Birthday Party

The boys had a few friends over to help them celebrate their birthdays.  The party was supposed to be at the park, but we had to change plans at the last minute because of a big rainstorm that started a couple hours before their party.  The party was really just a play date with cake and ice cream.  That is all that the boys wanted to do was to play with their friends.  The boys helped picked out their cupcake cake.  Jacob wanted a Woody cake and Jayden wanted a Buzz Lightyear cake.  This cake was perfect because it had them both characters on it.  It was so fun to see the boys interact with all of their friends from their primary class. 

Suprise! - (Well Almost!)

Can you believe that Jared turned 40 this year?  Being the nice wife that I am, *wink wink* I decided to have a surprise party with some of his friends to help him celebrate.  For months I planned, schemed, lied and and even got a new email address so that I could communicate with people without him seeing it.  

One of the hardest things to plan was when our handy-man could come over and fix some lighting for me out in the backyard.  How do you justify to your husband, out-of-the-blue, that you need lights fixed outside and you need them by a certain date?  I couldn't, so i called Ron, our handy handyman. Ron came up with his own version on how we could plan out the date and time for him to come over.  He called one night and left a message on the phone saying, "Hey Jared and JoAnn! I hope that everything is going well.  Hey, JoAnn I wanted to let you know that I did some work for someone the other day that is looking for a piano teacher for their kids.  I am pretty busy for the next few days but I will have some time to call you back and give you their information on Friday around 9:30.  Have a great day!"  Of course, I knew what the hidden message was, but Jared thought that it was nice that he would be passing on the word that I teach piano! 

The day finally arrived (Friday, December 3rd) and I felt very confident that Jared didn't have any clue about the party that would be happening later that night.  The plan was that he was supposed to go out to dinner with a friend (Karl Bickmore) and be at the house around 7:00 for his grand entrance.  Well as luck would have it the service was very slow at the restaurant that they went to.  I mean VERY slow!  I entertained guests for an hour before the birthday boy decided to come home!  Once dinner was over Karl  called and said that he would lose Jared on the freeway so that he could get to the party first and so that we would know that Jared would soon be arriving.  

Knowing that he would be arriving soon I  passed out the horns to the kids and let them have some fun with them for a few minutes before the guys were supposed to be back.  The kids are all having a great time blowing their horns and making all sorts of noise...the next thing that I knew was there was Jared walking in the front door while everyone was just doing there own thing.  After a few seconds of being so shocked all I could say was a weak "SURPRISE!" 

The surprise was really on all of us because we had no idea that he was even home.  Oops!  The surprise was so anti-climatic for me but the party was a lot of fun.  We had good food (nachos with all the toppings) and got to hang out with lots of our friends.  I have to admit, I was so glad when the party day had finally arrived so that I wouldn't have to feel like I was having to whisper behind his back and keep acting suspicious all the time.  Keeping the surprise from him about killed me off, but it was worth it!  Happy Birthday Jared.  I hope that this is a great year for you!  I love you!   

Happy Birthday Sis!

Picture taken back in November 2008

JoAnn, Heather, and baby Alyson at 2 months old

Just wanted to wish my beautiful little sister a HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I Hope that all your wants and dreams come true.  We're sending all our love and kisses from AZ!  Love you sis! 

Happy Birthday Dad!

We had a birthday party for my dad yesterday.  We made some of his favorite things for dinner (roast beef, potatoes and gravy and corn, and for dessert apple pie and ice cream) and sat around and told some of our favorite memories of him. 

JARED:  his moustache, grin and laugh

JOANN:  how he wrapped everything in newspaper.  He didn't want to waste wrapping paper when he had newspaper at his fingertips.  I remember several Christmas' where he went out and tried to suprise everyone with a gift that even my mom didn't know about.  One year he gave me a poinsetta plant with a neclace inside.  Even though that poinsetta plant is looking a little bedragled now it is still one of my favorite Christmas decorations pull out every year.  We were all pretty surprised when we opened up a present from him one year that had a toilet seat wrapped up for the family. (Yes, we needed a new toilet seat and he just decided to wrap it up for a surprise.)  My mom was pretty surprised (I mean mortified) when she found out that one time he decided to surprise her with some new clothes.  He thought that he was being so smart by taking a pair of her pants in with him so that the sales gal could just get the same size.  Let me just say that the pair of pants that he chose was a dirty pair that had been worn out in the corrals with the cows...you get the picture! 

