Birthday Delights

We celebrated Brian's birthday with a backyard bbq with friends. The Ritzmans and our fun neighbor family came over to enjoy playing in the backyard and some good grilling by Brian.

The end result was cuban-style grilled pork chops and new potatoes from the garden.

We had planned to play with Paul's new birthday toy, an animal water park, but the timing wasn't right. We waited an extra couple days to have a hot summer day. Unfortunate for Paul, he was taking a nap when we tried it out. Hey--we were just working the kinks out for him. :)


It's so fun to celebrate close birthdays. We sent out best wishes to Grandma Charlotte by splashing in the new wading pool!


The best tribute to our country's birthday were our cleomes (or spider plant). They were in full bloom and really seemed to be exploding on the 4th of July.Even though it was a rainy day we got to enjoy the best amateur firework show ever. The neighbors up the street put on an incredible show. It reminded me of blowing up old tin cans on the porch in McCall with my dad--not quite the same caliber, of course, but definitely that same spirit of celebration!

Make a Wish...

Forgot to post this video of Paul blowing out the candles. By the 2nd candle Paul was out of breath and Scot ended up blowing from behind him (so as not to hurt his feelings that he wasn't kid enough to get them both).

All Smiles

The reason for the last post about the shoes was, of course, because Paul got some really cool new shoes for his birthday. Can you believe my little guy who could never get a drink without clinking his front teeth on the glass now skids around corners like he's a Mariocart classic roadster? Those new shoes are going to get a run for their money!

In honor of his never ending smile, pleasant "OK"s, and gracious "thank you"s, Paul got to blow two candles out of a smiley face cake (which Scot made).

Paul surrounded by presents. Yes, they are all in white paper--but the girls colored the outsides to make each unique.

Happy Birthday!!