Friday, August 29, 2008

Jason turns 13 today!

Today is a very special day because Jason, our 5th child, 4th son, was born 13 years ago! I remember when I was expecting Jason, (I had not had an ultrasound, so I didn't know it was a boy), I wished for a little more space between Beth and the new one coming along. (Beth and Jason are the only two of our children closer than 2 years, 2 months apart; they are 23 months apart.) I was sitting in the hospital waiting room when Jeffrey was having a surgery and my cousin, LaDeana, was sitting with me during the surgery. She told me that she had had a dream about me and that in the dream God told her to tell me that the child I was carrying was going to be special and that God would use this child in a special way. That was such an encouragement to me and I have often thought of that and told Jason that too. He has been a very special child. He is very intelligent and has always excelled in school. He taught himself to read when he was five by listening to our phonics records. He told me he was done with kindergarten and wanted to start 1st grade. So we went on into 1st grade. He has always been a year ahead of his age in school. Today he is 13 and he is starting 9th grade. I have told him if he works hard the next three years, I will let him graduate when Beth does.
When Jason was born, he was our biggest baby, at 8#, 15 oz. (This year, Jason is 5 ft. 11 inches tall. We are thinking he will be the tallest one in the family, since he is not done growing!)
He had lots of hair, most of which stuck out from his head. I can't believe how the years have flown by since then! These pictures were when he was 2 1/2 weeks old. What a sweetie!

This summer, Jason has worked alongside Jeffrey for abeLAWNS, the lawn company that Randy and Tim started years ago and sold in 2005. Here Jason is mowing with the Walker mower in a subdivision green belt.

Here he is armed with a blower to clean off the sidewalks. Jason and Jeffrey both enjoy their MP3 players as they work. They listen to good music, the Listener's Bible, and some great historical works.

Jason can be hilariously entertaining and funny--at least we think so. If you haven't yet, you should read his blog posts at lawnjmon.blogspot.com Here is a picture of him when he was entertaining some small guests we had this summer.

This picture or a simlar one has appeared on our blog before when Jason got glasses for reading.

Rowen has posted a very nice updated picture of Jason on the side bar of our blog, so be sure and look there and I won't duplicate it here.
These are pictures from our time in the mountains last Saturday. The hat is great for sun protection on the neck, and helpful during rain showers which occurred while the family was on this mountain hike.

Jason loves to stick his feet in mountain streams whenever possible!
Jason is quite creative on the computer and the piano, but I don't have recent pictures I can post for those activities. Jason is a blessing to our family and I know God will use him as he keeps his life surrendered to the Lord! Happy Birthday, Jason! We all love you!