Friday, June 15, 2007

I'm back! Update...birthdays!

I may have to update on all recent events in a couple entries because there is so much to tell and so many stinkin cute pictures to post!!! (I love Amy's new b-day present because she takes as many pictures of my kids as her own and they turn out great).

So I need to recap: Cyndee's birthday swim party, my Nate's birthday dinner, and all the fun I have had the past week playing with my mom, Amy and Megan.


Birthdays!

Saturday, June 9
Cyndee's birthday:


Mom and her favorite grandchildren (just kidding!). London and Davyn do like snuggling her though.
Collin, London, Laraine, Savannah, Talin and Aidan

We spend my mom's birthday at Aunt Laraine's house in Sun City. Nothing like a swim party in the hot Arizona sun. Like Amy wrote in her blog, it was fun to see how Laraine loves the children. She was the one out there throwing them onto the "boat" (see pic below) or filling up their water balloons and planning the attack on the birthday girl (see below also). She was such a fun aunt growing up and has not changed at all. London absolutely LOVES her and always ends up sitting on her lap.

This was the excitement of the day for the kids -- the "boat." They all went crazy jumping onto it from the side and jumping off it to swim to the side.
Colin
Colin got a little over excited after lunch and, forgetting he no longer had his floaties on, jumped in and missed the boat. I think that seeing mine and Amy's kids swimming without floaties maybe made him think it was easy and he didn't need his. Sinking fast, his mom (Megan) thought even faster and without hesitation took off running and heroically jumped into the pool to save her baby. What a mom! Never mind that Mary was less than 2 feet away from him in the pool. I admire Meg's quick thinking. I did feel a little bad that I was not so quick in noticing what was happening since I was standing next to Megan and still in my swim suit whereas Megs had already changed into her clothes and so went into the pool fully dressed. Colin is a crazy boy and always doing something that results in bodily injury -- definitely an adventure being around that boy!

Savannah jumping onto the boat. The kids seriously could have stayed there all day playing! Even London would get up there and then slide off and swim to the side. I was really quite proud of how much she has improved in the few times we've been swimming since her last swim lesson in the middle of May. I love it that my girls know how to get themselves to the side, but I still watch closely, just in case.

The grandkids loved Aunt Laraine's water balloons, but loved the attack on Grandma even more. As you can tell, a certain someone is more inclined to be the cheerleader in the background rather than take part in the violence. London, on the other hand, gets right out there with the boys, aiming away at her beloved Grandma Cyndee.

Talin
Talin is Megan's oldest son who just turned five in April. The cutest and sweetest little boy alive, I just love hearing stories about him from Megs. He definitely has a sweet spirit and is always teaching her something -- like telling her that the song on the radio is saying bad things and she should change it or last week in church he sat next to his new primary teacher (he was visiting for the first time) and waving his scriptures in her face, exclaimed: "I have my scriptures ready for primary!" Our family affectionately calls him "prophet-boy."

Sunday, June 10

Nate's Birthday
29 years old!


Next year we will have to have a big BASH, but this year was nice and relaxed. Well, it kind of has to be when it falls on a Sunday. We did go to a D-backs game this week together which was fun. But for his big day, we just went to church and then relaxed -- actually that is probably what Nate prefers since he has been so busy at work and hardly ever gets downtime lately.

We had a lot of family over for dinner: Pat & Norma (Nate's parents), Jill & Marc (Nate's sister) and their 3 boys, Amy and Jim and their 2 boys, Megan and her 2 boys, and Cyndee. Full house. Everyone contributed to a lovely meal of apple-glazed pork loin, mashed potatoes, salad and rolls with cherry limeades or shirley temples to drink.

Megan, Amy and my mom got creative with the rolls and put a pecan inside one of them. The lucky winner who got that roll had the honor of being Nate's personal slave for the day. Unfortunately Jill got the nut and older sisters are never too keen on being personal slaves to little brothers so Nate got a raw deal, but other than that I think he had a great day with all our loved ones.

I made him his FAVORITE cake -- German Chocolate -- from scratch and it turned out great although a bit lopsided (if anyone likes to cook, check out America's Test Kitchen, they always have good recipes and tips - thanks Amy for the introduction!).

Blowing out the candles

Do not Notice:
I wish I was better at the computer so I could crop myself out of this picture, but it's not about me, it's about Nate and this was the best picture of him blowing out the candles of the cake.

Do Notice:
So, please just ignore me and look at the birthday boy and the darling kids surrounding him -- Ryan, Dallin, Davyn, London, and Savy. Also, notice the look of admiration and worship on Davyn's little face. Amy's boys LOVE Uncle Nate. Just the other day, Aidan was out in my backyard picking weeds because "it will make Uncle Nate happy when he gets home from work."

I just had to throw this picture in because it was so dang cute! This is Grandpa Pat (Nate's dad) and Luke (Jill's youngest). I love Luke's onsie with the tie on it almost as much as his crazy hair. This picture makes me think of how much all the grandchildren ADORE Pat. He always takes the time to play with them and pretend or sing songs or tell stories with them. Whenever we go to his house, we usually end up with a little talent show where all the kids show off for Grandma and Grandpa.

So that's the recap on the birthdays from last weekend! I'll be working on all the fun we had swimming, playing at the park and going to the museum with Megan for my next entry. Stay tuned for more. . .

p.s. I am having real issues with fonts in this entry and no matter what I do, the computer is doing it's own thing, so sorry but I can't change fonts or sizes or italics on this entry no matter what and I'm tired of trying to fix it.

2 comments:

sista # 2 said...

That was one rockin pool party! All the water toys look so fun ;)
The birthdays look great!

Amy said...

I loved reading all these details. We have definitely had a fun past few weeks. And I can't wait for the week of the 4th!!!