Joshua's Birthday Party

Joshua decided for his birthday party this year he wanted to go to Out of This World Pizza and he only wanted to invite two of his closest friends.  He said he really wanted to just spend that time playing with them, specifically.  I was touched to know that he really values these friendships and is making quality a priority over quantity.

I am so happy about his decision because we ended up having the best time.  This was seriously one of my favorite parties we've done.  The atmosphere was relaxed and we could all focus on just being together and having fun.  And I really love these two friends of his, they are such great boys and their being there really made Joshua's birthday special.  He was having the time of his life!

This has got to be my favorite shot.  I wanted to get a picture of him smiling at the bottom of the slide but he was too busy for anything like that (I'm pretty sure he was being chased at this point).  Talk about an action shot!

Cutting the cake.  It was quite yummy -- another reason for Josh & I to love Fred Meyer!

Caden got crazy on the dance floor.  He pulled some serious moves:

These guys too, although their moves were much "cooler."  You can't see it, but they're in the middle of a whole bunch of laser lights:

Once again, awesome party.  I am so grateful for the way it all came together.  Happy, happy memories!

Joshua Turns Ten!

Joshua can't believe he's a whole decade old.  I have a hard time believing Jake and I have been parents for a whole decade.  It's pretty amazing to think about, all that has happened and changed and how much we've grown in the last 10 years.  We had a lot to celebrate!

 

We headed to Red Robin for dinner!  It was actually lots of fun going out on a school night -- it felt like we were getting away with something ;)

I decided to try this idea from Robin McGraw; every year, she would write on her boy's bathroom mirror in lipstick for their birthday and she said they loved it.  Joshua did seem to enjoy it and I love having even one more trick up my sleeve to help make the birthday boy feel special:

Happy 10th Birthday Joshua! We are so grateful you are a part of our family. You are such a caring person. You are very mature and responsible and we so appreciate this as your parents. You are such a good example to all of us of being happy, of being enthusiastic, of being grateful. Thank you for being you, and for being ours!

Caden's Birthday - Day 2

We had a great family outing to extend Caden's birthday celebration. We decided to check out an indoor park run through the city's parks & rec department that opened not too long ago. It turned out to be a great place for Caden's age range, Lucas' too. Joshua was a really good sport about it and had fun, but Daniel refused since it was a place for "little kids." Ah well, three out of four happy kids isn't too shabby. 

Caden played hard and happy the whole time:

Lucas loved the challenge of the rock wall:

The birthday boy became fixated with riding in this neon Barbie car that was "just his size"

Heading to Round Table for the lunch buffet after a morning of playing hard was the obvious thing to do.  I love Caden's cheeks in this picture!

And this is why we come here.  Well, Jake and I love their pizza but the kids are nuts about the arcade area:

The kids have won an obscene number of gumballs from this yellow machine.  I try not to think about it too much.

Caden's Birthday - Day 1

I think our family must have the happiest pi day since we have such a special little guy to celebrate! The birthday boy awoke to a wall made of fun new bricks set up by his daddy the night before, all ready to be demolished at his whim:

The bricks were a big hit!  They got played with all morning long and I really liked the birthday boy having something to play with during the day since he wasn't going to get to open the rest of his presents 'til that evening.  It's hard to wait like that when you're just turning two!

Daddy's home!

Finally time to open presents (note bricks still being played with in background):

Caden loves Playmobil and I was so excited to find this set for him!  I totally remember having this one and loving it when I was a kid and Jake remembers they had it, too.  We also got him the western stagecoach set, another favorite of mine (note Joshua assembling it behind Caden):

I found this super cute felt sandwich-maker set and just had to get it.  We've all played with it, it's so much fun! 

I thought this was so cute, Lucas made a sandwich to feed Caden's new emperor penguin puppet!

...bricks still being played with...

Caden devoured his slice of pie.  We'll see how he feels once he's old enough to have an opinion, but so far he thinks it's a great 3.14 birthday tradition! 

Sweet Caden we love you so much!  We can't imagine our family without you.  We want you to feel special and loved always.  Thank you for going through this journey of life with us and for being excited about it!

Temple Trip

I needed to get a few things from church distribution and since it was a nice day decided to turn it into a field trip for Lucas and Caden. I told Lucas we needed to go to a store and then we'd go visit the temple. I was a little surprised by his response of, "No! Not the temple!" But after we finished up at the distribution center I decided to pitch it a little different by asking if he wanted to see a fountain and a "special statue." Well, he was all over that. So we headed to the temple grounds and had a really nice time checking out the fountain, the statue and oh yes, the temple in the background :)  But really once we got there he loved it all.

Here's Caden staring all the way up at that spire.  They really are super tall.

The visitor's center is relatively new here.  It's small but really nice!  It was designed to be very kid-friendly:

I took lots more pictures of the grounds themselves but they all turned out fuzzy -- darn!  You'll just have to come visit us to see it in person!