Garrett's 5th Birthday

Today is Garrett's birthday. And not just any birthday, but his 5th birthday. Half-way to 10, birthday. One year from kindergarten, birthday. It's funny how fast that time seems to fly when you look back over it from this vantage point. But in the beginning, it feels as if your child will never outgrown this stage or that phase. And you'll forever be cursed with a child who plays in their poop (or some other crazy phase that you just have to suffer through with some kids.)

Garrett is smart, loving, loyal, friendly, talkative, stubborn, cautious, persistent, crazy kid. It's awesome to think of how much kids learn over a very short time-span and how firmly developed his personality already is.

I have many stories about him that I want to share. However, we've had a very busy weekend full of partying and presents, cupcakes and little sleep, so I'll share the stories later and just stick with pictures for now.

This year, for the first time, we had a "friend" birthday party. We've always just stuck with family parties and invited one couple who we are good friends with (and they have a son who is close to Garrett's age.) But this year I figured Garrett has some pretty well-developed friendships so it would be fun to invite some of those friends to a party. We had it at a local kids' gymnastics facility and it was a lot of fun. I wasn't sure how many people to expect at the party because I limited the number of invitations we sent out. While Garrett is a people person and loves doing things with his friends, he's not a huge fan of big crowds, so I didn't see any point in overwhelming him with every friend he knows. We sent out 10 invitations to friends of Garrett's from school and church and everyone came except for one. I was really surprised by the turnout, but it was great.

Here are a few of the pictures from the party.