Tyler's 6th Birthday

This boy just celebrated his 6th birthday!

Tyler is: a fun friend, handsome, a soccer star, a conscientious student, a great big brother, an excellent reader and writer, creative, and much more. 

Nine days before his actual birthday, we had a SUPER HERO PIZZA PARTY at our house.

These boys all know how to party!

Tyler, Dennis, Caleb, Tyson, Brian

Tyler was very specific about his decorations, especially the streamers.

The birthday boy requested brownies with orange frosting for his party cake… easy enough.

We had Sam and Katie go and get the pizza right as the party was starting 

so we could eat it when it was nice and hot.

Here are Tyler's party gifts.  His favorite gift was the red Mighty Dragon.

Most of the rest of the party was spent playing with the new toys.  The boys got creative and brought out the dragon castle and this board so they could see all of the cool things the dragon could do.

MVI 3521 from Lisa Ward on Vimeo.

T's request for 2 years, "I want a skateboard... but not until I turn 6!" The big day has finally arrived! He's been watching YouTube videos on learning the basics of skateboarding.  He's so excited and knowing T and his determined personality, he'll get the hang of it quickly.

On Tyler's real birthday, we let him open up presents before Sam went to work.  Tyler's favorite gift was the skateboard.  He was totally spoiled with some new camo snow boots, a new camo winter coat, Hot Wheels extension track pack (5 pieces of track), a green snow shovel, 2 foam swords, and a remote controlled helicopter.    Tyler decided to buy some new skateboarding shoes with his birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa Ward.

He got to frost and put sprinkles on his cake!#giantdonutcake

WE LOVE YOU TYLER AND WE'RE SO GLAD YOU ARE A PART OF OUR FAMILY!

CKMs - Summer Edition #4

Fun times with old pal, Caleb at the new splash pad

Met up with our old next door neighbors at the new splash pad!

Here's Ty and Katie

Backyard picnic in the shade #smartkids

Brian's 7th Birthday - Celebrated in New York & Utah

 We celebrated Brian's birthday for an entire week!  Lucky Boy!  

Do you see him just basking in all the attention?

This boy LOVES birthdays, especially when it's HIS birthday.

The week long celebration started on the 19th in New York.
 I made him brownies to share with his birthday twin, my dad. 

 These two were both born on Feb. 24.
My dad just turned the big 6-0!  Woah!

The fun continued.  Our family flew back home.  On Brian's actual birthday, Brian was totally spoiled even before school started.  He woke up to a french toast breakfast adorned with a candle.  We sang happy birthday to him.  (It's a huge deal because I very rarely wake up early and make my family breakfast.)  He got to open a present before school... a new green shirt with a #7 on it.

While Brian was at school, Tyler emptied his piggy bank.  I helped him count all of the quarters he earned/saved... $14.25!  I asked Tyler if he wanted to buy his brother a birthday present.  He said, "Yeah, I know just what to get him.  Let's go to the store."  So, off to the store we went.  Tyler bought himself a big blue ball.  He also bought a big green ball for Brian to kick around the backyard. 

 Brian's favorite gift is this remote controlled red truck that we gave him.  

He makes sure that the battery is plugged into the wall when he's not playing with it.  

And he likes "driving" it around the block.

Brian's birthday celebration continued as we went to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner. Oh, we started a new birthday tradition for our family.  Each person in our family wrote down a special wish for Brian and put it inside a balloon.  We drove up the canyon (which overlooked the valley) and released the balloons into the air.  We came home, poked and lit a candle on his cake, and sang "Happy Birthday" to Brian.   

 

The next morning, two of his best buds, Dennis and Caleb, came over for Brian's birthday party. 

 The lucky boy who had a #7 inside of his balloon got to have the first mug of hot chocolate.  

Dennis was the winner.

 

I whipped up a double batch of edible peanut butter play doh and let the boys play with it.  

They got really creative and created their own peanut butter ponds where the red Swedish Fish dwell. 

The peanut butter play doh was their party favor to take home.

 Here are some facts about Brian at age 7:

- still loves RED

- loves helping out in the kitchen (especially making treats)

- busts a move on our dance (kitchen) floor

- is an awesome big brother to Tyler and Katie

- loves telling us daily/weekly weather reports several times a day

- insists on rolling all the windows down in the van when I pick him up from school (if it's a nice day)

- his favorite gift from Christmas is a RED $5 alarm clock

 - is a super smart first grader who completes his homework

- does a great job following the rules

WE LOVE YOU, BRIAN!!!

Best Buds MOVE Away

Things have been different at our house.  

My boys are getting use to life without Caleb living next door. 

Caleb and his family moved to a new home recently. 

 The boys played a ton together in their final days of being next door neighbors.

Best Buds- Brian, Caleb, Tyler

Noah is Caleb's adorable little 2 1/2 year old brother.  

We moved into our house right after he was born.  

Noah was just starting to tag along with Caleb when he'd come to play at our house. 

 Brian and Caleb.

These two had a rough start but have ended up being great buddies.  

Brian bawled his eyes out when I told him that Caleb was moving.

Through his sobs and tears, Brian whined, "Dang it!  Caleb can't move!"

I feel SO bad for Brian losing his best friend.

Good thing Caleb didn't move too far away.

Jack, Caleb, Tyler

Jack was in preschool with Tyler last year.  

He lives in our neighborhood.

I bet we'll be seeing more of Jack at our house.

Words of Wisdom

"... she who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful sons and daughters, whose influence will be felt through generations to come, ...long after paintings shall have been destroyed, deserves the highest honor that man can give, and the choicest blessings of God. In her high duty and service to humanity...she is co-partner with the Creator himself." ~ President David O. McKay

"It is our uniqueness that gives freshness and vitality to a relationship."  - James Dobson

"Be the change you want to see in the world." ~Ghandi 

Who's the #1 Best Next Door Neighbor Boy?!

It's Caleb!

Caleb LOVES to come over and hang out.

Tyler asked Caleb if he could play too.

And Caleb said, "Yes!"

Tyler is now hangin' with the big boys.

That sure makes him feel big and strong.

Snow Buddies

We had a big snow storm right before we went to Las Vegas.

 The boys had fun playing in the snow.  Caleb came over to play in the snow too. 

When they were done playing in the snow, it was time for them to kick off their boots and snow gear and lounge around sipping hot chocolate.

Caleb wowed my boys with his marshmallow straw sucking skills.

Buddies

Here's my snow buddy:

Katie is sporting the cute snow cap Grandma Hallstrom mailed to her. She was a great sport and let me take pictures of her while the boys were out playing in the snow.