Nicholas Christian McKenna.......

Wow!!! I can't believe my little Nick is now 9!!!! I still remember so vividly when he was just a little guy and we lived in Arizona. Russel would be working insane hours at the hospital and I always looked forward to my time with Nick. I would put the two older babes to bed and then Nick and I would just hang out, reading books, cuddling on the couch, watching movies, etc. It was such a treasured time with my little baby and I can't believe that I have blinked and he is now all grown up. Nick is a wonderful child. First off he was born at Thanksgiving time which makes him very special and on those years when his birthday falls on Thanksgiving, it's an extra special day. NIck has many wonderful attributes....really too many to mention but these are the top 5 reasons why we adore Nick the way we do.

1. He has a very funny sense of humor. When he was just little, he would say things that were so funny that it was hard to believe such a little mind could come up with something so clever.
2. He is a very relaxed easy going kid.....not many things get him too worked up. Of course he has his moments but he is truly such a sweet boy.
3. He has a very tender heart. He is very compassionate and loving and a very good brother and friend.
4. He loves to serve others. Many times I will find him doing something for someone else with no thought of reward or praise. One day I was having a crazy day and Nick knew I needed some extra help so without even being asked he cleaned up the entire dinner mess, hand washed the dishes and all. The job was done so good and so thoroughly, I was totally taken back. It also helped me realize his full potential.... ;)
5. He has a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have seen his faith and felt his love for our Savior. Abi, Nick, and J.D. took on an overwhelming challenge of reading the Book of Mormon this past summer. The problem was that we were gone for the first few weeks of the summer and didn't learn about the challenge until the latter part of June. This made the task quite daunting but the kids still wanted to do it. I told them there would be no way possible to do that much reading in our regular family scripture study and that they would have to do quite a bit of reading together during the day. They gladly accepted the task. So for the next two months, I watched these three beautiful children gather together and read as many as 20 pages on most days. It was tiring and not always a happy time and there were times when Nick felt like giving up, but he never did. He stuck with it and they all felt the wonderful blessings that came from it. It's an experience I don't think they will forget for the rest of their lives. I saw their testimonies and their unparalleled dedication. On November 23, as Nick turned from 8 to 9, I was a little sad to see the beautiful age of 8, the year we baptized him an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, come to an end. It's a special age and if I could, I would freeze time as all my children are growing too fast. I would love to bottle up this time and save it but it's also an exciting time and wonderful to see them learn and grown and become strong, independent children of God. Nick is strong, he is faithful, and he is an amazing little boy and I know he will do great things with his life.

Nick's birthday activities included a late night the weekend before with friends at our house complete with pizza, movies, games, and treats. (Silly mom forgot to take pictures.) We had a wonderful family birthday last Sunday with Russel's side and Nick chose all the desserts. We had chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and fall colored sprinkles on top and chocolate chip cookies made into ice cream sandwiches. They were a hit! And he even chose the paper plates with a sports theme, red forks, and a #9 sparkler candle (well we thought it was a candle....actually turned out to just be a sparkler and we had to take it outside so he could light it....but either way it was cool). And on his actual birthday, we had quite the blizzard. He invited a few friends up and had a blast sledding and then warming up with hot cocoa. Russel and I took him to Texas Roadhouse :) that night for dinner but, much to our total and utter dismay, 3/4 of the dang town was closed because of the snowstorm. Ah c'mon what's a foot of snow? So we ended up at one of the few places we could find still willing to serve us food....good ole Taco Time. All-in-all, we had a great time and I think he made some good memories.

Happy Birthday Sweet Nicholas! We are so proud of you and love you dearly! Continue to be strong and faithful and always serve others.