Ten!

Blowing out candles with big bro!

Believe it or not, our sweet Graham turned 10 on Sunday. Honestly, because he's so small for his age and because of his delays, he seems much younger than that, so the fact that he's now in the double digits is a bit mind-boggling. Preparing for and celebrating this monumental birthday, though, made me really focus on how much Graham has blessed all of our lives over the past 10 years. As challening as caring for him (and frankly, just keeping him safe!) can be at times, all of that is much more than made up for by the fact that he truly is, as we say here in the Richardson household on a daily basis, "the sweetest boy in the world." I think that I can safely speak for the other four Richardsons when I say that we each have been richly blessed (in countless ways, many of which I'm sure we don't even realize) by having this incredible little person in our lives, and that we are beyond grateful for the 10 wonderful years he's been our son and brother.

Since Graham is so popular at his school with kids of all ages, we decided to have a bit of a blowout and to invite all of the kids in the lower school (good thing it's a small school!!) to his party. We held it on his school playground, and although the weather looked like it was not going to cooperate with us, rather miraculously, the clouds moved aside during the hours of the party, and we had sunshine and lots of nice fresh air. The kids jumped in the bouncey castle, ate pizza and cake, had a mean game of "freeze" (coordinated by none other than the world's best big brother -- Wes!) and otherwise enjoyed spending a Sunday afternoon outside with friends. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us, and to all of his friends for making him feel so special on his big day!

Here are some photos from the party:

Hanging in the bouncey castle

Jumping with his friend, Linge, in the castle

Freeze!!