Happy 3rd Birthday to our Amazing Trips!

Today is your third birthday.

Yesterday, we celebrated your birthday at a local farm with 30 of your closest friends. The morning started out rainy and although there were some scattered showers, once everyone arrived, the day couldn't have been more perfect.

It was slightly cool and a bit foggy, but the ideal "fall" weather.

You had such a wonderful time climbing mountains of sand, taking a hay ride, exploring the pumpkin patch, pretending to milk cows, petting various animals and eating cupcakes ... that you were too wired to sleep on the car ride home. As a result, you were in bed - fast asleep - by 6:30 last night. When you didn't wake up until 9:30 this morning, your father and I, for the first time ever, considered ditching your afternoon nap.

If you'd sleep this soundly every night, we also said we'd reconsider our position on moving to a farm.

This has been an absolutely incredible year of growth and change for you in both body and spirit. It seems that over night, you have made the emergence from babies to bona fide little kids. You no longer sleep in a crib, your vocabulary has exploded, and your personalities are in full bloom. You get jokes. Sometimes, you even tell jokes. Like when William tells me that he loves the Yankees ... that's a joke.

Albeit not a funny one.

Sometimes A lot of the time, you drive us absolutely crazy - but moments later - you possess the incredible ability to completely melt our hearts. It is good that you have this capability, because otherwise we would ship you off to live with your Aunt Beth.

When your father measured you today, he was astounded that over the past 12-months, William has grown by 3-inches, Elizabeth by 4-inches, and Carolyn by 5-inches.

This helps to explain why we are spending $200.00 a week on food.

After three years, we still find it hard to believe that there are three of you. After three years, we still cannot believe that God has blessed us so richly. You are magic to us and we adore watching you grow. We love you with everything we are and are so thankful that you are here. For the record: even though the title may not be appropriate anymore, you will always be my babies.

This montage, is just a tiny snap shot of your third year.

It was a wonderful year, indeed.