Birthdays Galore and Much, Much More!

We just celebrated birthday weekend! On June 4th we had family party to celebrate my grandpa's 80th birthday, which we happen to share (June 6th). It's kinda funny, but my grandpa decided to share his party with me, so we had our pictures taken together, people sang to both of us, etc. My little brother's birthday happens to be June 5th (and so is Jason's), but no one said anything to him. I mentioned it was Eric and Jason's birthdays too, but either no one was listening or no one cared (it was probably the first one, Eric). On Sunday, June 5th, we celebrated Eric's and Jason's AND my birthday. And then my birthday was actually on Monday. My birthday lasted for three days, which in the eyes of some doesn't seem fair. I, however, think it is fair. Yippee!

Here's photos from J's big day:

Addie and Jason, opening his first present.

A potato! Hooray! He didn't say it, but I could tell that Jason was a little disappointed...

until he opened his second present and got a potato shooter! Alright! This present turned out to be so cool that he went back and bought three more so we can have battles. Anyone interested in battling it out spud-style, let us know.

And then we presented dear Jason with an entire pan of homemade cannoli. Happy birthday, Daddy! You're number one!

And then on my birthday:

We made bananas foster for dessert! Here's Jason lighting my dessert on fire. I was so excited for my birthday dessert and was delicious! Then Addie and Jason left me clues around the house... (here's a few of my favorites)



...that led me to my presents! It was awesome! Here I am finding a watering can, which is just what I wanted. Am I getting old or what? I also got a book light, which I was (and am) excited about. Please see the sentence before the last one. We had some great birthdays this year. Thanks to our parents, too, for their generous and thoughtful gifts! And thanks to little sisters for awesome birthday phone calls and handmade gifts!

All of those birthdays in a row confused Addie and she woke up Tuesday morning convinced it was her turn for a birthday.

Last weekend was a crazy and fun one. It started with our big ash tree getting trimmed, which resulted in a beautiful tree and a bloody arm. One of the tree trimmers got injured and bled all over the back patio and our ladder. I'm glad they cleaned most of it up. Then Jason's mom and two sisters came to visit!

The girls (Tricia, Cami, Caitie, Addie and I) went to This Is The Place Heritage Park and wandered around. Caitie and Addie rode a horse. We all got free ice cream cones. And we rode the train. It was a good time. Afterward, we all went to our Family Stake Outing on Friday night. I had been asked a week prior if I would draw pictures of kids that they could then color. So I did. And I drew adults, and dogs, and entire families even. I almost made a little girl cry after I handed her the drawing I did of her. I quickly did another one to try and make it all better, but she had the same reaction. The funny thing was that I had just done a drawing of her twin sister and she loved it. Anyway, it was fun but I don't want to do it again.

Saturday morning Tricia picked up Colton, Nathan, and their friend Shandon from EFY. We all went out for breakfast. There happened to be a grand opening at the D.I. next door to the breakfast place so we wandered over. There was five minutes to opening and a line at the door. For the D.I.. And a clown and balloons. For the D.I.. Addie talked to the clown and got a balloon dog, then we browsed the store and went home. For a D.I. grand opening, it was fabulous. Later we all went to Provo and cruised up Provo canyon to see Bridal Falls. Addie waded in and found some rocks (see above photo). Afterward we went to Niccoitalia's Pizza and gorged ourselves on exceptional pizza and cannoli (you may be interested to know that "cannoli" is plural and "cannolo" is singular. Just something we learned that may come in handy some day when we need to impress important people with our knowledge of Italian desserts.) After that, we watched fireworks from the balcony at Aunt Linda's and Uncle Marty's. Caitie and Jason named nearly every kind of firework: "inside-out watermelon", "shimmer me timbers", and "Scott Bakula", just to name a few. What a great weekend!

Here's El Champion giving his girls a ride.