Happy 15th Birthday, Jillian!

Happy birthday to my sweet, funny, smart, kind, beautiful girl!

Look at what a little peanut she used to be! 

I love her enthusiasm!

 

 

We got her a film camera, which she was very happy about. 

She took film photography last year and wants to learn more. 

Following in her Uncle Tyler's footsteps!

Kylie made her a cute mug.

I hope all her wishes come true this year!

 

 

The Adults Outnumber the Kids!

 

Another one of my children turned 18, which technically means that our family now consists of four adults and two kids!  It wasn't that long ago that I worried about the kids outnumbering the adults!  We haven't had a family picture taken recently, but if we had, you would see that almost all of us are close to the same height.  Ben is a few inches shorter, but the rest of us hover between 5'7" and 5'10".  It's pretty strange having a bunch of adult sized people in the house and no little kids!

 

Anyway, for Kylie's birthday, we gave her a good sleeping bag and a pair of hiking boots.  She wants to go to college in Colorado, so we thought she should have some good camping gear.  She loves the outdoors and I'm sure she'll have plenty of opportunities to explore wherever she ends up.

 

 

 

 

She didn't want to have a big party like Nathan had, but I wanted to do something special.  She decided going out to dinner would be fun, so she invited her good friend, Justeen, and we went out to a nice Thai Restaurant. 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Kylie!  I'm excited to see what the next year has in store for her, even though it mean she will be leaving home. She's definitely proven herself to be hardworking, determined, and responsible, so I'm not worried about her succeeding at whatever she tries, but I will miss her!

 

 

 

Caleb's Birthday!

Another family get-together, this time to celebrate Caleb's 2nd birthday!  It was also close to Alicia's birthday, but typical Alicia, she didn't want us to make a fuss over her.

Caleb and Alicia

He's not quite sure what to think about all this...

Eventually, he figured it out!

Jillian got the job of feeding ice-cream cake to Nolan.  He loved it!

Grandpa Tom's birthday

 

We gave Grandpa Tom a new Carhartt work coat for his birthday.  It was a little too big!

This was his old coat...

Kylie modeled the new one so we could see the obvious improvement, except for the size.

 

Ooompa Loompas?

 

Pointing out a special feature the new coat doesn't have!

 

He couldn't stop laughing!  I love how silly my dad can be!

 

 

Everyone was very entertained by their show!

Cake time!

Making a wish...maybe for a coat that fits a little better?

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!  We love you!

Ben's 11th Birthday

'Tis the season for birthdays!  Ben's and Grandma Vikki's birthdays are one day (and 53 years) apart, so we celebrated them together this year. 

They both chose pie over cake; banana cream for Grandma and apple for Ben.

Ben's favorite present this year was from Nathan, a set of  Dungeons and Dragons books!

They started strategizing right away! It has been so nice seeing Ben and Nathan spend so much time together as Nate has been home for the past few months getting ready for his mission. 

The big 20!

I thought I felt old when Nathan turned 18...now he's 20!!! How can that be when I feel like I'm not much older than 30?

Ben decorated the cake with Nathan's favorite candy.  He's lucky he was born near Halloween so candy corn are always available around his birthday...or maybe that's why he likes them so much...although I know I didn't eat lots of them when I was pregnant with him because I don't really like them that much.

Seriously contemplating his wish!  Lots to wish for with all the big changes coming up in his life.

Emma came over to celebrate with us, too.  She is such a great girl.  I'm glad she and Nate have become good friends.  She is leaving on her mission about six weeks after Nate, so unfortunately they won't see each other at the MTC.

Opening presents!  Ben gave him a pound of Bon Bon fudge.  Now that's my kind of candy!

  

Obviously everyone knows Nate likes candy!  The Crunch Berries and Jelly Bellies are from Kylie, the boxes of candy from Grandma Vikki, and the messenger bag from Brad and I.  He can fill it full of his candy and bring it everywhere with him!

Earlier in the day, Brad and I took Nate out for lunch.  It's so strange to think that he won't be here to celebrate his next two birthdays with us. 

Grandma Susan's Birthday

When Scott's family comes to visit, they usually try to plan it around my mom's birthday.  They came a few weeks early this year, but that didn't stop us from celebrating.  Grandma Susan loves to have a blackberry pie for her birthday and fortunately the berries were cooperating!  They were a little early this year since we've been having such a glorious summer.  We got together as many of us as we could to pick her pie berries at Battlepoint Park.

Even the littlest cousins helped!

Another must on Grandma's birthday is to take a family picture.  One of these years we'll get everyone...this year we're missing Tad, Jeff, and Tyler's entire family.

 Grandma likes to get a picture with all of grandkids, too.  

In age order: Nate, Kylie, Jillian, Elijah, Ben, Isaac, Hyrum, Ezra, Jonah, Levi, Mariko, Landon, and Ryota (held by Grandma).  Can you spy two extras in the photo?  We won't mention any names, but some of the younger ones didn't want to have their picture taken!

It was so much fun to see the cousins playing together!  Our back yard hasn't seen this much action in a long time.  

The youngest cousin and the oldest cousin! 

Ryo made the rounds!

It was nice to sit and visit. Yes, it was August...

I wish Scott and Elizabeth lived closer! I really enjoy spending time with them and their great boys.

And the moment we were all waiting for...the blackberry pie!  Happy Birthday, Mom!  

We didn't forget the presents!