday to our dear, sweet Ryan! He turned nine on the ninth and so that is why we say it was his "golden birthday". We did all sorts of fun "9" things. All throughout the day he would get little cards that told him about the next fun thing to do. For example when he woke up there was a card on his doorknob saying happy birthday and asking him if he could eat a number 9 for breakfast. This is what he found:

of course we didn't let him eat all 9 donuts, though he wanted to:)

Then we went to visit our friends: their kids plus our kids = 9!

Grandma and Grandpa Johns were going to take him for "9" holes of golf, but it was WAY to hot! So they went to the Children's Sports Hall of Fame in Portsmouth. They had a great time where they were able to do hands on sports things. Here is Grandpa and Ryan seeing how fast they can pitch the baseball.

For his birthday dinner Ryan asked for crab and shrimp! Just what I would have asked for at his age!

And for dessert, he asked for angel food cake with strawberries - his uncle Ryan's favorite birthday cake. He loves that his birthday is the same day that Uncle Ryan's was and we love celebrating on that day even though Uncle Ryan is not with us. We look forward to birthday celebrations with him in heaven someday! This is Ryan's 2nd birthday without Uncle Ryan and our Ryan misses singing Happy Birthday Ryan & Ryan.

Some other "9" activities were making 9 bubbles with gum, 9 blue & gold balloons, 9 slides down the pool slide and tieing 9 knots on his birthday blanket. Here is Ryan opening his gifts:

Ryan, we love you so much! We are grateful that God chose to give you to us. You are such a sweet boy. We pray that your desire to know God continues to grow through the years and that you would choose to live your life for His glory! Happy Birthday!