F I V E

 

Happy birthday, sweet girl!
We have sure loved celebrating these 5 years of life with you! :)

Edwin's Birthday Weekend

Our family had the best time this weekend celebrating Edwin as he turned 3!

Jon and I worked together to make Edwin's vest and bowtie for this birthday. Edwin and Kate have been talking about Winnie the Pooh a lot the last couple months, especially since we got to meet Pooh Bear at Disneyland! (more on that later). So everything came together wonderfully for a Winnie the Pooh themed birthday celebration! :)

Between General Conference sessions on Sunday we went up to the temple and took some pictures. Even with the super cheesy smile, this one below was one of my favorites! We took one like it of Kate on her 3rd birthday, and I wanted to see them at the same age side-by-side. :)

Edwin at the gates of the Sacramento, California temple - age 3

Katherine at the gates of the Rexburg, Idaho temple - age 3

Back at home we enjoyed the afternoon session of conference, had naps, and a family birthday dinner!

Complete with individual Winnie-the-Pooh cakes :D

The food was picnic style and so much fun!

Edwin insisted on having all his presents on the table during dinner :D

We are so thankful to our family and friends for making Edwin's birthday so special! I felt extremely grateful this weekend that we could celebrate Edwin in such a fun way. Focusing on, and making a big deal of birthdays is one of my most important goals in life ;)

Melissa and Doug fishing game from Uncle Mike, Aunt Amanda and AnnMarie

Edwin was incredibly generous and let Kate open every present along with him. :) When she asked after dinner if she could open his presents with him, he immediately replied, "Of course!"

Nonna and Papa made it back from Utah earlier in the evening and were able to be home with us for Edwin's dinner celebration. They got him this really cool Mater truck complete with little tires and barrels to tow!

Gram gave Edwin a new camping chair! (which is perfect because he had outgrown his baby one last year) This new one has an awesome pattern, a water bottle holder, and even glows in the dark! We are definitely ready now for summer adventures :D

Kate made Edwin a Jungle Book fleece tie blanket (with the help of daddy). It's so fun to see the kids getting older and wanting to do one-of-a-kind things for each other :)

Edwin also got a Lego Batman set from Aunt Beth and Uncle Derek, a Power Tool set from Grandpa, birthday money for his Disneyland savings jar, a Lightning McQueen beach towel, new clip-on ties for Sunday, and his very own Build-a-Bear teddy (that he gave extra fluff and named Cheeto). :D

Between a Winnie-the-Pooh family Sunday dinner, and his actual birthday on Friday full of mini golf and Sunsplash arcade with Grandpa and Aunt Michelle, Build-a-Bear workshop with our little family, and getting to pick out a movie for us to rent (The Secret Life of Pets), Edwin has had quite the first few days of being 3!

"Ladies..."

The only picture I've been able to catch so far of Edwin with his Cheeto bear ;)

Happy Birthday, Little Man! We love having you in our forever family :)

This is Three

Happy Birthday, Edwin!
Being 3 sure looks good on you. :)

Jon @ 31 years

On Monday Jon turned 31!

Because he had to work (adulting sucks) we had a birthday brunch at home. The food was so good it was pretty much all gone before I had a chance to take any pictures! We had roasted red pepper, spinach, and goat cheese omelets with homemade strawberry pastries. mmmmmm :)

loving Edwin's super-cheesy-squinty-eyed face right here!

After brunch we had a Nutella chocolate cake! Turns out it is possible to overdo it a little on the ganache... it dripped over the whole cake and pooled on the cake stand, haha! Next time I'll remember that less is more ;)

Jon was completely spoiled by friends and family on his birthday. :) I got him a new pair of hiking boots, because his old ones went to hiking-boot-heaven a couple years ago, and he definitely needed some for our Year of America with all the camping we'll be doing!

Amongst other things, Jon received cards, birthday care packages, a new edition of Munchkin, lots of yummy candy and treats, and a NEW CELL PHONE. (*cue angels singing*)

He had his last one for about 6 years. It would randomly shut off on him, you could only talk on speaker phone, and it was very much an old-non-smart phone, so it was getting increasingly harder to text with him and take pictures--or do much of anything--because his phone was not compatible with any type of emoji or fun. NOW his phone is extremely more fancy than mine. It even tells you how many more minutes until it reaches a full battery charge when you have it plugged in! The reason he held off on getting a new phone for so long was because he did not want a touch screen keyboard. In the end, Blackberry came out with a genius new phone called the PRIV which is the same size as my Samsung Galaxy S5, has curved edges like the Edge, with the same Android OS and touch screen capabilities, but with the added addition of a slide-up screen that has a full tangible keyboard underneath! (like the old Chocolate phones from around 2006) It's basically Jon's dream phone. Everything he ever wanted, including an 18 mp camera... are you kidding me??

Jon's coworkers even made his day at Porter's special by decorating his car and bringing him cupcakes and cookies. #spoiled

Let's also not forget that we surprised Jon a few days before his birthday with a bowling night!

The kids helped me make mini Nutella cheesecakes in homemade chocolate cookie cups (*swoon!*), and then we rocked out at Fat Cat's with an hour of bowling! (Which I am still totally sore from, btw.)

The night was so fun, that this is the only shot I actually got of anyone really bowling, HAHA!

Who says that getting older means your birthdays can't be amazing??
Happy birthday, Jon!!
Showing that third decade of life who's boss. ;)