CELEBRATE!

Yesterday was Clayton's 10th birthday! Double digits! Just a few days before his birthday we found out that his best buddy Devin and his family would be staying at our house for 2 nights and then leaving for Omaha on the morning of his birthday. About the same time I found out that Larry's whole family was considering coming to Little Rock to surprise Clayton on his birthday. I told them it would be a great encouragement to him since he would probably be sad.
My mother in law came up a day early. When she rang the doorbell we sent Clayton to answer it. He opened the door and saw presents and balloons sitting on the porch. When he walked outside to get them my mother in law jumped out and said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" He was very surprised! The next morning Devin left and it was quick so he seemed to handle it OK. The rest of us set about to clean the house and prepare for 4 more visitors without Clayton knowing. Around lunch time Larry said he needed to run an errand and ran to pick up his dad, sister (Val), her fiance (Philip), and Philip's daughter (Val's step daughter) Kennedie at the airport. When they all came through the door Clayton was shocked! When the shock wore off we all had a great time catching up, playing out side, and making a big dinner. After dinner we went to Clayton's choice for his birthday treat, Maggie Moos! Then we all headed back home and decided to go swimming. My boys were thrilled to get to swim until the sun went down and the lights came on at the pool! That night Clayton said that it was one of his best birthdays ever and that at the beginning of the day he thought it would be just another normal day. Boy did we change that!


Clayton's new shirt!

Maggie Moos!

Val, Philip and Kennedie

SWIMMING! A great way to end a birthday!

Today we shift from celebrating our sweet 10 year old to celebrating Larry. What a blessing he is to me and the boys. We all absolutely adore him! He is an amazing father and husband and it is a joy to honor him today!

A Great Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. For 4 months I've been able to say I was married to an older man but now we are the same age again :). My family did a great job of making me feel special on my birthday. After church, which is always a great way to start a birthday, the boys were very excited to give me my present. Larry and I are not big into gifts and normally don't buy each other anything but our mentors recently suggested that we at least do something small to model gift giving to our boys in case they marry a woman whose love language is gifts. Great advice. So a few weeks ago I was thinking to myself that what I really wanted Larry to get me for my birthday was dried blueberries.

Right about now you are saying "What?!" Seriously, my sister in law introduced me to them when we were back home last and I LOVE them! They are such a yummy treat but they are way too expensive. A small container will set you back about $6 and I can eat one of those containers in just a couple of days. So...back to my story....they hand me my gift and I could not believe it when it was 2 containers of dried blueberries!

It's seriously scary how Larry and I think alike! The boys also gave me coupons for a "personal chef". I despise cooking so when I turn in these coupons dad and the boys get to make me dinner!

After my excitement over my blueberries we went to see Night at the Museum 2. The boys have been so excited about this movie and have been saving their money for awhile to see it. It was a great movie! I think it was just as good as the first one which is pretty rare in sequels.

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and hanging out together as a family. The boys watched America's Funniest Home Videos, their favorite show and a Sunday night ritual, while I talked to my dad and other family members wishing me a Happy Birthday. It doesn't get better than that!