Happy #9 Josh!

I had a vision of Josh waking up this morning to a room decorated with streamers, a Happy Birthday banner and balloons covering the floor. So, last night at about midnight I quietly opened his door, decorations in hand, to find . . . the floor already covered with stuff. So, I quietly shut the door, hung the decorations in the hallway, and vowed not to bug him to clean his room on his birthday. Maybe I'll clean it for him.

In his defense, I think the only thing I ever have to bug Josh about is cleaning his room. I guess that makes him a typical boy. In his further defense, he's not usually the one making the mess. It's his two little sisters, who he is SO sweet to.

Here's a list of the coolest things Josh did in the last year:

• He got baptized.
• He set the school pull-up record at 26 and then upped his PR at Scout Camp to 39 pull-ups! Watch out Huffman Elementary. He's ready to really re-set that record in stone!
• He rode all the scariest rides he was tall enough for at Disneyland, CA Adventures, Lagoon, and even the "sling shot" in the Dimond Center parking lot.
• He rode a freefall "DerStuka"-type ride at 7-Peaks Water Park.
• He climbed Mt. Marathon and to the "Y" in Provo.
• He won a Snickers bar for being the only kid in his Mighty Bikes group to ride up a super-steep hill without putting a foot down.
• He started reading Harry Potter in May and is almost finished with #5 now.
• He learned to vacuum, clean bathrooms and babysit for money.

Josh makes me happy everyday. I'm so lucky to have him. People tell me how kind he is and I just can't take credit. He came from heaven like that. He's been the sweetest kid ever since he was born.

I don't know if his sisters realize it, but he's the best big brother they could ask for. He will feed Tali breakfast and put her bowl in the sink for her. He'll help her get dressed and even help her go potty. Josh lets Liz tag along with him all around the neighborhood without telling her to find her own friends. He held Liz's hand at the bus stop for months and sat next to her everyday until she found someone better to sit by.

Josh is also very kind and considerate of me and Matt. Whenever we take him somewhere, he says, "Thanks for taking me." He even said that last night when I took him to Fred Meyer with me at 10pm to buy ice-cream for his party.

Sometimes his room is a mess and sometimes he smells like a "boy." Usually he finishes his homework without being asked and then leaves it sitting on the table or on the garage floor for two days. But, at the end of the day, I always wish I had more time to spend with this cool kid.