Sterling is 5!

Oh how I love my Sterling!  When I found out he was a boy at the ultrasound, you would have thought I had won the showcase showdown on the Price is Right with how much happy hollering I had. I am so glad he is part of our family!

Sterling is:
* Such a sweetheart. He always gives hugs and kisses away freely.  He'll come and wrap his arms around me saying, "Free Hug!" or come and kiss my arm quite often.
* Imaginitive. I am so happy with how well he plays with cars and trucks and invents stories with them.
* Sensitive.  He is easily hurt. He wears his heart on his sleeve.
* Cute! People often tell me what a cutie he is, and how friendly he is.
* A Helper.  He makes his bed daily and is willing to help me do cleaning and scoop the kitty litter.
* Fun! He is a thrill seeker. His favorite ride is Bombora (a rollercoaster) at Lagoon.
* Silly.  He is in to potty humor lately, which means farting and burping sounds are hilarious to him.
* Polite.  He always asks permission before doing something. Very good manners there.

I interviewed him for his birthday.

STERLING

• Favorite color is green.
• Favorite treat is Fruit by the Foot.
• Favorite video game is MarioKart.
• Plays trucks for fun.
• