Happy birthday to our boisterous third son

The family dog, but his in every way

The kickoff to our half of the year, our third oldest celebrated his 22nd birthday this week.  Times being what they are, the celebrations are faster and less involved than they used to be.  But as I explained to them, the older you get the less you tend to dwell on birthdays.

Nonetheless, we hope he had a good time.  He's a content fellow, and when we asked what he wanted he said not much.  He's happy with what he has.  He finally gave us a few ideas, and we pulled a couple rabbits out of the hat we hope he enjoys.  One of them, a game from his brothers - for our third son is our game junkie - has already met with his approval.

Having already played it, he approves

But his focus now is on his five, ten and twenty year plan for life. He already made his first year part of the plan last year: getting a promotion to manager,  This he did before he was twenty-one.  And it demonstrates the strengths he brings to the table  

He had lobbied for the promotion for months.  When they finally offered him the promotion he wanted, he told them he wouldn't take it for the accompanying pay. He demanded more or he wouldn't accept what he had lobbied for.  He drew a line in the sand when he hadn't received the promotion yet.  And they gave him what he demanded, promotion and pay.  

That's our boy.  

One of our all time favorite pictures of him when he was little - it captures him in a nutshell