Two Birthdays And A Baptism

Nate's baptism was May 14th.

Not only was it the day after Ailey's birthday, it is Eric's dad's birthday. We didn't have much choice on the date, so we went with it. We knew Dad would've been excited that such a special event happened on his birthday.

Because it was the day after Ailey's birthday, we decided we'd just celebrate both birthdays and the baptism the same day. It worked out well as Ailey and Nate are pretty good friends and they had no trouble sharing the day.

I had a little more trouble combining an invite, but I figured it out.

We had two different themes, for very different people. I tried my best to make it work.

For the cakes, I made a candy pizza for Nate's and Ailey got cupcakes with Shopkins on top. I tried my best to keep things simple.

The baptism was crazy as 3 other kids were getting baptized in our ward as well, but they do a good job at keeping the baptism to just the individual kid. It was a little hard to not have Eric's dad as one of the witnesses, but we were thankful we had a really good friend there who was able to do the job. We definitely missed Grandpa.

After the baptism, we headed back home to celebrate these two jokers. They both had a great time and we were thankful for the family and friends who attended. And you should all thank me, because instead of posting the 80+ pictures - I just made a video.

What Happens Next...

Happy #60 Mom

My mom turned 60 on her birthday. My older sister knew we had to make the day special, so we planned a surprise party.

My older sister also teaches some sort of Math at a college level and so occasionally she acts us to fill out random questionnaires for statistics. This tactic worked well to figure out what we should serve for dinner and dessert.

We also had my little brother and sister use their gift of lying to get my parents to my sister's house. The story was that my little brother was headed somewhere and broke down close to my sister's house. So he called my dad for help. My dad was part of the lying party and used his best acting skills to act as if he was all put out that he had to help my brother. Somehow he convinced my mom to come along for the drive.

The grandkids were anxious for Grandma to arrive, as evidenced in the video below. My mom was also super surprised and was happy that we remembered her.

My sister also put together a little posterboard picture of how close we all are to the grave. It was kind of funny.

After dinner and dessert, we gave my mom her gifts. I gave her a video slideshow of her life. She thought it was pretty fun.

What Happens Next...

730 Days

Our baby was turning two. Two! Where in the world did those two years go? I really don't know.

Because his birthday was on a Sunday, we were able to have one big party for him. Eric's mom offered her house and we gladly took her up on the offer. She lives in a place that's easier for the rest of my family to get to.

We started off by watching Jace's 2nd year video, which kept the little kids more interested than these videos usually do.

Then it was time for presents and even at 2 years old, this kid knew this was going to be good...

The first gift came from my parents...

{...A Play Tool Set, Complete With Drill - Which Is A Favorite Toy...}

The next gift came from Uncle Corby, Aunt Adri and Cousin Carson...

{...A Dump Truck...}

Gift #3 came from The Wamsleys

{...Lunchbox Toy...}

Gift 4 was from Grandma Shirley.

;

{...Little Superhero Figures...}

Then came his gifts from Mom and Dad...

{..A Remote Controlled Car..}

{...An Intro Into Lego's, Mega Blocks...}

{...And A Basketball Hoop...}

None of the kids could wait and they had to break out the blocks.

The best part of any birthday is cake and candles.

We went with a Big Hero 6 theme, which made all the treats super easy to put together.

Treats were a big hit!

{...He must be my kid, choosing cookies over cupcakes...}

Jace is probably the only kid of mine who voluntarily chooses to clean up after his own birthday party...

It was a pretty good birthday and I still can't believe our baby is 2. He's been so much fun and he's such a joy to have in our lives. Here's to many more great years, baby boy!

What Happens Next...