Happy birthday to Jared, to me, and our country!!!

We had a very fun-filled week! It all began last Tuesday, June 30th, when Jared got one year older and I would definitely say one year wiser. We began the day with buttermilk pancakes and singing Happy Birthday.

Then the kids and I went to Jared's work so we could have lunch together. When Jared got home from work we got a babysitter and headed out on a DATE!!! We had dinner at The Melting Pot and just enjoyed being together without any kids. I've decided we need to do that more often!

When we went to bed that night the fun was not over because the next morning we woke up to ME becoming one year older and I'd like to think wiser. Jared made me a yummy breakfast and then headed off to work. Caleb was quite sick that morning so we just laid around in our pajamas and watched movies and snuggled. I received many phone calls, and texts, and a couple people stopped by to say Happy Birthday. Thank you to everyone who thought of me that day. It meant a lot to me! When Jared got home from work we had dinner and then headed out to see Wicked at Gammage. It was a great show and although we didn't have the greatest seats we had a great time!

The next day we still weren't done celebrating because we loaded up the car and headed to Show Low for some camping and to celebrate the 4th of July! We had a lot of fun camping as the weather was perfect and we enjoyed spending time with family. While we were there Kyson got quite sick but I didn't mind too much since he turned into a little snuggle bug. I was very grateful when he began to act like himself again. He got to spend a lot of time in his pack-n-play and he was quite content.


While camping it's quite a tradition to have a pinata for the kids. Caleb got to help put the candy in the pinata so he knew exactly what he was trying to do!

Here is the line of cousins waiting for their turn.

I love the looks on their faces when they are trying to hit it!


Finally after all of the younger kids had a turn the older kids sent candy flying everywhere. Caleb tried to pick us as much as he could carry and was very sad when pieces kept falling out of his hands. I got a cup for him to put it all in and he was a happy camper! (yes, dirty face and all!)


After all of our fun camping we loaded up Saturday and went to my parents house to get cleaned up. That evening we had a Pearce family home evening and saw many more cousins! So much fun!

When we woke up Sunday morning we STILL weren't done celebrating. We went up to Jared's parent's cabin and spent a little time with his side of the family. His Mom made us an amazing dinner to celebrate our birthdays. She also made one of the best carrot cakes I have ever tasted. It was so yummy!

Finally around 4:30 that afternoon, the partying was over and we loaded up the car for the long drive home to the heat of the desert. It was a great week and we had a lot of fun celebrating our birthdays.