Jared Turns 30!

It is hard to believe, but Jared just hit 30 years old. Wow! Where did the time go??? Here were a few of the things that we did to celebrate Daddy's big day:

The girls got up early to "help" mom fix breakfast.

Daddy got to open his gifts from the kids that were each picked out just for him. Great job kids!!!

The big surprise came when we all went to Daddy's office for lunch. Soly provided lunch for everyone and we brought cake, ice cream, and balloons. The kids decorated Daddy's desk with a Batman table cloth and yellow paper products. Jared was such a good sport and wore the birthday hat.

We brought him a special gift: 30 Things We Love About You.

If was full of little things that the kids have said about their Daddy. Some were journal entries, some were recent statements. Jared loved it.

We had such a fun time celebrating with the Birthday Boy! The kids were great and never let the 'cat out of the bag' as we planned his birthday party.

I know that I am biased, but I am married to the most wonderful man in the world. He is my perfect match and I am grateful every day that we are married. He is an amazing father and his kids absolutely adore him. He gets a "Rock Star" greeting every time he comes home. I can't think of anyone that deserves it more. 30 years... here's to many more wonderful birthday celebrations!

Happy Birthday, Jared! We love you so much!

Jenna's Birthday!

Jenna is 2! I tried to make her birthday special, even though Daddy was gone on our stake trek. She didn’t mind so much and actually ended up opening gifts several times over the week. She still thinks that every day is her birthday and sings ‘Happy Birr-day to Jen-na’ at least twice a day.

Before her Grandma and Grandpa Richardson went to Ohio to visit Kyla’s family, Jenna opened gifts with them. She received some great things, but her favorite was her new swimming suit (with the built in floaties). She could not wait to put it on and still wears it around the house any chance she gets. Still, it is a pretty adorable look on her. She was given a big girl princess comforter of her very own (which looks fantastic on her bunk-bed), some little fairy friends, a cute new outfit, chocolate, and her special swimming suit.

I already blogged about the tougher aspects of her birthday – Jadyn being sick and Jenna’s cookie sheet burn. Despite the difficulties, she had a good day. We did our traditional birthday breakfast of Happy Pancakes. She liked the whipped cream more than the pancake (of course) and quickly devoured the chocolate chips. She opened a gift from Daddy and Mommy. I got some video since Daddy was not able to be there. It is this little plush steering wheel that makes all kinds of driving noises. Jenna likes to pretend that she is driving my car anytime she can get out of her seat. With her new gift, she can pretend to drive from her seat in the back. She was happy with her gift.

She got to choose what she wanted to do for lunch. She chose Chuck-E-Cheese. We invited Nana and Josh’s family was able to come at the last minute (thanks guys!). Because Jadyn wasn’t feeling great (she had a fever), Jenna got to play with her cousin Razzie the entire time. She LOVED that. They had a blast on the rides, eating pizza, chasing each other, and (my personal favorite) playing skee ball. Jenna couldn’t throw the ball hard enough, so she finally just climbed on top and carried the ball to the hole she wanted it to go in. Silly girl- but hey- it’s her birthday.

Nana gave her this toy set of “The Littlest Pet Shoppe”. I had no idea how much both she and Jadyn would love that. They played with it for days. It was a great gift for a little girl that loves to make animal sounds (and her big sister).

We spent some time visiting The Greats (our name for Great Grandma and Great Papa Skousen) and Jenna received more birthday hugs, attention, and chocolate. She was in birthday heaven.

We came home, had dinner, and started making cookies. After I pulled out the last batch, Jenna climbed up and burned her chin/lip on the cookie sheet. We spent some time taking care of her nasty burn blisters and said a lot of prayers. We even got a hold of Daddy (on the Trek) to ask him to pray for his girl and let him know what was going on.

Finally Jenna went to sleep - not an easy thing to do with the burn hurting. It had been a great birthday up until the end. She was a real trooper and all of our prayers worked a little miracle. She only has a faint scar on her jaw and everything healed very nicely. What a blessing!

Saturday night Chelsea and Randall met us at the playground to give Jenna part of her gift. She was so excited to get a few more little Pet Shoppe friends. Her favorite was the horse with the cowboy hat. Jenna also got a new wagon from Chels and Randall. She pulls everything around in it (including her sister and all of her toys). It is adorable to watch her play.

On Sunday night (Daddy was home) and we had the last birthday celebration over Nana & Papa’s house. Jenna was able to open more gifts (cute dresses from Razzie and family), a few little mini Barbies from Jadyn & Hyrum, some big girl underwear from Mom & Dad, and a really fun fold out couch from Nana & Papa. The couch was a favorite with all of the little cousins and they spent the rest of the night playing on it. Jenna was able to eat more ice cream and cake. Nana is so good about those things!

That about takes care of the recap. This birthday is one she won’t soon forget. What a way to kick off the Terrible Twos!

Daddy is 29!

I know this is late, but Happy 29th Birthday to a wonderful father and husband! (Yes, Jared, that is absolutely you...) The last few years have seen a different type of celebration on your special day. They seem to revolve around picnics, parties, and parks. I guess you wait your whole life to be an adult and once you arrive, you are back to Spiderman birthday parties and blowing bubbles! The girls LOVED planning your special birthday. Jadyn helped with the planning and execution of your playground birthday bash, Jenna just loved that we got some balloons, and Hyrum seemed pretty content to be outside on such a beautiful day. You were the best sport and spent the entire time chasing your girls and giving them some wonderful memories of the day. Thanks for making it a fun day for your girls. They absolutely adore their Daddy. (As is evident every day when they run for the door yelling, "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!") May this year bring you more happiness than you could possibly hope for...I love you very much, Sweetheart!