Logan's DINO-mite birthday, part 1

After church on Logan's birthday, we had a BIG shindig with most of our family to celebrate his big day! He was SO excited for his party and LOVED helping me with his dinosaur volcano cake. I have to say this cake was not the best looking cake, but it was what Logan wanted and he LOVED it! And it was pretty easy to make. The volcano part turned out pretty cool - I'm not too sure about the rest of the cake though.

Logan posed the dinos and the rocks and trees . He loved getting to decorate his own cake. I am usually a little crazy about the cakes and they don't get anywhere near them.
Rylee had to be right in on all the action, too.
The finished cake! I thought the lava pools turned out pretty good. They were melted red hots. The rest of the cake was not great, but Logan loved it! Unfortunately, we forgot the dry ice to make it erupt, so that was kind of a bummer! Volcano close-up Logan with his dino pose in his new Yoda shirt! First, we had a yummy dinner. Here is Logan with a few of his cousins: Logan, Spencer, Haley and Lauren eating in our new backyard! YEAH!!! Rylee LOVES her watermelon!!! Logan and Spence - Cute buddies! Rylee with her cousin Raegan. We were lucky enough to have the party when Carla and Raegan were in town visiting and they were able to come. Rylee was thrilled! These girls love each other, but since they live in North Carolina they don't get to see each other too much.

Cute girlies - Rylee with cousin Raegan and her little friend, Madi

Then it was time to open presents! Logan was SOOOO excited!

Toy Story stuff was a popular gift! He got LOTS of it! Good thing he LOVES it!!! Logan and Morgan checking out the loot with Great-Grandma Pauline. Presents were a little crazy so I didn't really see everything he got or who it came from. I'm not sure how accurate my memory is after 3 months, but I think I can get most of it! Here is a little list of what I can remember: Dinosaurs from Grandma and Grandpa Boman, Toy Story Legos from Grandma and Grandpa Webber, a Toy Story outfit and swimsuit and water gun from Great-Grandma Pauline, a Toy Story outfit and Toy Story school stuff and a Toy Story book from Great Grandma Mary (and a couple other little things), a Mr Pototo Head from Brian and Val, some Toy Story action figures from Cory and Katie and April and Kevin, a Robosapien from his Uncles (Jeff, Kyle and Brad) and a High School musical sweatband from Uncle Jeff and I think Kyle got him something else too, a Spiderman car from Aunt Carla and Raegan, and a cool Toy Story car launcher from Uncle Dean and Aunt Laura and soccer slippers and a stuffed Rex from Aunt Heather, Uncle Jay and Ethan. He also got a Toy Story ball and frisbee from Aunt Kim and Uncle Chris a little later since they couldn't come. Aunt Vanessa also took him for a special ice cream date. That is a LOT of stuff!!!

Our BIG boy is FIVE!!!

Ready to blow out the candles!

This was probably my Favorite part of the whole day! When Logan finished blowing out the candles, he made a little speech. It was hilarious! "I am so happy that it is my birthday. And, I have been waiting to be five years old....FOREVER! I am so happy that I'm finally five." Priceless!!!

Enjoying his cake and ice cream

Birthdays get a thumbs up!

Uncle Dean helping Logan figure out his new toy. Dean always picks out such fun gifts for the kids - probably because he is a big kid himself! They adore him!

Logan and his buddy Morgan trying out some of his new toys

We have such a great family!!! Even though we live an hour or two away from everyone, we had a great turnout for the party. Everyone is very supportive! Darren and I both have SIX siblings each, so our family get togethers are a little BIG, but we love it and are so grateful for so many people to love our kids! I tried to get Logan with everyone before they left, but I missed a few. I didn't get him with Aunt Vanessa or some of Brian's family, but we did pretty good, considering the number of people we have! Here he is with Uncle Jay, Aunt Heather and little Ethan, his only cousin on that side of the family. Our good friends, the Jackmans, were here, too. I got a few pictures of their kids, but not their whole family. I don't know if they knew what to think of our BIG family!

