Eight Already?!

My sweet little Andy isn't little anymore.  He turned 8 in July, he loves sports, video games, bakugan, sports, and vegging in front of the tv.  The poor kid had a small birthday this year but got the best birthday present of us all.

Andy had a rough time with the move to Australia from the very beginning. My boy who was so excited and told everyone about our move, started missing everyone shortly after we got to Australia.  The words "I never wanted to come here!" were like a knife to my heart. Mostly because I knew how he felt  (I actually had always wanted to go there but I was just as homesick as he was)!  He had fun while we were there but he missed his friends and his teachers and his school more than anything else.  He would sob because he wanted to go home.  All I could do was hug him until he felt better, trying not to let my tears fall along with his.

We decided just a few days before Andy's birthday that it was time to go home. We'd had it with the sickness and the mold and the sickness and the mold. Oh, I already said that.  Anyway,  I took Andy and Jakob to see Harry Potter 7 Part 2 a few days before his birthday and he was so excited.  After it was over, we found out that going home was a possibility and he gave me a HUGE hug.  We started getting tickets ready for us to leave and decided to leave on the 19th - the day after Andy's birthday.  Andy had his wish come true for his birthday.  He got to go home!

We went to pick up Andy's gift from a shopping centre. He got to pick out a Nintendo DS game for himself before we headed home to pack.  Andy decided to wait for his cake until he got home because we wouldn't be able to finish it before we left Australia.  Plus he had something specific in mind and it would have been harder to do while packing!!

So off we went home, and Andy got to see all of his friends. His best friend was gone for a few weeks so he had to wait to see him but he got to see everyone else and he was happy again.

BUT the best part was that he got to be baptized with his cousin.  We had planned that for a year and then we ended up going to Australia. We had set up interviews two different times and tried to get things set up in Australia but it never worked out. And now we know why. :)

The  baptism went really well. They got to get baptized at the same time and then confirmed at the same time the next day. I was so happy and so was Andy!  We had our good friends come with us to Idaho and they were able to be there for it as well.

Last but not least, we got to make Andy's cake in OUR home in Utah.  He had wanted a hamburger cake for almost two years. Last year we didn't do it because we combined birthdays and made one big cake. So this year I went all out. It was three layers think and he was THRILLED with it.

All in all it was a pretty fantastic birthday for my Andy. He even got to be in Fiji for the day two days after his birthday!! 

My Five Year Old Gavin

It's still July right? It seems like it could be. These last few months have flown so fast and I haven't had a chance to blog for a while. I am attempting to blog on my phone with 4% power left so we will see how this goes.

Poor Gavin didn't get much of a birthday. His presents were lame little toys from the grocery store, his cake was undercooked and over buttery and what we had planned for his birthday had to be put off. But to him it was perfect.

Being born on the 5th of July means he can have some patriotic vibes to his birthday. Since we were in Australia we went searching for an American restaurant and found TGI Fridays. We celebrated both his birthday and the 4th. I got my steak, the kids got pizza and Steve got salmon. We even had an American waiter!!

On Gavin's birthday, he got to pick out a movie and he chose Despicable Me. He waited patiently for the rest of the kids and Steve to get back from the store so he could watch the movie. He opened his few gifts and we ate the nasty cake. Then we enjoyed the movie. We had planned to bowl but it's pricey there and we had to do it on a half price night. So that waited for the next night.

We all had a lot of fun bowling. We got the ramp things for Ethan and Gavin and they loved it!! The scores weren't all that great but it was still fun to see the competition between the kids.

I can't believe my little boy is five. He is such a sweetheart with a mischievous streak. He is my Calvin(from Calvin and Hobbes) that I always said I wanted. I love my sweet Gavin!!

Steve's Birthday

Your birthday comes around each year. You get a little older, a few gifts and a few 'Happy Birthdays!" from your friends and family.  Unless you have Facebook and then you get inundated with Happy Birthdays and it just makes your day awesome. But I digress.

