Birthday Boys

Late Spring is birthday time for our family--in a big way. Andrew's birthday is on May 24th. Taylor's birthday is on June 2nd, just nine days after Andrew's.

When Russell was born on May 23rd last year, I knew that I had something big on my hands!

For their first year as the three birthday musketeers, my men celebrated their big days all on one day-- the 23rd--which happened to be Russell's day.

Plans for the big birthday party was nearing completion when I received a surprise phone call from my mom in Utah asking if she could come visit for a week and join the celebration. Awesome! For me, it doesn't get much better than that.

So the week before the boys' birthdays my brave mother faced her post-stroke struggles with airports and flew into the oh-so-enormous Denver Airport to visit us. Her love knows no bounds.

Mom stayed with my grandparents at night while she was here and drove over to my place every morning to visit with me and the little boys. She spoiled us with fun meals and new groceries, and plenty of one-on-one conversation. My mom is one of my best friends. It was so nice to have her here and to hog so much of her time to myself!

Well, I'm sure the pictures have made it pretty obvious--when party day finally arrived, we gave it a pirate theme, inspired by the new cute Disney TV show called "Jake and the Neverland Pirates," one of Taylor's favorite things these days. I bought pirate masks for the occasion, and my friend Jennifer, who is an amazingly talented cake decorator, made a spectacularly cute pirate cake for the birthday boys.

My Uncle Jeff and Aunt Donna and their family joined us, as did my Mercer grandparents and my Mom at Grandma's fun neighborhood park in Bow Mar South where there's everything fun for families: a swimming pool, lake and beach, playground, picnic area with charcoal grills and tables, a fire pit, yummy food, and presents (for the birthdays of course!). Even though it was a chilly mid-60 degree day, we did it all, and we had a blast.

Taylor- 1 Year Old

On Taylor's first birthday, we stripped him down to just a diaper, put him in an inflatable swimming pool, and let him go crazy with his first piece of birthday cake. It was a blast to watch him make a huge mess and thoroughly enjoy the massive amounts of sugar he had been given.

This being Russell's big number one, I was excited to let him have the same chance at his first piece of cake. This time, the scene played out a little differently. First off, it was way too chilly to not wear any clothes. Russell was much happier in his jacket. Second, baby Russell is much more mellow than Taylor was at his age. Russell was delighted to have cake, yes, but didn't have the urge to show outward approval like his brother had. Look at how clean he was in comparison! Although it was less entertaining to watch this time, it was nice that I didn't have to overhaul clean a baby and a swimming pool when at the conclusion of cake eating. Nice job, Russell!

So now my babies are 3 and 1. What happened to me having a 2 year-old and an infant?? They are growing up so quickly. Here are their birthday growth stats:

Russell- 1 Year

Height: 29 1/4 inches (35th percentile)

Weight: 20 lbs. 14 oz. (20th percentile)

Head Circumference: 47 cm (70th percentile)

Taylor- 3 Years

Height: 37 1/2 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 29 lbs. 2 oz. (25th percentile)

Head Circumference: 52 cm (95th percentile)

And now my hubby, like me, has turned the dreaded 27. :) (Although he doesn't loathe the sound of that number like I do).

I love him tons! He was such a champ to share his birthday for the second year in a row (last year I was in the hospital with new little Russell and he didn't receive the attention he deserved on his birthday). I also don't know many adult men who'd ask for pirate themed birthday parties--Andrew included--this year's party was definitely planned with the kids in-mind. Andrew has always been a selflesss and thoughtful, fun father. Even on his birthday.

We were sure to recognize him appropriately the following night over dinner at Mellow Mushroom, at my sweet mom's invitation.

So here I honor the three men in my life. They make mine three times more busy, three times less predictable, three times more exciting, give me three times more laughter, and three times the blessings. Aren't I the lucky one??

Easter in Utah

It's June, but let me tell you a little about what happened in April...

Easter.

In April, Russell, Taylor and I flew to Utah for a week to celebrate this, one of my favorite holidays, with my family.

This was the first time that I had flown alone with two small children. It was an adventure to be sure--made possible with help from a double umbrella stroller, my husband and dad who checked my luggage and helped handle the kids up to security check, an infant carseat and entire row to myself while onboard the airplanes (so fabulous!), an iPad loaded with Disney flicks, lots of kiddie snacks, and several good samaritans in Salt Lake and at DIA who offered to lend a hand. And we all made it there and back without a scratch! Whew.

Having the chance to visit individually with each of my family members while there--Dad, Mom, Larz, Devin--was special treat I received during this visit. They all have such great insights and positive outlooks on life that leave me wishing that I were more like them.

Of course, I missed my missionary brother, Kyle who's serving in Sao Paulo, Brazil for another year, and Andrew, who stayed in Denver for work (but was great at keeping tabs with us via Face Time on my iPad). It will be great when we can all be together again.

Mom planned the fun holiday events--egg dying for Taylor with my Uncle Mitch and Aunt Megan's kids, an egg hunt in my parents' yard on Easter morning, Easter baskets filled with holiday goodies for my family and my brothers, and special meals with family. Since getting married and having Easters on our own for the most part, I'd forgotten a little how much I missed those things.

An awesome bonus while we were there was that BYU's graduation fell on Easter weekend this year, and Andrew's little sister Christy was graduating! I was able to celebrate with she and my mother and father in-law over dinner at Mimi's Cafe and later at her convocation on campus. She looked so beautiful and so happy. It was also so strange and exciting to see my Alabama family and my Utah family all on the same trip! Utah sure brings people together, doesn't it? Love it.

My favorite part of this Easter vacation was on the Saturday morning before Easter, when my parents, my brother Larry, and I went to the Provo Temple together and performed sealings for some of our Danish and Scottish ancestors.

Larz, who is quickly becoming our family genealogist, had found our ancestors' names on his own and prepared them to take to the temple. Until he had done this, I had thought that we were at a bit of a dead-end with our family's history and honestly never imagined that I would have the priveledge of serving my ancestors by doing their temple work. I was so happy to be wrong! I was also deeply honored to help Larry with the work, as I prepared some of the sisters' names for the sealing room by working in the Denver Temple a little the week before I went to Utah.

Going to the temple, for my ancestors, with my parents and younger brother there with me, was sweet and tender time. Thank you Larry, for making that possible.

May and June were filled with family visits too! I have been so blessed this year. Stay tuned...