In my last writing, you saw our boys enjoying brotherly time together. Even though Noah and Ethan are more than 7 years apart, it was beautiful to watch them grow up together. I recall remarking often how Ethan just had God’s ear. Anytime he set to praying for something, it seemed that sooner or later he had an answer… January 31st snow storm of 2011, Ethan prayed for 2ft of snow (all in the hopes of not having to head back to school so early the next day!). We woke the next morning to almost exactly that!!

There was one time even more precious than that snow storm though… it was the day Ethan determined to pray for a brother. Before age 5, we could see Ethan was ready to share life with someone else along side. December 2006, tired of waiting, Ethan wrote at the top of his Christmas list…“#1. A Brother”.

We helped him understand that God is the one who determines if he would have a sibling. We encouraged him to simply pray and trust that God would answer him. It was such an amazing gift a few months later when we learned we were expecting our second child! We tried to set expectations for Ethan. Explaining, just because God was answering his prayer, it did not mean that he would automatically receive a brother... Ethan was so confident that God was going to give him a brother though. To our delight, in November that year, Noah was born.

Both having highly creative minds, Ethan loved to take Noah’s ideas and spin them into reality. Countless lego builds, video/stop motion projects and forts were built over the years. Loving all things StarWars (Clones, droids, and every kind of battle ship), Legos and science projects, mini-golf, riding bikes, playing “shinny hockey” in the hallway or street hockey in the driveway. They were always about time together, just hanging out.

In those days together, Noah studied his older brother well. He could keep up with the quick witted teenager even before he grew to be double digits himself. They are both equally good at remembering movie lines and hilarious sayings… not to mention using them to frame moments in our days. To have two boys growing up in our home provided days full of energy and joy! At times when it is quiet, I remember the noise of my guys and think about how much Noah also needs a brother…

Thank you, Ethan, for praying for Noah…
even more than that, for trusting God had your back in the answer!

Love you both, Mom

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