Getting Older

Well, our week of birthdays is over for another year. It started on July 5th with a surprise birthday party for Christel who turned 60 this year. Jim planned and carried out a great party to celebrate the person who means so much to so many people. It was also a lot of fun because Melissa, Erin, Alex, and Justin flew into town for the long weekend to celebrate the birthdays. Their arrivals were supposed to be a surprise, but we learned that some people have a harder time keeping secrets than others.

Monica gets to share her birthday with her Grandma (July 6th), so on Sunday we had a great dinner, as always and topped it off with birthday cake. Monica then opened some presents. She is now 3 and wants to do EVERYTHING by herself. She is a sweet girl who loves primary songs, books, and playing with her brothers when they let her.

We got Monica this bike with the cute helmet, so she can be safe! She took off on her bike like she was a pro! She likes to ride her bike every evening now. She complains a little as she is going up the gradual hill on our street because "I can't go faster", but really enjoys it when we turn around and she picks up speed.

Another favorite gift she got was this guitar from Grandma and Grandpa. She calls it her "Guitar Hero" and rocks out to the songs that play when she pushes the buttons.

Treyton turned 6 on July 7th. All he wanted to do for his birthday was to have a few friends over and have water balloons in the backyard. We filled 300 water balloons and let them go to town. We didn't get all of the balloons filled before they started throwing them, so the kids took a break and played baseball while the parents filled the rest. They really had a good time using the launcher and seeing how high and how far they could get them to fly.

Trey got excited by several of his presents, but the one that seemed to excited him the most was the Nintendo DS that he has been wanting for months. However, I think I got a bigger hug from Cameron because he knew he has a good brother who will share.

We also celebrated (although much more subdued) Megan's 3 month milestone. Mostly we just said, "Wow, she's already 3 months" and took a picture. Although the 3 months have gone by fast and she has grown a ton, it seems like she has been in our family forever. We can't imagine life without her. Every morning when we come downstairs Monica announces, "Boys, Megan!" and everyone comes running to give her a hug, kiss or other smothering gesture. She makes our family complete.