The world's fastest year....

Happy first birthday to my sweet, baby Hope! It's been a great year, but can you please slow down? It's going by way too fast.

Maya's Birthday Extravaganza

Our little Miss Maya will be three years old Tuesday, but we celebrated in style with a big birthday party on Saturday.  I don't know if I was overdoing it because we didn't do much for her birthday last year, or if I just like punishing myself.  It doesn't matter either way, because the party was a success and the birthday girl had a great time!  We had a big inflatable bounce house and slide in the backyard and a magician performed tricks, made balloon animals, and painted faces.  We ate pizza, ice cream, and cupcakes, and no one got hurt when we took a bat to the piñata.  The only downer was the mosquitos, but we survived.  A good time was had by all, and Maya appreciates all the nice gifts she received.  Thank you!

Maya makes a wish!

Daddy helps Maya with the piñata.

Maya shows off her face artwork.

Jaida and a friend have balloon tiaras.

The big girls didn't escape without a face painting.

Maya prefers to view the magic show from her sister's lap.

Noah hopes no one will notice that he's shoving a second cupcake into his mouth.

Noah found someone's ice cream on the kid's table and didn't want it to go to waste.

Thanksgiving in August

Last month when I asked Ryan what he wanted to do for his 28th birthday (besides surgery!) I was pretty surprised when he said he wanted a full Thanksgiving dinner the night before surgery.  Before any procedure, Ryan has to fast after midnight so he wanted a really big meal to tide him over until he could eat again.  How could I say no to Ryan's only birthday request?  

So, sure enough, we did it!  Turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, the whole nine yards.  And Ryan couldn't be happier!  We invited our good friends, Dan and Teal, over and had the unique fortune that Teal's mom, Diane, was in town.  She was so excited she demanded to be allowed to help cook.  And I was all too willing to let her!  She made a DELICIOUS stuffing, sweet potato souffle, and green bean casserole.  I cheated by ordering a fully cooked turkey from a BBQ place in town, and I don't feel even a little bit bad about it.  It was yummy and I didn't have to cook it!  Everything came together perfectly and we had a great day.  Ryan ate more food than I thought possible and all in all enjoyed his birthday!

Gathered around the table for Ryan's birthday feast

Ryan blew out his birthday candle in a piece of pumpkin pie.

(Please pay no attention to my naked daughter!  She stripped down after getting soaked playing with the water hose in the backyard.)

The kids let their meal settle by jumping on the trampoline!