Là breith sona dhuit

This is Joseph.

He likes books and Scotland, being a manly man,

hunting, making people laugh, smiling, being a brother, eating, John McDermott,

epic music, Thomas Bergensen, being a gentleman, and bagpipes.

He turned 16.

 No school on birthdays around our house!

Joseph spent most of the day doing what he loves best.

Reading.

 I banished him to the basement, though, and confined him there.

I just LOVE decorating for birthdays! Besides Christmas, they're the best holiday!

Last minute idea--since he was planning a Scottish birthday,

I cut and glued together some flags of Scotland.

 I found these men on our Print Shop program and thought they were too wonderful not to use!

I cut them out and taped them on the wall around his Birthday banner.

 La breith sonna dhuit. Happy Birthday in Scottish Gaelic.

 Decorating the gluten free cake.

When Joseph was born Mom made him his Christmas stocking out of that same material!

Scottish tartan! Coincidence? :)

So I found the scraps, sixteen year old scraps, and used them for the name tags I made everyone.

Hannah was Geordie.

 Ethan as the highlander Craig MacLeod.

He definitely had the best costume!

 Joseph's card was the words to Scotland the Brave, by John McDermott,

tweeked a little bit to Joseph's wonderful self!

 Hannah decorated his cake and I must say it looks good enough to eat!

She did such a splendid job!

We ran around the house all evening bearing Scottish accents!

I must say that is the most fun accent to use!

But I'm afraid it got a little mixed up with Irish and English and a little French as the evening wore on.

It was wonderful.

Happy Birthday, Joseph!

You're one of the kindest men I know!

I'm so thankful that God has shown you how to be a righteous, Godly man,

and you did not reject it for the pleasure of being who you wanted,

but became who you knew God wanted you to be.

Whenever Joseph is with one my sisters or I, he shows each and every one of us love and consideration.

Yesterday at the Mall, when William called and asked if I'd come help him with something, Joseph kindly asked if he could go with me (I was going in alone).

And on the way across the parking lot, he took my arm and hooked it with his

He opened both doors for me and stayed right beside me until we found William.

I love that about you, Joseph!

All around you, you watch the men of today and see their how lax they are in their duties as men,

as gentlemen and as leaders and protectors of all women.

But you don't stick your hands in your pocket and do nothing for fear of standing out in the crowd.

You make up for them ten thousand times over!

I like him.

A lot.

Love,

Kayla