Birthday Bash

Today we celebrated both Mike's 34th birthday and Andrew's 9th birthday. Andrew won't actually turn 9 for another two weeks but we figured it would be fun to celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa while we are with them. Grandma Anne really went above and beyond and made such a fabulous dinner. Ribs, potato salad, fruit salad, rolls, and broccoli lined the table. It was such a feast. And the cake was to die for delicious. She got a chocolate mint ice-cream cake from Baskin Robbins. YUM!! We really appreciate the time she spent in making everything so special.

This year I knew I had to get Mike a good present. The last couple of years I really haven't been that clever. It is hard to keep up with Mike and his creative mind. He is always so clever and gives me the best presents. He always knows what I love and he nails it so perfectly. Mike has been eyeing the iPad since it came out and I knew that he wouldn't got out and spend the money to buy it. So I gladly went out and bought it for him. My parents bought him a nice case to carry it in. For the rest of the evening he downloaded apps and it was like seeing a kid in a candy store. I don't think he has been that excited over a gift in a long time. It made me feel good to know that he had something fun and amazingly useful to play with.

Andrew got a Power Miners lego set and the new Percy Jackson movie from Grandma Ann and Grandpa Franz. He and Peter went to straight to their room to put it together. They were both so excited. I was so proud of Andrew for letting Peter help him and be part of the excitement. Andrew got his birthday present from us a little early this year. For quite some time Andrew has been asking for two things--a camera and his own computer. We decided to get him a netbook and he has really loved it. He has shown some real responsibility in taking care of it and it has already proven to be fantastic during our travels.

The girls enjoyed eating the ice-cream cake but mostly they loved ripping all of the tissue paper up and throwing it in the air. Emma even tried to bury Abby in it. It was cute to watch them so excited over blue paper. It was a great birthday bash celebration during the 4th of July Weekend in sunny Utah!