 

JESSICA:  remembers how he always use to question her about if she knew when her birthday was.  Of course she didn't know.  He always told her then that we didn't have to celebrate her birthday if she didn't know when it was.  She used to think that was so funny. 

 

JOCELYN:  she was only 4 years old when he passed away so she doesn't have a lot of memories, but she remembers him playing with her.

 

JACOB & JAYDEN:  have no earthly memories of grandpa except all the stories that we tell them.  I like to think that if the boys didn't have the veil around them that they would be able to tell all their stories about him from up in Heaven.  I still think that my dad thought that it would be a great big joke to have the twins and my sister's little girl (Olivia) all be born on the same day.  3 grandkids in one day!  My mom was pretty stressed out that day, but it makes for a pretty great story now. 

My favorite thing this weekend was finding the classic country station on tv.  I had the music cranked up on Saturday while I was doing chores.  It brought back many memories of growing up, and suprisingly enough I remembered many of the songs.  The greatest part for me was when the girls told me how much they liked that kind of music and I got to watch Jacob bobbing his head back and forth to the music when he didn't think anyone was watching. 

I added some of my favorite pictures because of his twinkling eyes and his grin.  I love that in most of the pictures he looks like he is getting ready to tell a story or some joke.  Good times. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! 

Birthday Party

Jocelyn invited a few of her friends to go roller skating with her to celebrate her birthday.  What a great place to do a party.  The mess was all left behind and the girls all had a fun time.  A couple things that they were able to do was that the entire group got to yell, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOCELYN!"  into the microphone.  Jocelyn also was able to go into the ticket booth  It was a fun day for us all!   

Back Row:  Jessica, Hannah, Michaley, Vivian, Jocelyn, Berkley

Front Row:  Emma, Sydney

Happy 9th Birthday Jocelyn!

We had a nice quiet celebration for Jocelyn's 9th birthday on February 18th.  She was surprised when she opened up her DS.  She has ben wanting one for a couple years!  She wanted pizza for dinner and wanted me to make a chocolate ice cream cake. 

Dearest Jocelyn, Our family would have been so different without you in it!  You have the cutest little laugh that is contagious for the rest of us.  You have your own sense of style which I admire.  You are the best sharer in the entire family which I appreciate.  Even though I am your mother, I want you to know that I look up to you and try to be more like you. 

Love, Mom

School Lunch

The boys and I decided to go to school and surprise Jocelyn with lunch for her birthday.  She was so excited that we brought Wendy's and that she got to show off her brothers to her friends.  Happy Birthday Jocelyn! 

Bianca, Jocelyn, and Vivian

 

Boys Turned 3!

It is hard to believe that the boys turned 3 on December 18th. Dinner was easy because Jacob wanted chips and Jayden wanted hot dogs. Thomas the Train is still one of their favorite things. When I asked them what they wanted their cake to look like they both told me that they wanted a train cake. Jacob wanted a Thomas cake and Jayden wanted a Percy cake. The lady at the bakery was so nice when I asked her to put 2 trains on the cake. The boys were thrilled with their cake (even though there was no Percy).
This last year was fun with the boys because they have really started developing their own individualities. We have noticed that Jacob loves building things while Jayden loves doing craft projects and coloring. Jacob is much more serious about things while Jayden tries to be the "life of the party". They still don't seem to care that I dress them in the same outfits. In fact, it makes it easier so that they don't fight over each other's clothes. While they have many differences, one thing that they still have in common is their high-pitched screams. This is one thing we can't wait for them to outgrow. It is fun to watch them interact and play with each other. They are still the best of friends which makes my heart feel good!