Jonah turned four!!!!

Four years ago, when our little Samuel Jonah entered the world I knew that he was something special. All babies are special, of course, but this one was different. He captured my heart from the moment I first saw him and we've always shared a sweet bond. This child arrived on his due date, seems to always have time to snuggle with his mommy, has love for everyone he knows and is maybe the funniest kid I've ever met. Most of our parenting stories revolve around the antics of this little guy and the things that come out of his mouth. :)

Last Saturday we had the pleasure of throwing a birthday party for Jonah. Jonah has a MAJOR sweet tooth, so we indulged him by starting the day out with donuts served on his special birthday plate. As you can see, he was thrilled.

Jonah's very favorite book is "We're Going on a Bear Hunt," so we themed the party around that. Sam took all the teddy bears we own (and we own a surprising amount!) and 'hid' them out in our forest. The kids all sat on the trampoline and listened to the story, then went out on their own bear hunt. Here is most of the crew with what they found:

After that we roasted hotdogs over the bonfire and then made s'mores. Even though we had chairs set up all over the place, Jonah preferred to sit here to enjoy his lunch and s'more:

After lunch we served the Spiderman cake that Jonah had asked for. I had trouble getting the candles to light, but Jonah patiently waited and then blew them all out!
Jonah opened all his gifts on the trampoline--that was fun!

Bridget slept through most of the party, but she joined us near the end. She spent some time on the trampoline and then found her favorite person in the world for some quality time. Here is Bridget with Granddad.

And last, but certainly not least, here is Jonah with his 'birthday buddy' Hailie. We met her at the library a few months ago, and Hailie shares Jonah's exact birthday. She was out of town that day, so she came over the day before to exchange gifts and play. This is Jonah's best friend!