Finally....The feeding frenzy begins

Gabe had no clue why his cake was suddenly on fire but Daddy helped him blow it out.


Though he started a bit timidly, he soon got into the spirit and started digging right in. The pictures show it getting progressively worse until finally we transfered him to the kitchen sink for a sponge bath. I think he will be pretty sick tomorrow.


Once he got through playing in the tractor cake, we gave him a little scoop of ice cream and a small piece of cake from the other one and he finished off his meal with a nice slimey layer of chocolate.


"Gluttony" is the only word that comes to mind here.

Opening Presents

It became apparent while opening gifts that this side of the family was very excited to finally be able to shop for a boy. He got several manly toys like a fire truck from Grandma Lynn that revs up and then takes off on the floor, a Kawasaki 4wheeler, several construction trucks and 2 vintage metal trucks from Grandpa and Keegan. Even in a room full of girls, he found himself fighting to get a chance to play with some of them. Kenda spent quite a bit of time playing with the spiderman race car she got for him.

Construction Trucks and Caution Tape

Tomorrow is Gabe's birthday, but because most of our family was going to be gone, we had the party tonight. The cakes below are a direct result of too much time on my hands. I think I need a hobby or something to keep my imagination from getting too carried away. I saw the tractor cake online on one of those parenting websites and thought it would be perfect for his party. Complete with graham cracker dirt and donut tires, it was a really fun thing to make!! The base was a pound cake cut into 2 pieces. The other cake was not quite as fun to make but fit the theme and was an easy one to serve to guests. I wrapped caution tape around 2 construction cones in the kitchen and the whole thing came together great. I think I may be suffering from boredom since returning from Roatan, where every day was a 24/7 day for Louis and I. With my mom, sisters and myself, my workload has been drastically reduced, leaving lots of time for trying out fun new things.

Pioneer Day

Here in Mormon Land, we celebrate Pioneer Day every 24th of July. The ward has a big BBQ or party and everyone dresses up. It happened that this year it was the day before the big wedding. With Randi's preparations almost finished, we figured the kids could use a break so we dressed them up as pioneer children and gave them a break from the stress of all the adults. We headed off to the ward potluck party for the evening. The girls were in the pioneer parade and walked about a 1/4 mile stretch. The dresses were ones my mom had bought when we were kids and we wore them at this same age. The bonnets she made for a church activity when we were kids too. They have been sitting in the dress up bin forever and it was great to pull them out again. The kids played for a while at the party and ate all the donuts and homemade rootbeer that they could and then we headed back to finish wedding prep for the next morning.

Cousin Hayley and Riley joined us for the parade and party.



Of course no blog is complete without that random odd picture of Gabe to fill in the space. He has fallen in love with the ping pong balls and will hold them in his mouth and run around. They are too big to get farther in so I guess it is "safe" for him to do. He looks so funny running with 2 balls in his hands and another in his mouth. It almost keeps the slobbers in....almost. His birthday is on Friday so stay tuned for a whole post dedicated to him, rather than just a picture at the end. Love to all, Jamie

4th of July

Kenda and Makiah took advantage of the $3 tshirt sale at Walmart and each got a new shirt for the holiday. Aunt Jess provided glow bracelets and we had a BBQ at Jess's house for the kids. Sparklers and popits were plentiful and we ate burgers and dogs for dinner.

Kenda, Kiah and cousin Hayley decorated star shaped sugar cookies. I made them all afternoon....they make more than the suggested 3 dozen when you cut them into star shapes.....if I had only known!! Each of the girls decorated about 3 each and then our poor Grandma Blake finished decorating all the rest with frosting and sprinkles.


Gabe had lots of fun watching the store bought fireworks popping on the back porch.

He actually got quite a thrill pawing through the pile of options, until we realized that he was sucking on them and they would no longer light....you all know how much slobber my boy can produce. We lost 3 or 4 good fireworks that just would not light. We skipped out on the local fireworks show this year. It did not start until 10pm and we were just not willing to stay up that late with the kids and then try to fight traffic to get back home. Sometimes I think an evening at home with the family is just as fun though. Happy Fourth to everyone!