J-boys Birthday

Long overdue, but it must be posted all the same!  I found this album of pictures in picasa, all set to blog, but somehow I got sidetracked 3 months ago, and it never happened.  Can't imagine how that happened. :)
Back in February, J-boy turned 6!  Here's a little J-boy through the years (because on my blog I specialize in self-indulgence)

We had cupcakes at school on the special day, then we had his party and good times the next night.

 I found a picture online, printed out 18 on a piece of paper and used a circle punch to make the little flags - J-boy was so excited.  I didn't really think about how dangerous it would be to give a bunch of kindergarteners  little flags made our of very sharp little toothpicks.  :)  Live and learn, right?

 Baby A got to join in the fun.  J-boy was so excited to have her there - it was really darling.

The next day, Joseph helped me throw together an awesome birthday party.  We made light sabers out of pvc pipe and pipe insulation and colorful duct tape, then the kids did a little Jedi training -- they shot dart guns at paper-plate-Darth Vadar targets, swung across a 'giant chasm' on a rope swing from the tree in the front yard, beat on a hokey little homemade 'Deathstar' pinata w/ their light sabers, did 'light-sabre training trying to hit a ball blindfolded (use the force!) and were generally awesome. :)  I didn't take many pictures because I was running around crazy w/ a bunch of nutso padawans swinging sticks at each other.  But I did make everyone pose individually w/ their pretend light sabers and took pictures to edit for the thank you cards.  Here are my favorites:

 He was so serious - I loved it!

Mrs. L Goes to Utah

Way back half a year ago in April, I went out to Utah for a quick little siblings weekend.  My little brother, Scott, had just gotten home from his mission a few weeks earlier, and it was the first time we'd all been together in about 5 years - that is WAY too long!!  It was a little cost prohibitive to fly all of us out just for an extended weekend, so I ended up going alone.

We had such a grand time!!!  We stayed one night down in Utah valley and got to see my aunt and her kids, including meeting my cousins baby for the first time.  We ate dinner together at a yummy pizza buffet in Provo - I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Provo!

We stayed the night in a hotel - what is it about hotels that makes kids (and teenagers, apparently) super hyper???  It was fun watching them wrestle/leap/play.  And I'm still adolescent enough to think that the sign in the hallway was amusing.  :)

 The next morning our wonderful parents watched the grandkids so we could all ski together.  *Sigh*  I love skiing with my family.  The boys are really good skiers, but they slow down enough for us ladies and we all have a wonderful time.  All 8 of us squished into the gondola - so happy!!!

 The snow was pretty slushy down lower, but not bad (considering it was mid-April!)  We wore ourselves out!

 We tried to set up the skis as a tripod to take a group picture - the timer went off right as it started to fall - Dave rescued it just in time! :)  Then a nice stranger came by and offered assistance.  No clue who the dude is in the back. :)

 We left the slopes a little early to make it back to Provo for a baby shower for another cousins first baby - it was so fun to see these folks - just icing on the cake, I tell ya!

The night before Mindy left I made us all take thousands of pictures (it took about that many to get the one good jumping picture).  :)  I love this one below of the 6 of us:  

I found the same angle in my scrapbook from Christmas 1999, just after Dave got back from his mission (Scott and Kendra were so little!  Curse the paper-scrapping-relentless-cropping!)

We got to do a few of our favorite things while we were there.  Dad and I are slowly making headway on a music stand we designed - we got a little work done on the desk.  It's one of those work-4-hours-every-6-months kinds of projects.  :)  It's so fun to work with him in his huge new shop.  And Dave decided it was time to slap the shingles on that shop's roof, so Ryan jumped right in with him.  The boys also fed their gear addiction with online window shopping, and the girls had a few rounds of riotous singing at the piano.   And we took some more pictures -- my mom asked for some pictures of Scott and Kendra, and Angela and Heather and I were happy to play photo-shoot. :)

the smolder :)

 I missed my kiddos, and so wished they could have been there to play with their cousins!!!!  These kids are wonderful.  It is amazing to me how much I love my nieces and nephews.  There's something special about having that family tie to these particular kids.  It was so lovely to be with my family - every time we get together I just feel life get better.  I'm really looking forward to that part of forever!