Celebrating 3 Birthdays in One Weekend

We decided to head for St. George, Utah this past weekend to celebrate the birthdays of 3 grandsons at the same time. Chris' sons Matthew and Caleb turned "1" on May 19th - "5" on June 12th and Dianna's son Wade turns "3" on July 2nd. Since we couldn't make 3 separate trips we picked the one in the middle and celebrated with all 3 boys. We arrived on Friday and spent the evening with Chris and Paula opening presents with Matthew and playing with the boys. Then on Saturday morning Wade opened his presents and got lots of "play" time in with Uncle Jon and Aunt Neisha who had joined us for the weekend. Saturday afternoon was Caleb's pirate themed birthday party - Chris and Paula are amazing parents and together they made 2 large pirate ships where the kids divided into groups and threw water balloons at each other and shot water guns until they were all thoroughly soaked. They had a "treasure" hunt to find a big black treasure chest filled with popsicles - a treasure chest full of candy treats - and all the kids got pirate "tatoos". After all the fun, the kids were treated to a pirate treasure chest cake loaded with goodies for everyone to enjoy. It was a wonderful weekend and we enjoyed our time with these 3 special grandsons.

Little Matthew Turns "1" Year Old

Matthew is such a beautiful baby and we loved spending time with him - even if he was more interested in the "things" he could hold onto (like his new Thomas the Train fork and spoon) than he was in holding onto to the people who love him so much.

Matthew enjoyed opening presents - although his big brother Caleb helped him a lot. Matt looks so much like Chris did at this age, and although his mom is still his favorite person - he has an adventurous spirit and likes to be in the middle of all the action.

Matthew is standing behind one of the "pirate ships" Chris built for Caleb's birthday party. He looks so grown up in this picture - a real little boy outside playing with the big kids.

Caleb is a Big "5" Years Old

Caleb has a new "razor" scooter and was riding around outside when we arrived. He has such a bright face and was so excited about his Pirate birthday party the next day.

Caleb shows off his "ladybug" tatoo and his "treasure chest" birthday cake. Paula did such an awesome job creating this cake which was loaded with bubble gum coins, candy necklaces, and special prizes. Caleb is a lucky boy to have such a creative mom. Ah-hoy Matie - it was a great party!!!

Saturday evening we all went to the Texas Roadhouse restaurant for dinner - where Caleb had one last chance to celebrate as he "rode" the saddle and the staff gave the birthday boy a big cheer.

Wade-O Celebrates Turning "3" Years Old

Wade was excited with his new "super soaker" water guns - now he could join in the fun of chasing people around and getting them wet.

Wade got a new "go fishing" game which was difficult for him to do and will require patience as he learns to catch the fish. Uncle Jon and Uncle Chris decided to show Wade and Caleb just how you catch these little fish - but they had as difficult a time actually catching anything as the boys did - it was great fun to watch all the "boys" go fishing together.

Wade got a "tatoo" at Caleb's birthday party. He insisted that his sleeve be rolled up so everyone could see his "froggy" - but he wouldn't let us roll up the other sleeve, so all day long he walked around with one exposed frog tatoo for all the world to enjoy.

Family Fun Moments

Matthew enjoyed playing with his new "legos" and it looks like Uncle Jon and mom got in on a little of the building action as well.

Caleb and Chris had a water gun fight before Caleb's pirate themed birthday party. They were both soaking wet pretty much the entire day. Caleb was really good at shooting his dad and both were relentless competitors.

We all went for a swim on Saturday afternoon to cool off from the St. George heat - it was great fun for everyone - and as you can see, the water pistol battles continued to rage on and on.

Wade-O loves to give his grandma big hugs - and the feeling is mutual. Spending time with these special grandsons is always a great joy - one can never get too many hugs.

Big Bear Lake In May

It was amazing to see the snow still on the mountains along with the crystal clear coast line of the lake.

We decided to take a trip on the "Liberty" which is a paddle boat that was brought from Boca Raton, Florida to Big Bear Lake about 2 years ago. It was cold and windy but we had a great time.

Ken was chillin out waiting for the boat tour to begin.

The boat was really pretty and fun - I was worried about getting motion sick, but it was smooth sailing all the way.

This observatory is on the lake shore but is only open to professionals at the present time. They expect to open it to the public next year.