Julien's 8th Birthday Party

That's right, Julien turned eight!  He was pretty excited about that!  We threw him a little birthday party at the park.  Before the party, some of his cousins stopped by and gave him the bummer news that they were leaving for their camping trip early and would have to miss his party.  They spoiled him with something he has been wanting for a while now; Beyblades!!  He was one happy kid!!  I snapped a couple of pictures of them and I love all of their sweet happy faces!  These kids are so close.  A perfect day in Julien and Jonah's book would more than likely be a day spent at Aunt Kari's house (their mom- Rich's sister).   We missed them at the party, but we are glad they had fun camping!

 Love this picture...

Onto his party: The weather was pretty hot and I think it shows in all of these red puffy faces.

We did cupcakes AND decorated cookies.  Way too much sugar, but this birthday boy isn't much of a cake fan, so we brought a variety.  They had fun decorating those cookies, and some were quite impressive!

Next: Onto presents!  I have to say, Julien got pretty spoiled this birthday.  He sure is loved!

Our present to him was a new basketball, since I had recently ran over his other basketball with my van...whoops.  He was very happy about getting a new one!  (Below) This is his "you got me a new basketball!!?" face.  

Please forgive the terrible lighting and blur of many of these pictures!

What?!!  Uncle Russell and Aunt Ren got him basketball shoes?!!  This face means he thinks these are pretty darn sweet!  Have I ever mentioned on this blog how much Julien LOVES basketball now?!  He is a HUGE fan!  Now he is looks the part.

So of course, they had to play some ball after that!  Anytime Julien can play basketball, he is over the moon!

They take this game pretty seriously.  I'm loving Julien and Brecken in this shot (above)

My little stud!

Next up: water balloons.  It started out with a friendly toss-contest, and then a water balloon fight.

I love how these pictures captured the fun they were having.

Happy 8th Birthday to my first born!  

I wrote him a super long mushy letter that he woke up to and decorated his bedroom door.  I love Julien so much and can't be more proud of him.  My life got a million times more joyful when he was born.  

In honor of him turning eight....

8 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT JULIEN

1.)  He is passionate!  Passionate about life, people, food, choosing the right, and sports.

2.)  I can trust him to follow rules, stay within boundaries, and to make good decisions.

3.)  He makes people feel good and loved.  He isn't afraid to tell someone how special they are to him or just how he feels about them.  He likes to build people up and he is quite the charmer!

4.)  He tells me on a daily basis how much he loves me and how he thinks I'm the most beautiful/best mom in the world.  (Told you he is a charmer).  This is payday for a mama to hear that her child thinks the world of her...makes me feel like I'm doing something right.  And when I say he says those nice things...he is really passionate about it, and dramatic:).  "Would you just look at this woman...I mean, she is the most  (fill in the nice compliment here) mom in the world."  "Dad, aren't you just so happy we have a mom like her?"  "I'm just so happy to have this mom!"  ...To give you some examples.  I don't share that to make myself look good...but to show his passion/love.  What mom wouldn't feel like a million bucks with a kid that expressive.  He is just so expressive and I always tell him to be sure to speak that way to his wife when he grows up...I'm sure he will!  We have an ongoing "argument" about who loves who more (me or him)...OF COURSE, I love him way more!

5.)  He is confident.  He knows who he is and what he stands for.  He isn't afraid to try new things; talk to strangers; tell his friends what's right or wrong; or be independent.  Man, if I had only a sliver of that confidence when I was his age!  I love his confidence.  He is going places.

6.)  He is a very good brother.  Sure, Jonah and him can fight with the best of them, but he is still a great brother.  He thinks of his brothers and often brings them home prizes he won at school, or shares goodies he received from somewhere else.  He is good at sharing.  He gives his brothers compliments.  He cheers them on.  He sets a great example for them.  And him and Cooper...he LOVES and adores Cooper.  He'll still get  a little mad if Cooper messes up something he is doing, but Cooper is very special to him.  He snuggles him up and can't get over his cuteness.  He's a loving brother!

7.)  He loves the gospel.  I always adore how for Family Home Evening he is bright-eyed and ears wide open, ready to soak up the lesson and participate.  He loves reading the scriptures, and having gospel discussions.  He asks questions and has faith.  

8.)  He gives very heartfelt prayers.  He has a very beautiful heart and I'm so blessed I get to be his mother!

No, he isn't perfect.  He can still cop an attitude, whine about doing chores or not getting what he wants.  He can even be annoying (experimenting with different voices and attitudes) at times, (but who isn't, right?); but I have to say, that list above came naturally and quickly to me, because he really is the most amazing kid and I love him with all of my heart!    

What We've Been Up To

Oh my heavens, I have a lot of blogging to do!  I guess that's what happens in the summer, when your days are filled with fun and events!

Here are a bunch of photos that sum up a big chunk of what our summer has been like so far:

Brother time:).  Julien was making his little brother happy, pretending to take a nap, after Cooper turned on his sound machine and pulled Julien onto his bed and said, "Nigh, Nigh!" Julien is such a good sport, always playing along with what Cooper wants to do.

Neighbors and cousins over to play.  Play dough is something Cooper has recently discovered and loves.

Cooper has been watching his brothers make their beds everyday as part of their chores, and he has taken it upon himself to make his own bed.  I'll take it!

We've been doing quite a bit of swimming this summer

Little Missionary!  This is one day after church, Jonah has been working hard at riding his bike.  He just couldn't wait to ride that bike and jumped on before changing his clothes.  I couldn't help but laugh at how much he looked like a cute little missionary!

"Choose the Right!" (CTR)

The time finally came that Jonah was willing to take off his training wheels.  Jonah does things on his own time, and no matter what everyone else is doing, he won't do that thing until he feels good and ready!  So 6 years old and he finally asked us to take those training wheels off!  Relief!

And he's off!!!

We have a cherry tree in our front yard!  They are really yummy right off the tree, other than the fact that they are hot.  Man, it's hot here!

More snuggle time.  I've said it before, these two together melt me.

Still spending lots of time in our backyard, and still not taking it for granted.  

In our backyard, we have a peach tree!  I can't wait until these are ripe!!!

And that about wraps up this post

THE END:) 

(Sorry, I had to be that cheesy).  P.S. Cooper loves to run around naked; so every now and then, I say, why not!