Happy Birthday, Uncle Ryan!

We hope your day is great!

Love,

Ron, Melanie, Clay, Ben and Maggie

Happy Birthday, Ron!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

The boys and I hope your day is WONDERFUL!!! (...even though you had to work...)

Ben's 9th Birthday

Ben started his birthday celebration being woken up to "Happy Birthday", of course! At school we brought cupcakes to share with his class at lunch and they sang it to him as well.

After school, we headed downtown to meet Ron for dinner at Mellow Mushroom. Every year since Ben was old enough to choose where to eat for his birthday, he has chosen Pizza Inn. Since there isn't a Pizza Inn in Columbia, he opted for MM......and it was GOOD!

Once we got back home, he played "Guitar Hero" with Clay for a while before eating cake, singing, again, and opening cards. Unfortunately, Ben's present didn't arrive (we ordered it last week) and it is a HUGE surpise so he's patiently waiting. The funniest thing was that Maggie was whining for cake. Clay turned his head for a second, she hopped in his lap and started eating his cake! It was so funny!! The girl loves birthday cake!

All in all, other than his gift not making it on time, I think Ben has had a pretty good celebration day. He's had calls from his grandparents and lots of birthday wishes! Keep watching for gift update....

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Baby Ben!

I can't believe that my baby is NINE YEARS OLD today!!! The years since he was born have flown by, but have been the best nine years! It is so hard to remember life before Ben. He is such a bright, smart, energetic, sweet and FUNNY little boy!

We can't wait to celebrate tonight after school, Ben! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEN!!! You are definitely our BEST VALENTINE'S PRESENT EVER!!!!

WE LOVE YOU!! Mommy, Daddy, Clay and Maggie

Happy Birthday, Aunt Marti!!!

We hope your day is WONDERFUL!!!

We Love you!

Ron, Melanie, Clay and Ben

(in the picture above: Harolyn, Ashley, Me and Aunt Marti one 4th of July!)

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Johnson!

We hope you have a happy 70th birthday!

Happy Birthday, Michelle!

We hope you are having a wonderful birthday as you celebrate in Orlando! We love you and can't wait to see you soon!

Love,

Ron, Melanie, Clay and Ben

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's 60th birthday and we went to Spartanburg to have lunch with him. We met he and my mom at Wade's for some good country cooking and birthday cookie.

Ben and his favorite Poppy

After the waitresses sang, Ben decided he needed to sing "Happy Birthday", too...it was very sweet

Clay Finally Gets Gifts!!

After Clay showered and had lunch, we were finally able to give him the gifts we picked out while shopping on Saturday. He seemed to like everything.

New flip flops from Ben

one of the new shirts and shorts

unfolding...can you guess what it is??!

A BEACH TOWEL!

Maggie gave a Clay some birthday love.

Happy Birthday, Clay!

I can't believe that today you are 13!! When did I get old enough to have a teenager?!?!?

You have grown so much over the last few months. Now, you are an Eagle Scout, a student in the TWO Academy and about to start the eighth grade. I'm very proud of you, your hard work and your accomplishments. You are a great kid....no, teenager, to have.



I hope your day is wonderful!!

Turning 11.........

Turning 12.......

Almost 13!!!!!!!

Ron's 40th Birthday Celebration.....FINALLY!

The weekend of Ron's birthday was Disciple Now and everyone was busy with it, so we had planned to celebrate last Friday and then Ben and I both ended up with the flu. We rescheduled for last night and, thankfully, everyone was well and able to party!

We had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant with several other couples and their kids. All in all we had 7 adults and 6 kids! It was loud, busy and lots of FUN! After dinner we had cake to enjoy and then Jason and Julie invited us to come over for games at their house. Our family went, as did our friend, Michelle and her kids (her husband, unfortunately, missed all of the excitement because of work). We had a great time playing "Taboo".

We are thrilled to be blessed with great friends to share our lives with!

Getting ready for cake

Ron got help blowing out his candles from Logan and Brittany.

Matthew, Julie (holding Michelle's son, Daniel), Michelle and Jason (not sure about his face there!)

Ron and Matthew

Philip enjoyed eating cake with Clay...as you can see from the leftover icing on his cheeks!

Ben's Birthday Party

Today we actually celebrated Ben's birthday. He invited over several of his friends for pizza, cake and playing.

Happy 40th Birthday......Old Man!!!

Happy birthday to my FAVORITE HUSBAND!!! I can't believe I've known him since his 20s and he's now 40! (That just means I'm getting closer and closer to it, too!)

And, he's such a good sport.....he's spending his 40th birthday helping with Disciple Now for the youth at church. We're going with them to Winter Jam....a concert with about 5 bands.

Ron, I hope your day is WONDERFUL and I look forward to your next 40 years!! I love you!

Happy ValenBirthday, Ben!

Eight years ago today I was spending the night at the hospital with my new baby. My little Ben! I can't believe that eight years with him have passed by so quickly. He is growing into the sweetest, most kind-hearted and faithful little man. He is a blessing to me every single day.

Just the other morning he didn't feel so good when we left home and I told him to at least go and try school. On the way he wanted to put in a praise and worship CD and we listened to some of our favorite songs. When we pulled into the school parking lot, he said, "Mommy, I feel better now. It was listening to Christian music." I shook my head and murmered a little, "Mhmm" (you know like you do when you are in a hurry). And, he says, "Mommy, God talks to people in a lot of ways. Like the music. He used it to help me get better this morning." In a hurry stopped on a dime. What faith from such a little guy. God may have spoken to Ben through the music, but He spoke to me through Ben. And, He has every day since February 14, 1999. Thank you, God, for my little Ben. He is a true Valentine's gift of love from You!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since his party won't be until Saturday, I took cupcakes to his class at lunch today. he loved the special attention.

After school,we stopped by my parents house so Ben could get a little cake and gift from my parents. Afterwards we headed home so Ben could go to church for RAs.

Who Dun It?

Last night we attended the murder mystery 18th birthday party for Michelle, on of our youth from this summer. We had lots of fun as she and her friends enjoyed solving the "Icicle Twist".....I got to be the narrator so that was quite neat. I've never been to a murder mystery party and I enjoyed it so much, I'm thinking of doing one for Ron's 40th birthday in a few weeks. It was good to see Rachel, Erin, Staci and Susan, too! Thanks for a great time, Janis and Michelle!

Happy 18th birthday, Michelle!

Me and Michelle at her party (she was a doctor in the mystery,so you can see she's wearing scrubs).

The party was here!

It was so funny that as everyone got into character, they began to get very animated and excited.

Ron pretends to be Boris Ivanovitch....the victim.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Michelle!!

We hope your day is AWESOME!!!

Love,

Ron, Melanie, Clay and Ben