A few of Asher's favorite things

Asher's birthday was a day full of his favorites.  I thought that listing these things would give you a good idea of who Asher is...so these are "a few of his favorite things" (Do you hear the song melody?):

The color green: we have a tradition of decorating the birthday child's door at night so it is the 1st thing they see when they wake up in the morning.  Asher's door was decorated with green streamers and green balloons.  He got up at 6am, saw them and laid in bed too excited to go back to sleep (we don't let them come out of their rooms till 7am).

Monkey bread, orange chicken, and broccoli: his favorite foods.  The birthday kid always gets to pick the food for the day so he  got to eat all his favorite meals on our "celebrate" plate.

 Miniature Golf: In place of a big birthday party this year, he got to choose a few friends to do an activity.  He chose miniature golf (not a big surprise).  Only the boys went.  He got to take 2 good buddies he knew in Ohio and 2 of his besties from the neighborhood.  Joel forgot to take pictures while they were out so this is my one group photo.  They were some happy boys when they came home!

 Carrot Cake: What other child always chooses carrot cake on their birthday?  Only Asher, my vegetable lover.  Every year, this is what he wants as his birthday cake and he devours it! I had to make a batch of brownies too because some of those boys did not want anything to do with the carrot cake! He also wanted mint chocolate chip ice cream on the side-mint he says is his favorite spice.

Friends: Asher loves being with other people and is always looking for new friends to make.  This neighborhood has been heaven for him (and the other kids).  Because of all the friends around us, they have had no trouble adjusting to our new place and life here.  While I was washing dishes I noticed our 2 neighbor girls hanging a sign over our fence...they wanted to surprise him!  It brought tears to my eyes.  They even drew a little swimmer on the corner (Asher made the swim team here and starts next week!).

I am not sure how 8 years has gone by, how the little blonde baby that slept on my shoulder turned into a long legged skinny boy.  My favorite thing about this boy is his positive outlook on life.  He is always happy, showing love to others, encouraged, and believes the best in everyone.  We can't wait to see what God is going to do with such a special boy, and the man he is going to become.