Happy Birthday to Sam!!!!

Yesterday, Sam turned 9!!!!  Which is really a bit scary, since it means that next year he will be TEN!!  Anyway, we had a fun day (took the whole day off school :)) and he got to play more Angry Birds than usual on the iPod and watched more Andy Griffith than usual, too.  This is a Big Deal. :)  We had a fun little family party for him at night, with my parents and Grampa.  Here are just a few pics from the many I took!

Opening a can of noise putty from Julia

 Snap Circuits!  Something he's been wanting for a while . . . Amazon finally put them on a good sale. :)

 He requested a Batman-themed cake.  Jim and I got up early and decorated it in our own simple version of the Batcave. :)  The main attraction was the Hot Wheels original Batmobile that we put on it.  As you can see by his face, the cake was a hit. :)

 This one turned out a bit blurry, but you can see the inside of the Batcave a little better.

 Checking out his new Batmobile.

We're so thankful for our biggest boy and how he's growing into a fine young man. :)  Hard to believe he is halfway to 18 now!  He's a great blessing in our lives and we are very proud of him!  We pray that he will love God with his whole heart and grow up to make a difference in the lives of others.  We love you Sam . . . Happy, happy birthday!!!