Logan with Grandma and Grandpa Webber

Logan with his Great-Grandmas

Logan got a new water gun for his birthday - This is what happened when his uncles got a hold of it!

Logan with Uncle Dean and Aunt Laura

Logan with Uncle Jeff, Uncle Brad and Uncle Kyle

Logan with Grandma and Grandpa Boman

Logan with Uncle Cory and Aunt Katie - his newest Aunt!

Logan and cousin Madi. She is his oldest cousin and is so cute with all the kids. Logan loves her!

Logan and Aunt Carla - We were so glad she could be here all the way from North Carolina!!!

Logan and Uncle Brian - Aunt Val was there, too but she escaped the picture somehow. I got some other ones of all Brian's kids, except for Parker, but he was there, too. This is another funny moment from the day. Logan got a couple of Star Wars Lego sets and REALLY wanted to open them, but I was worried he would lose pieces in all the party mess, so I told him he had to wait until the party was over. The last few people were starting to leave, but we were just kind of chatting in the driveway. Logan was getting pretty impatient and finally asked them all to leave. I wish I could remember his exact wording! It was so funny! We were all cracking up! Luckily, it was all family and they weren't too offended!

Logan with Uncle Kevin, cousin Haley and Aunt April...and those Star Wars legos!

FINALLY....we got to put together the Star Wars Legos! And I think they were everything he dreamed of!

So excited to try out his Imperial walker!

What a great birthday this boy had! Thanks to all our family and special friends who helped make Logan's day (and year!) so great! You are the best and we are so grateful to have you!

Logan's Birthday Highlights

THREE months ago, Logan turned five! I at least blogged some of the funny things he said that day, but I never got around to putting pictures up. I am still working on a post of Avery at one, but in the mean time, here is a little about Logan's birthday. If you know birthdays at our house, you know that we really like to celebrate and drag it out... (OK, maybe not WE as much as ME!) so I have 3 birthday posts of Logan coming up soon! I wish it wasn't SOOOO hard to catch up!

My favorite part of the day on Logan's birthday was the morning. As soon as he woke up, he was SO excited!!! Logan woke up in our bed - He comes into our room early in the morning quite frequently and then goes back to sleep for awhile cuddled up next to Dad. As soon as his eyes were open, he grabbed Darren's face and said, "Dad! Its my birthday! I'm FIVE!!!" He then started talking about a million miles an hour about his birthday. He asked Darren, "Do I look different? Am I bigger?" We thought is was so cute. He also announced that his PJs still fit, so he must not be too much bigger, but he did suggest that Darren measure him. A little later he also said, "Do I sound bigger?" I told him his voice sounded a little deeper, and he quite liked that answer. What a funny kid! I thought it was funny that he made the connection between growing and changing and his birthday. He then said, "When do I go to school?" I think since we have been telling him he goes to school when he turned five, he was ready to go that minute! I had to explain that he had to wait a few months. It is a conversation I will never forget...or at least I hope I don't!
For breakfast, Logan got his favorite - Chocolate Chip pancakes! Who doesn't love that - It is practically dessert for breakfast!

As soon as we were done with breakfast, it was time to open presents. Isn't he the cutest kid? Opening presents probably wasn't the best idea since his birthday fell on a Sunday and we needed to get to church, but he was so excited we couldn't make him wait! I think we finished presents at 10:40 and church started at 11 and we were all still in PJs. Somehow we made it before TOO late!
Rylee wanted to be right there to see everything Logan got and he was a good big brother to let her look and even help a little. She and Avery got Logan some new dinosaurs.
Hugs from Rylee after opening his gift - He is so good to say thank you.
He loved his HUGE dinosaur book with stickers!
This is how Logan feels about getting new clothes - He just chucks them out of the bag!
This was the first time that he has ever been excited about opening clothes, except for maybe his Real jersey for Christmas. He LOVED his Yoda shirt! The look on his face when he opened it was priceless!
I love his face in this one - A new dinosaur movie
Ripping off the paper for Connect 4 - Logan LOVES games!!!
Logan REALLY wanted an Obi-Wan figure
And he LOVED his Star Wars Lego set

