James’s Third Birthday

I can’t believe this boy is already three!  It seems like just yesterday that he was born.  For his birthday celebrations, we kept asking him what he wanted.  He said a cake, and for his presents, he wanted applesauce.  He has been anxiously awaiting his birthday for months, and on the Fourth of July, he kept asking if the flags, the fireworks, the flag cake, the star sugar cookies, etc. were for his birthday.  He was excited when the big day was finally here! 

In the morning, Shane took him to Sesame Donuts to pick out some donuts for breakfast. 

 

He opened his gifts from us and from grandmas and grandpas after breakfast and before he went to work.  He got some train track and trains from us, a baseball tee, soccer goal, and football from Grandma and Grandpa Malan and Kelly, and some vehicles that you build using an automatic drill from Grandma and Grandpa Morris. 

After asking him several times, and hearing several “applesauce” responses, James did finally tell Shane that he wanted “a tiny football like you have a big football, Dad.”

           

That night, we had our friends the Kojimas over for dinner and a party.  I was glad that my mom made it back from Seattle and decided to stay one more day to help me get everything ready.  I tried to keep it simple, but there’s not way I would have got it all ready if she hadn’t been there to help!

For dinner:  hot dogs, chips, applesauce, pasta salad, veggie tray, and watermelon.

   

It was so hot again that day, so my frosting was melting and the cake had a hard time staying together.  Oh well!

We played a game of croquet soccer, then threw around some water balloons (thanks to Mom for filling them all up!)

   

After awhile, James decided the game was more exciting if you jumped over the hoops instead.

   

Leela with a soccer ball, and throwing water balloons into the soccer goal:

     

Water balloon toss:  Leela didn’t quite get the game.  She would throw it on the ground and stomp on it each time James gave it to her.  :)  James was a good sport and didn’t seem to mind though.

   

A few of Asher hanging out at the party:

   

Opening presents:  Landon and Davis got him a monster truck crashing track, and the Kojimas got him a cool Lightning McQueen and Mater car.

   

Cake and Ice cream:  the wind picked up right when we did the cake, so we had to light the candles a few times, but we finally got them so James could blow them out.

   

It was a great birthday for this fun three-year-old!  He is already asking when his next birthday is.  :)

Happy Fourth!

Most of the time, we spend the Fourth of July in either North Ogden or Ashland.  This year, with Asher just out of surgery, we stayed at home for the holiday.  In the morning, instead of going to a parade, we stayed at home and had our own kids parade in the cul-de-sac.  We invited our friends the Kojimas over, and the kids all decorated their bikes and scooters with flags, streamers, flowers and made three-point hats while eating some star sugar cookies and drinking lemonade.  When everyone was ready, they all rode around the cul-de-sac in their own parade.

 

Can you tell James liked his sugar cookie?

     

Landon took his flag and ran around the cul-de-sac as fast as he could.  James then wanted to do it too, so he took his flag off his scooters so he could run around too.

   

Leela loves to say hi to “Afer”

   

   

Once Shane got out the bike trailer, James decided he wanted to ride in there instead of on his scooter.  Leela soon joined him, and they had a great time sitting in the back, yelling, “Faster!” as Shane biked around.

 

After our parade, we had lunch and relaxed in the afternoon until going over to Kojimas for a barbecue.  I made the traditional flag cake, which always brings back memories of the first 4th of July Shane and I spent together, when a huge wind came through Provo canyon and blew dirt all over our cake for our 4th of July picnic.  Kara had made us some delicious food, and then the kids roasted marshmallows at their fire pit.

     

After dinner, we went to Tigard to watch the fireworks.  We didn’t want to go to the high school or park right next to it because we didn’t feel like being in the crowds, especially with Asher.  Instead, we parked at a church near there, and walked over to the golf course.  It was the perfect spot, and we were able to get out and home quickly after.  The fireworks are always my favorite part of the fourth.  The boys loved them too, and when they finally started, they were exclaiming after each one.  James commented the most, and said he loved the “raining” ones, the “O” ones, and even exclaimed that one was “a flower with bees all around it.”  He had a description for every firework for about the first ten minutes of the show.  He asked if he could go in the boomer (his word for fireworks).  We’re not sure if he thought the fireworks were rockets going off or what exactly he meant by going in the boomer.  It was a great way to end the day.

Backyard Campout

We always try to have a backyard campout every summer. Since we were staying home for the 4th this year, we thought the night before would be a good time to have it.  The boys were super excited.  Shane was a great dad and set up the tent, was patient with the boys when they broke one of the poles while making shapes out of it, and slept out there with them while I slept in the house with Asher.  They even set up a projector to watch Cars 2 while in bed.