EIGHT!!!!!!!!!

Anderson turns eight today. If you know him then the correct Anderson way to say it is: "ANDERSON TURNS EIGHT TODAY!!!!!!"

If you don't know Anderson here is his world: I woke up this morning at 5:15 with a really bad headache. Got up, took some medicine and decided to see if a hot shower would work to knock it out. I stayed in there longer than I normally would trying to make the pain go away. I got out and opened the bathroom door and there was Anderson with arms wide open and a huge smile from ear to ear waiting to give me a hug. I have no idea how long he had been standing there. He was waiting to give me a hug on his birthday. He didn't even wait for me to say Happy Birthday. He was just happy to see me on his birthday and ready to give me a hug. That's Anderson. He's pretty cool.

We've told you before he's just a really happy, joyful little guy and never more so than on special days.

When he first saw Garrett this morning Garrett wished him a happy birthday and Anderson smiled, walked over to Garrett and gave him a thirty second hug thanking him for wishing him a happy birthday. Simple joy.

Most days he's a walking joy bomb.

You guys know our birthday deal so here it goes:

Giovanni: (exact quote) "Happy Birthday. Nothing."

Carys: "Anderson you are so much fun to be around and i love drawing and coloring with you. i love you sooooooooooooooo much Pagogo!"

Garrett: "Anderson! You are the best little brother ever (and giovanni) I love to play soccer with you and I love to wrestle with you. You are awesome and sooo funny!!!! I hope you have an awesome birthday!! I love you!"

Ansley: "Anderson! Oh my goodness! I am so glad it is your birthday because now we get to have 3 weeks of being EIGHT and EIGHTeen! I miss you so much! You have no idea. But I get to see you soon! YAY! Thank you for being a constant ray of sunshine and happiness in our lives. Whenever I think of you, I think of your smiling face :) That is a gift from God, buddy, that I hope you never lose! KEEP SMILING! I love you:) Love, your twin."

Bronwyn: "Anderson!! You are so much fun and so funny. I still remember going to the hospital to see you. I was so proud to be your big sister! You are so sweet to everyone and, every time I'm having a sad day, I watch the 'what's up my friends, WHAT'S UP MY FRIENDS. This.' video. You always make me laugh! I love you so much and I miss you so much!"

Girlfriend: "Anderson, you are the biggest and best surprise that God ever, ever gave me!  You have always been such a blessing.  I love how you love God and are not ashamed to say it!  I love how you are a happy kid and you spread that happiness to people around you.  God has blessed you with lots of talents and gifts and I pray that you will always use what He has given you to bless other people and bring glory to Him.  We are going to have a great day and an awesome weekend celebrating your 8th birthday.  I love you so much!!!! Mom"

Me: "I can remember the exact moment we found out we were pregnant with you. We thought we were done having kids but God had something else planned for us and, like always, His way is so much better than ours. I can't even imagine our lives without you. I love how you are happy every day when you wake up. Every day! That's a blessing from God and you bless your family just by the way you wake up in the morning. You are my wake up early buddy. I smile as I think of the mornings we would both be up at 5 and we would watch Jacques Cousteau before school. I still don't know why that channel (of the 4 we could pick up) showed it in English but I'm glad they did. I love your excitement for life. I love that you are so tuned in to what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life. I LOVE that you have already given your life to Jesus. I think you are awesome! But it's not just me. Everyone who meets you says you are awesome. Stephen, Weston, Josh, Elyssa, Traci and all the Aggies and many more have told us how awesome you are. Everyone loves your heart and your spirit. People love to be around you and God is using and will use that to His glory. LOTS of people will be in heaven because of you. You just love on people like Jesus loves on people and that's the most important thing. I love you Anderson. Happy Birthday!"