Carson is 7!!!

Seven years ago, on December 2nd, there was a chill in the air and fresh snow on the ground. At 7:56 that morning, Carson Jeffrey made his grand appearance and we were praising the Lord for the birth of another healthy boy! 

CJ--24 hours old!!

Carson gets his sensitivity from his mama and his love of hunting and cars from his daddy. He has always been the 'quiet type' of the three boys not wanting to be the center-of-attention by any means, yet he is so very thoughtful in all he does. Don't let that quiet personality fool you though--when he comes "out of his shell", watch out! ;) He's a ball of fun, has a laugh that makes you laugh & comes straight from the core, has creativity that is simply endless, and has one of the hugest hearts! If you ever need someone to pray for you, Carson is your man. There are many days when he comes home from school, concerned about a classmate that has gone home ill...he/she is the first one Carson prays for before bedtime. He greets me every morning with a hug and a smile and it's that same hug and smile he leaves me with as he heads off to dreamland.

He had quite the spread of celebrations this year with a birthday bowling party with friends, a little family party at our house, more gifts to open on his actual bday and more family stopping by! He's definitely loved. ;) 

Pizza!!!!

present time!

goofy faces! ;)

Birthday Boy!!!! With an ocean-themed party!

Carson's 7!!!!

the dolphin birthday cake!

Carson with cousin Daniel

new cowboy boots--he's farm ready!

He loves his snoopy!

he liked his cake!

ready to make a wish :)

Happy Birthday Carson Jeffrey!!!

package from Gma!!

Thinkin' he likes it....

Carson's ready for battle! :)

On Carson's "ear news", here's the latest! His last surgery to remove any remaining or new cholesteatoma (aka...cyst) that may have been in his left ear was last December. This past year has basically been a 'waiting period' to allow for healing and to make sure there would be no regrowth. We headed to Reno on Tuesday for a follow up visit...through the snow and slush with a little white-knuckle driving through the canyon, pushing speeds of up to 30miles per hour. ;) Thankfully I had a traveling companion in my friend Elisha to help with the boys and be an extra set of eyes on the wintry roads. We managed to sip our coffee and chat and laugh and pray our way there...and then receive the GREAT report from the dr! Carson has been healing nicely, no holes in his ear drum, and we can now proceed with the surgery to correct and hopefully give this little man some hearing!! The procedure is called a TORP (total ossicular replacement prosthesis) which is basically putting in a prosthetic ear bone to replace the three Carson had to have removed because of the cyst growing on them. The success rate is good, and though it won't be effective 100%, his hearing will be an improvement to what it is (or rather, isn't) now! PTL!! This surgery will take place in the coming weeks. Healing is rather quick and results will be known within a few weeks of the surgery. We have so much to be thankful for that to write it all down would take more space than I'm probably allowed on here. We can't thank you enough, those of you that have held us up in prayer, have checked in on Carson, sent cards, notes of encouragement, etc. It's been a true testament to God's faithfulness, His strength and peace, His working through others, and added new elements and depth to an already awesome faith journey for our family. And we know it will continue with God's hand in it all. 

It's been quite the week for our Carson---I leave you with our handsome little gent sporting his new specks!! :)