1st Birthday!

Even though we had a party on Sunday we still celebrated at home as a family for James's actual Birthday! I love, love, love birthdays, so we do them as much as possible for my kids!

I want them to know how much we celebrate the blessing they are from God in our lives!

 Just like the night before he was born, the night before his birthday Jenna helped me make a cake :)

 The night before his birthday Michael and I just watched him sleep. 

Time be still is all I could think!

 That day we spent the morning cuddling and then when sister got out 

of school at 2 we headed to the Village. 

 James loves the fountains and the snacks there :)

 We took a walk to the park, so he could swing.

Then walked to Toys'r'us, so he could pick out a toy.

He picked a broom :)

After dinner we let him try the whole cake thing again with

 less of an audience he definitely liked it more!

Happy Birthday Perfect Boy!

You are such a gift from God, and an answer to mommy and daddy's prayers!

Happy 1st Birthday Curious James

The weekend before James's 1st Birthday we had his big party with all of our family and friends! 

Curious George was an easy theme choice, because James loves him!

 I tried to stay pretty simple with the decor. 

I made a banner with his monthly update pictures to see how much he grew, 

and a picture with all of his 1 year milestones! 

We had a BBQ with lots of Curious George Themed food. 

BBQing with dad is James's favorite thing to do even at his party! 

Seeing most of the kids coming were small I didn't do any difficult games. 

Just kept things relaxed and fun!

We had a coloring table

A Balloon Jump 

And what is a party without a pinata ;)

 The older kids played games, and ate in our tent. 

And we had toys out for the tiny ones to play with during the BBQ. 

 One of the perks to having a friend that is a photographer is that you can

 just have a backdrop at your kid's party :)
Thanks Becky!

 And I would just like to stop and say 

"don't I have such cute kids"

Thank you Chris for the wonderful cake!

 While James was enjoying his cake 

everyone else had Banana Splits 

Kade made sure James didn't miss out on the ice cream ;)

He is the best big brother ever!

James was spoiled with gifts! 

There isn't words to say how thankful we are for how good our friends are to him!

Before everyone left we asked that they sign James's Book 

And take a favor bag

Here is the Link to James's Actual Birthday! :)

James's 1st Camping Trip!

This weekend we took the kids to a Strong Bonds Family camp in McCall to have fun with some other military families!

 I wasn't sure what to expect taking James "glamping" for the 1st time, but it went great!

Even with him getting his 1st two teeth in this weekend :)

The kids had a blast on the zip lines

 And James loved hanging out in the tree house watching them!

It was a baby wearing kind of weekend! 

 Even hiking

 And taking a walk "nap" to the lake!

The older kids had some fun learning new water activities

 While Mike and I played with James on the dock, and in the sand!

 (The "big" kids had fun in the sand too)

We played in the game room. The boys preferred Foosball while Jenna and I are more into pool!

The kids got to play games, and make crafts

 while Mike and I had alone time!! :)

We learned James loves watermelon

He doesn't like marshmallows we found out when he tried to force feed them to me, but he still loves bananas most!

All in all James loves the out doors!

 He likes that pine needles tickle

And apparently taste good :/

 And that there is rocks to pick up everywhere!

 On the way home we asked the kids what their favorite part was. They both said everything, and made us promise we would take them back. Mike was all about the ribs, and the free date. My favorite honestly was how happy the kids were even laughing and playing together the whole ride home!

Oh, and the kids were asked to make a song about their family and sing in to introduce us. This is what they came up with.. SO CUTE!