Steve got kinda ripped off this year for his birthday.  We were in the midst of asthma causing mold issues and were being told to leave the house.  I didn't even want to bake a cake or dinner in the house after mold spray was sprayed in and around the kitchen sink and counter.  So poor Steve had to forgo his Black Forest cake and we went out for dinner instead.  He wasn't too heartbroken. We went and had Chinese food and it was YUMMY.  Duck, suckling pig, and all kinds of other yummy foods were served.

DUCK! Really, it is.

Ethan loved the food.

Bok Choy, Mushrooms and Snails.  Yummy!

Steve likes his food!

And making faces.

We had him open his gifts. He was happy for his Terry Pratchett books. Even though his wife was a moron and put the books in the same bag as a water bottle that was NOT water tight... a few pages got wet in a few books but luckily it wasn't too bad.  He also got a few things for the house and he bought himself a pizza paddle and stone.   He also got a rice cooker later and every time we use it, Gavin is happy to remind him that he got it for his birthday.   I promised him I would make him his Black Forest cake when we get settled... that hasn't happened yet...

Heidi was thrilled to be able to take the gifts to Daddy.

Posing for pictures.

Now Heidi is REALLY helping.

Its not the sharpest pizza cutter but its kinda cute.

Anyway, now its time to do a little bragging about my husband.  You see, I got the best one out there.  He cares for his wife and children like you would never believe. He cooks, he cleans, he helps with laundry or whatever else I need help with. He ran the house while he let me live my dream of owning a bookstore.  He puts us all before himself.

When we go out on house hunting missions or to the park or zoo or whatever else we might be doing, he makes sure that we have lunches made - which include fruit and a drink before we go.  I am in charge of shoes, coats, socks and other items.  Guess who usually forgets their part of the deal...

I haven't thanked him nearly enough for what he has done for all of us.  We love you Steve and I hope that even though it was a mess, you had a fabulous birthday!

My Little Boy Turned Three!!

I'm a little behind on birthdays but I think I might have a little bit of an excuse with the whole moving twice since Ethan's birthday thing.  So here it goes.

Ethan got to start a little early for his birthday. We went to IKEA the week before and he found a bulldog that he loved "I want to hug its head!," he yelled from across the store.  He also informed me that he wanted a blue book as we went to a bookstore.  Which was nice that I found a "My Little Blue Book" at Borders!

Anyway, the day before Ethan's birthday we went to the zoo.  He wanted to go on a train and he wanted to go to the zoo. So we did.  He LOVED it.  He talked nonstop on the train and loved to see the animals. His favorites were the monkeys.  He was sad this last week when we went to the Healesville Sanctuary and there were no monkeys...

The morning of his birthday we started a new ward for our new house.  Ethan ran right into nursery and was playing with the kitchen when I introduced him. I was told I could go in and out of the room if I needed to but I just let him do his thing. And he was alright with that.  I also let them know it was his birthday.  I can't believe he goes to primary in January!! Sad.

After church we went home and started the frosting for the 'blue rocketship cake' he wanted and the pizza that Steve was so excited to make.  He first made meatballs and then sliced them up and put them on the pizza. Scrumptious!

We had friends over to celebrate.  We had a lot of fun talking while the kids burned out their energy running through the house.  That is one thing I liked about the house. There was LOTS of space.   The food was good.  Ethan enjoyed his gifts and he was thrilled to blow out the candles - even though Daddy had to help.

Ethan is very proud to tell people that he is three.  He's growing bigger every day and if you peek in on him you can hear him singing anything from "Bad" by Michael Jackson to "We're going up the hill, we're going up the hill, we're going up the hill".  He can sing every word to Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder and "Roarie the Racing Car" which is an Australian show.  He also knows the Donkey Kong version of 'Dynamite' and even gets into the teasing with the song "Jakob and Rebekah Sitting in a tree...." which is a riot to hear him try to spell.

My favorite thing that Ethan says that melts my heart is this:

Me:  Who's your best friend?
Ethan:  You're my best friend!

