Happy Birthday to... RYAN!

I am going to admit something here.  I'm having a really hard time coming to grips with the fact that Ryan had a birthday yesterday.  And not just any birthday.  He turned 8!  Ryan can't be 8.  He's the little brother.  He's just a little menace.  A tease.  The pot-stirrer.  How can he be 8??

But it turns out... it happens even to the biggest of the little pills.  I am sitting here looking at these pictures and when I really look at them- I can see the growth in Ryan's face.  The changes his body has been making over the last year.  He's taller.  His teeth are finally coming in.  His (lack of) style choices.  I guess if you really look- Ryan is 8.  

Ryan's requests for his birthday were few and simple.  He wanted a new bike and he wanted to make his cake.  It took us ALL afternoon to make his cake.  He was VERY specific.  It had to be chocolate.  It had to have raspberries.  And it had to be layered.  It turned out delicious.

Ryan loves to help in the kitchen and surprises me with what he wants to put together sometimes.  Generally speaking it's usually in terms of dessert- when it comes to food- the kid just doesn't mess around.

To date Ryan loves:  baseball, messes, his brother, food and hugs.  He hates:  the Dodgers, blackberries and surprises.

We did come through for him on the bike- you can tell by his face that he is stoked!  And he got to pick out his own set of scriptures.  His first Quad and he was excited.  He sat down as soon as we got home with them and immediately started reading.  I was touched and again I had to admit that my baby boy is growing up.

Happy Birthday Ryan!  We love you!

And the Rocket's Red Glare

I love the 4th of July.  It's hot.  There is usually a BBQ.  Parade candy.  Fireworks.  And always a renewed respect for our Veterans and current military personnel who risk so much every day for our freedoms.  I just love it.  

We started our day with a parade in Albion (my kids have learned that ALL tootsie rolls belong to mom).  Gotta love a parade that is about 10 minutes long.  Long enough to get excited.  Short enough that mom and dad don't want to shoot themselves in the foot in order to get out of it.  Life is good right?

We spent our afternoon playing on the river with cousins- the boys loved playing on the boat and Kate loved jumping off the dock.  Personally- I was down with sitting in a lawn chair next to my sister in law... soaking up some rays and talking about nothing.

Our evening consisted of letting the kids light off some little fireworks- you know tanks, chickens, butterflies and smoke bombs.  Nothing too insane- but it lets Ty's inner pyro-maniac come out.

Kate hates it all and just sits on the side with her fingers in her ears whining for it to all be over.  She's a peach isn't she?

I couldn't even talk her into a damn sparkler.

Still though... I absolutely love these littles.  They are my whole world.

After dinner, we headed into Burley to the golf course.  We spread out our blankets and grandma brought glow sticks.  The boys quickly found buddies to play a quick game of football with.  And we waited for the show to begin.

Such a fun summer day- I love having my family to celebrate with!

Gettin' our swim on!

We have been spending our days at the pool... We're kinda regulars at this point.  But I SWORE when I had kids of my own that we would always be swimming.  So I'm attempting to live up to my 14 year old dream.  So far so good I think.  

Ty is a fish- he has always loved the water.  He has progressively gotten better each year and with each new round of swim lessons.  I thought about swim team this year- but the thought of driving him into town every morning at 6:30 kind of put the brakes on.  I know.  I'm a total wuss.  What can I say... I still hate mornings.  Maybe next year.  

Kate is just like Ty and lives for her time in the water.  She's getting pretty good too!  Her favorite part of the morning is when they strap on life jackets and jump off the diving board.  I think if her instructor would do this all day every day- she would be a happy camper!

Ryan is... well... Ryan.  I call him my reluctant fish.  He's not ever too excited about getting into the water- but now- halfway through the summer and 4 weeks of lessons later... he's actually kinda coming around on the idea.  He FINALLY passed his level 3 test (I seriously thought we were gonna be lifers there) and seems a little pumped about the new challenge in the level 4 class.  Maybe that was the secret... he was bored?  With Ry... who knows.  I'm just happy he's happy.