Seven

Adrian turned 7 yesterday and what a day he had planned. He knew just how he wanted it and it was so fun to celebrate with him. In the morning I helped him make his lunch and then made him a popeye egg. At school he passed out Air Head candies to his classmates. After school our Hunter cousins came over to play.
They brought Adrian a birthday present that is so cool. It is a Halo action figure of a Hunter! The Hunter boys all picked it out for him because they knew it would be just what he wanted. It is.

To celebrate with cousins Adrian wanted ice cream sandwiches and he made sure I got something that Scotty could eat so we had popsicles too. After all the partying with cousins Adrian got an hour long XBOX turn. That's a pretty big deal for him. I didn't even make him do his job before he got to play.
For dinner he wanted bratwurst with corn for a vegetable. It was such a great birthday dinner because it was so easy for me to make. After dinner we opened presents and managed to surprise him a little. We got him a baseball that you can hit around a pole and then it swings back at you so you can hit it again. It's for hitting practice and he loves to hit. At first he wasn't too sure about it but once he got the idea he was thrilled. This morning he made his lunch and ate his breakfast super fast so he could go outside and hit the ball a few times before school.


For his cake he requested brownies which is great for me also because there's not a lot of cake decorating involved. In fact, if you can tell by the picture I just stuck 7 candles in the shape of a 7. Creative, eh?

We had a great day and I only got teary-eyed once. He was shoving brownie in his face and I just couldn't help myself. He's so sweet and growing up so happy and confident. I'm so thankful he's mine and Dan's.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a lot of fun and lots to celebrate. On Friday morning we headed up to Boise, Idaho to visit family. About 30 minutes into the drive our DVD player broke and Donald had a meltdown. In fact, Donald had a meltdown that lasted the whole 5 hour trip to Boise. It was amazing to see that kind of frustration and dedication to letting us know how much he disliked being in his carseat.
Saturday started with Dan heading out to the golf course with his dad. The girls had spent the night at their Aunt RaeAnn's house and me and the boys got to hang out with the birthday girl, Aunt Kimberly.
We went to a super fun park with sprinklers and lots of fun play stuff.

After we all met up again for lunch at Grandpa Blodgett's we went to the pool in his neighborhood. The kids had so much fun swimming but we eventually needed to get back to partying with the birthday girl.

We ate at Outback Steakhouse and it was really yummy. Donald managed to eat all of Grandpa's fries, all of Charlie's fries, and half of Adrian's mashed potatoes. He also went nuts for the fried onion appetizer. I know it has a cute name but I can't remember what it is. Donald really liked it though.

Sunday was nice. We went to church and got to hear Kimberly speak. She did such an amazing job. I wanted to ask her for a copy of her talk. It was wonderful to hear her testimony. After church Dan made a yummy roast. Then the kids watched a movie and Kimberly and I got to watch Twilight. I've been wanting to see it. I have to say I liked it more than I thought I would and it actually reminded me of how much I liked that book.

Monday was our long drive home but we survived and our new DVD player lasted throughout. Donald did a lot better. When we got home we met up with the Hunter's for a quick game of baseball. It helped us get our wiggles out after the long drive and it reminded us that it was a holiday and not just a day for a long drive.

(By the way, we forgot to bring our camera for our fun weekend! I had to find generic pictures of all the places we went. You have to admit the pictures are much more professional.)

Now we only have this week and 3 days into the next week left of school! Hurray! I can't wait for summer.

Rocket Man

In our continuing series of Donald videos, here he is with our rocket sprinkler.

There are other things going on with the family, but we're all pretty boring compared with Donald. We did get our garden planted this weekend, so hopefully it grows well. We planted corn, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, beets, carrots, cabbage, zucchini, strawberries, and a pumpkin.

No Weeds!

Last week we had a lot of work done on our yard by a Landscape company. They ripped out our hedges that covered our window wells because I wanted more light in the basement. It also means less trimming and yard trash so I really like it. They laid down rocks everwhere they made changes so I really like that too. Here is the area where there used to be hedges near the house.

Along with our changes right up near the house we had them change our whole garden area. They built us 4 garden boxes and laid rocks down where there used to be tons of weeds. It's such a relief. I spent many summer mornings last year losing the war against the weeds in our garden. This year we hope to have more luck with growing things other than weeds.

We also had a little trimming done on the kids. Shari had 6 inches cut off her hair. It makes washing, brushing, and fixing so much better!

All the boys were buzzed as well, including Dan, but he's not pictured here. It was quite a chore buzzing our little Donald because his hair was so long and he was super wiggly.

Sleepy Snacktime

We know a lot of our videos have to do with Donald eating but we just couldn't resist posting this one.

Uncle Wii

When we went to Uncle Craig and Aunt Rebekah's wedding in 2007 the kids got to play the Wii for the first time. It left such an impression on them they started calling Uncle Craig, Uncle Wii. Then when we visited Boise a year later Craig brought the Wii and Rock Band to give us all a little more culture. This weekend they stopped by for a visit on their way to Las Vegas and once again Craig and Rebekah left such an impression on the kids. Not only did they bring us 3 new, and very cool, XBOX games but they also had a Nintendo DSI! The kids were amazed and thought it was so fun. To add to the excitement Uncle Wii let them take pictures with his camera phone. It was electronics heaven for the kids all weekend!

Can life get any better than this?

Birthday Fun

It's hard to celebrate 34 years of amazingness in a single day but we did our best! The girls surprised their Dad with a coronation ceremony. They made the crown and dressed him in a royal cape. He looked very sophisticated and you couldn't help but want to obey his every command.

The beautiful paper flower to the left of Dan's presents is what the girls made to carry the crown in for the coronation. They worked so hard on it. For presents we gave Dan a couple of golf shirts and some golf shorts along with sun block and chapstick for his big trip to St. George next week. We're so glad he gets to go have some fun we wanted him to be well prepared. I also got him another present that included saving money on shipping so it won't be here until next week. Hopefully he appreciates the money saved:)

Here is the birthday boy with his peanut butter/chocolate ice cream cake. I have to say it's the yummiest cake I've made/brought home from a store.

Here is a picture of Donald and his daddy being silly. Donald was nuts about the peanut butter ice cream cake. At one point I was talking, breaking up my cake feeding rhythm, and Donald got my attention by slapping me on the cheek a few times. It was rather shocking. I then turned the cake duty over to the birthday boy and Donald was happy again.

In other birthday news, Dan and I enjoyed an evening out on Friday. We went to the Salt Lake Temple and then we did a little shopping at the Gateway. For dinner we took advantage of the birthday club at Tucanos Brazilian Grill. I love that place but I need to work on not getting so excited when they bring over a new choice of meat. I seem rather ridiculous but I think the meat guys get a kick out of it. It was a great night out.

Dan especially enjoyed all the phone calls and happy birthday wishes from the people we love. That's really what makes a birthday special when you're this old.