And it isn't even scripted.  I have been his best friend for a few weeks now and I'll take it while I can get it!  If anyone else asks, he gets mad and yells NO!  Right now, its safe to say that I have myself a little three year old who loves his mommy. Anyway, here are the pictures from Ethan at the zoo and then from his birthday.   I love my Ethan!

I asked Ethan to smile. This is the closest I got...

Ethan REALLY wanted a blue rocketship cake. This is what he got.  I have some work to do but I sure had fun making it! Not sure what happened to the photo...

Time to blow out the candles!

Jakob's Birthday

I tried to think of some catchy title but my brain is still in bed for the day.

Jakob turned 10 this week. Double digits!!  He likes to remind me that he has less than 10 years before he goes on his mission. Thanks for that. :)  But I am so proud of the fact that it is in his plans!!  He's getting so tall too.   He's already to my shoulders! I knew he would be tall. I just wasn't ready for it so soon.

He played in a soccer tournament last week and his team won four games and tied for the fifth!!  He even got to score a goal and he was happy about that. When Steve asked how he felt about scoring the goal, he shrugged his shoulders and said "I don't know." Modest at some moments and cocky at others.

So onto his birthday.  Sadly, it was also the last day at his school before moving to a new one. But there was a special program there where the grandparents and 'special friends' could come. Since we have neither quite yet, he had Steve and I come. :)  All of us had lunch on the 'lawn'(astro turf) and then the kids showed us around the school. We collected their things and headed off.  I had done my birthday shopping with Ethan and Heidi while I waited for the event to start.  I had way too much fun at the Borders bookstore but came out with an impressive lack of books.  I could have been much worse.

As soon as we got home, I started the cheesecake.  Steve had gone back to work for a while for a training so I had time to bake. He got done early and came home so we could start dinner.  Jakob asked every 2.7 minutes if it was time to open gifts yet.

FINALLY it was time.  He was thrilled with his gifts which I was happy about.  His Australian football book was his favorite and he had it read on the way to the zoo on Saturday!  Here are some photos from present opening time:

Then, on Saturday, we decided to go on a day trip for everyone's birthday (we have three within a week). Jakob wanted to go to the end of one of the train lines. Below is on the way to Lilydale.

And then Ethan wanted to go to the zoo. We were going to go to Healesville Sanctuary but we would have had to wait for 2 hours for a bus... so around we turned and went back to the Melbourne Zoo. I'm glad we got a membership because we'll have to go back to finish it!

I asked Jakob if he liked his birthday and he told me yes. I guess it was a success!!!  Today he starts his new school so we will have more news to share later. 

Birthday Time

Ashley and I share a birthday which is lots of fun. Right now Ashley loves it. Hopefully she'll continue to be happy about that. :)  We were in an apartment in a new city for our birthday so we kept things simple. Okay, so we went to the beach the day after as part of our birthday but that's kinda keeping it simple, right?

We also started the kids in school the day before her birthday so she got to stand up during the assembly for everyone to tell her Happy Birthday. She thought that was pretty cool.  She wanted a strawberry cake but cake mixes are harder to come by and more expensive here than in the US so she had chocolate cake with sprinkles. LOTS of sprinkles.  The boys helped!

Ashley got this koala holding a boomerang from her daddy. So cute!

 Jakob had to lay claim on one of the gifts.  Of course he picked the biggest one that ended up being a tea set.  He said, "I KNEW I wanted to give that one to her!"

 

 Time for the candles! I had to use the gas stove to light the candles. Probably not smart but I was careful. Then I got to walk very slowly over to the table with them. I deleted the picture Steve got of me chewing Gavin out for blowing out the candles...

 Heidi really liked the cake!!

And now its beach time!  The weather was awesome! It was the last time we got to go to the beach before it started getting too cold. Darn Autumn.  This was at Bonbeach and its our favorite of the four we have visited. 

On to MY cake.  I love this cheesecake recipe.  Best one EVER.

One nice thing about sharing a birthday is that there's enough cake to go around that you can keep yours to yourself as much as you want.  Everyone wanted Ashley's chocolate cake and I was perfectly okay with that!!