Happy Birthday, Nick!!!!

Today is my oldest son Nick's 29th birthday. Can't believe that so much time has flown by since he was a tiny, little baby. Here's a recent picture of Nick taken by his wife Jodie in Okinawa. He's such a handsome boy man, isn't he? (And I can say that with all confidence that I'm not just prejudiced because I'm his mom. lol) Here he is at Christmas, teaching his younger brother Kaleb that he can still whoop him.

And here he is, holding his youngest daughter Kara. (Nick's a great daddy, too. Always involved, always hand-on.)

And here's a picture I took off of Jodie's snapfish.com account. This is actually a fairly common look for Nick. lol It's his "I'm the James Bond kind of cool" look.

Happy birthday, son. I can't tell you how proud I am of you, or how much you mean to me. There were plenty of times when you were growing up when I knew I hadn't a clue as to how to be a parent, but you were a tough kid and managed to turn out all right in spite of it. :) You are everything I ever could have asked for...you have a strong moral code, you show tremendous courage every day in your job, you demonstrate great compassion for your fellow man (your brothers have taken note of that and it's left a huge impression on them!), you have deep feelings and a ready smile. And a really smart mouth. All qualities I appreciate. I'm counting the months and weeks until you, Jodie and Kara return to the states and we can all see you. Can't wait to torture you with regular visits, once you're within driving distance again. lol

I know you're TDY right now so I can't talk to you to wish you a happy birthday voice to voice, but I hope you have a good one. Know how much you mean to all of us back home and call me as soon as you can. I love you, son. Love you, love you, love you.

Mom