A whole new bucket of dinos! He said so many funny things opening up his presents. He kept talking about how his dinosaurs were from the "Museum of Ancient Life" and he said "I'm so curious what is in this" as he was opening one of his gifts. Sometimes I wonder if he is 5 or 50! He sounds so grown-up!
And now for the BIG one - He kept saying, "I wonder what this big baby is!" A SCOOTER! He wasn't as excited as I hoped he would be, but he LOVES his scooter now and rides it way more than his bike.
Logan with his birthday loot! Here is a list of what he got for my journaling purposes: a scooter, some dinos, a couple Star Wars lego sets, 2 Star wars figures (obi-wan and Darth Sidious), Connect 4 game, new clothes and PJs, a few books (a huge dino one and another dino one that came with a computer game and 3D glasses), and a Leapster game to play on Uncle Kyle's leapster when we are visiting and when we drive to California, the Dinosaur movie and a LeapFrog math movie.

I think Logan had a great birthday! He loves having a day just for him and he loved that he could go to church and see so many friends on his birthday. As soon as they asked for birthdays to sing to in Primary, he was out of his seat and ready to go up and he had the biggest grin on his face during the song. The missionaries came in today to teach a little lesson on the Holy Ghost. Logan loves to raise his hand and answer in Primary and today when they asked a question and called on him, he said "Today is my birthday!" It was TOO cute!!! He loved his little treat bag and was nice enough to share one of his two laffy taffys with his sister, Rylee. What a sweet big brother! After church, we had our big family party and Logan loved having all his grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts and cousins here (or at least most of them....)Logan's birthday was SO busy, he never even got to try out his new scooter, so he was up and at 'em the next morning and was out riding his scooter in his PJs bright and early! I loved watching him and Rylee on their dueling scooters. On Monday night, we also let Logan choose what he wanted for dinner. I usually do that on their actual birthday but since we were having the big party that day and everyone was coming to dinner, I had to choose something pretty easy to make. He could choose something at home, or going out and my kids LOVE to go out! He chose Firehouse Pizza and got a plain cheese pizza! Daddy and Rylee at Firehouse - It's not their birthdays, but they are SOOO cute!!! At Firehouse, Logan even got his OWN f'zookie! He LOVED it!

Logan liked to remind me all day on his birthday "I can have whatever I want today. Its my birthday!" I'm pretty sure that he did get whatever he wanted all day! But, that is what birthdays are for, right? I love celebrating them for my kids! They are such good kids and deserve a really great special day for them at least once a year! We LOVE our FIVE year old Logan!

Avery is ONE!!!

It is so hard to believe that is has been a whole year since little Miss Avery joined our family...
Time goes much too quickly! I have lots of things I want to post about her at one year, but it will take me awhile. Here are her beautiful one year pictures that I am so in love with! These are the rest of the non cake smashing pictures from Avery's 1st birthday photo shoot.
This one is my favorite!!! I LOVE the lighting and my sweet little girl's face and who wouldn't love that skirt! It is to die for!
I love this close-up because it is just SO Avery!
I love her cute teeth in this one!






I love that you can see her funny upper teeth in this one.

This one was one of the cake smashing ones, but I had to include it! I love her eyes in this picture!!!
Avery is turning into a little girl - She isn't much of a baby anymore! I can't believe it! She is walking all over and even talking some and throwing tantrums...Yikes! We love our sweet Avery! Thanks for coming to our family and for a great first year, baby girl!

And...I survived doing monthly pictures! When I started that tradition with Logan, everyone said I couldn't do it. I do think that part of the reason I continued with the monthly pictures was to prove everyone wrong, but I also love doing it and I love watching the changes from month to month. It happens so quickly! It will be nice to not have to worry about it for awhile though.