Happy Birthday Marcus, Elder Demke, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Marcus the "Marf-man" turned 3 earlier in November, and today, November 25, Uncle Dallin turns 20 in Argentina! What a great month it has been leading up to Thanksgiving--it has come naturally to count my blessings and express the gratitude that has filled my heart leading up to this holiday season.

Well, I always ask this question when my babies cross the threshold of baby-hood into kid-hood (on the day they turn 3), so I'll ask it again: "How can my baby be 3???" Well, he is, and I was emotional during the weeks preceding his birthday (especially when the song "Smile" by Uncle Cracker came on the radio--it reminds me of my carefree, fun-lovin' little dude!)--and in the months leading up to his big day I was planning the best CARS birthday party I could imagine to make this day a really great one for my little man! And so it was. The party was a hit; the kids got to decorate their own cars made out of large boxes I had been saving at Ramone's Body Art (our back porch); they ate white-rimmed tire cake, and watched a bit of the CARS movie on the race-track made of rubber floor tiles in their new home-made cars! Oh, and Marcus got a big-boy Lightning McQueen bike , so now he and Kaia ride their bikes around the lake while I push Ellie in her stroller--it's a good system. So, my baby boy (who didn't want to turn 3, claiming he was still a baby, when the "big-boy" responsibilities started coming) officially became a kid who will soon go to his first Primary Pancake breakfast, and become a Sunbeam . . . but for now, he's my little bud, always making jokes, always charming, even at his orneriest his big brown eyes melt my heart! He loves to cudddle and be wrestled to the ground and tickled, he loves to have his head rubbed and be read stories to . . . he idolizes his big sis and best friend Kaia, and absolutely adores and protects his baby sister Ellie (anytime he sees her, he "needs to kiss her"!) And, yes, I know, no matter how old he gets, my little boy will always be my baby!