his special day began with a candle in his waffle… & some serious concern about being safe around fire. love his strong sense of safety!
you’ll notice a birthday theme: fire & water!
in the morning we visited LaoLao & LaoYe’s where a water bladder blob was awaiting us!
a lot of love went into this water mattress like gift. (thanks LaoLao for all your hard work!)
unfortunately it rained off & on all morning which meant the water was quite chilly.
even so, the sprouts had a lot of fun retrieving the sea creatures. 
sterling was especially apt at catching sharks!
with the help of a net…
and some assistance from LaoLao & her squeegee…
they caught their quota!
& his reward: a shark bite towel!
meanwhile liberty enjoyed sitting on the sidelines playing with NaiNai & enjoying some warmth & cuddle time.
afterwards we enjoyed a special birthday lunch at firehouse subs (which we captured on video) then headed home to give liberty a nap. this allowed sterling time to enjoy several of his new toys…
(he even got a waterproof Bible!) 
& some Netflix while NaiNai & i went to work in the kitchen. (thanks NaiNai for your patient persistence – with me & the icing!)
our sweet 5 year old firefighter!
blessing me with a wink! love that he randomly winks at me!
our attempt at “firetipped” cupcakes! (store bought icing didn’t exactly work – apparently the ‘consistency’ makes all the difference!)
i eventually gave up on the idea & went with the simplicity of white icing with red sprinkles topped with fire themed stickers. 
F-I-V-E!!!
at dinnertime liberty was happy to be rejoining the party!
this year we began a new family tradition. instead of making a wish before blowing out the candles, we thanked God for sterling & he prayed for wisdom.
so many of our prayers have already been answered…
first bites:
after dinner we had a mock fire drill which included sterling dressing up in his fireman gear. then the real surprise… a trip to the local fire station!
& a personal tour!
the highlight of the day – literally!
& a ride in a fire truck!!!
sterling was in total awe!
& liberty was totally chill!
so many contraptions & tools!
talking to each other on the headset:
jarod’s excitement was obvious. 
our visit to the local volunteer run fire station truly was a special gift! (thanks “fireman justin”!)
& sure to be the thrill of a lifetime! 
listening over the headset requires a certain degree of concentration! as you can see, sterling had a lot of cameras pointed on him the entire time! 
of course, sterling also got to practice “being” a fireman!
liberty was eager to join him…
definitely the cutest firefighters I know!
in spite of the rain & the fact that we had to improvise when things didn’t go according to plan, it was a great & memorable day… & we all enjoyed celebrating sterling’s first birthday on the west side!
jdavis2 
And I was so fortunate and blessed to be able to spend this most special day with him. ;~)
What an amazing day!!! Happy Birthday to Sterling!
Oh this makes me so happy to see your smiling faces. What a fun day for Sterling!! We pray he grows in understanding and love for The Lord with each passing year. I can’t believe how much Sterling and Liberty have grown in the last few months. Seriously, they both look several inches taller. Maybe there’s something to that tasty American food. 🙂 Miss you guys!