7

Happy Birthday to my little man. Cayden is 7 years old today.

I love this picture. It totally describes how Cayden is with his sisters. They both love him so much and he is always loving them and taking care of them. I am so grateful that he is such a great example to them.

Dear Cayden,
I can't believe that you are 7 years old today. It has gone by way too fast. It seems like just yesterday that I rocked you in my arms and sang lullabies to you. I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming. There are so many things that I love about you. I love that every morning you come in and give me a big hug before you go downstairs. I love that you still want to hug and kiss me, even though you are a big boy now. I love that you are so excited to be baptized next year and to be a cub scout. You get to go to the cub scout pack meetings with mom and dad because mom is over cub scouts in the primary presidency, and dad is the scout committee chair, so you can't wait until you get to participate. I love that you understand everything Gracie says, even when I can't figure out what she wants, you always know. I love that you can read Emma's mind and always know what she is trying to explain to us. I love that you read your scriptures every day, and not because I make you, but because YOU choose too. I love that you always keep your promises to me and to Heavenly Father. I love seeing you tear up as you feel the spirit, and the look of pure joy that fills your face as you receive a witness from the spirit. I love how much you love your Heavenly Father and your Savior. You have a very special relationship with the Savior. He loves you so much, and he is so proud of the boy you are, and of the example you are to your sisters. He knows you. Cayden, you are so smart. I am amazed at the things you remember. Right now we have been memorizing Joseph Smith History 25. You just finished memorizing it last week. It is the testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. I love the determination that comes into your face as you recite his powerful testimony of the first vision. I know, that you know, that he saw what he said he did. You are such a good little reader, and you love to read (most of the time.) I love that sometimes I will come into your room when you are supposed to be reading your "Magic Tree House" book and instead you have been reading your scriptures for the entire 30 minutes of reading time. You love the scriptures, you love the prophet, and you love the gospel. I pray that you keep those loves for the rest of your life. Cayden, you have an amazing and creative mind. You are so good at designing and building things. I was amazed at you as you made your own bow and arrow with your daddy. And am always surprised by the creative things you build with your lego's. You love lego's and would build all day if I let you. You are learning Italian and I am shocked at how well you are doing. You love doing your Rosetta Stone everyday. Cayden, you love musicals right now. It's so funny though, because whenever you have boy friends over you pretend like you hate Sound of Music, Newsies, and other musicals we love. But really you love them and you dance and sing your little heart out while you watch them. I hope that as you grow you will be comfortable with who you are and with every aspect of your personality and that you won't ever feel like you have to pretend. Be you, because you are so wonderful. You are very well rounded. You are progressing so much with sports right now. You are so athletic, and just love to be moving. You are playing Baseball right now and you are SO GOOD. You play every sport well, but baseball you really have a natural talent for. I love practicing with you everyday, even though you tell me, very gently, that I am not a very good pitcher. I love to play with you, you make all of us laugh all the time and you are so fun to be with. You love to play games, Uno and sequence are some of our favorites. You don't want to play kid games anymore, you want to play games like Battleship, checkers, and chess. You are better at chess than I am! You love playing with boys, but get along so well with little girls. They all just love you. So many of the girls in our ward have crushes on you, because you are so sweet with them, plus your sister has taught you well how to play princess and prince. You have a crush on Libby right now, she lives in our neighborhood and is in our ward. She has long brown hair just like mommy. You say that you love her freckles and her smile. She is a year older than you and I don't think you ever even talk to her, but you get giggly when she is around. She sang a song at Eliza's baptism and you loved her even more after you heard her sing. You are so cute!!! You love your daddy and want to be just like him. You love it when you get special time just the two of you. Your daddy loves you so much. You are just like he was as a child, fun loving and energetic. You have decided you want to be an engineer when you grow up and design robots or airplanes. I could go on forever. I am so proud of you. You are amazing. You are teaching me so much. I love you more than I could ever express. Thank you for choosing me to be your mom.
Love, Mom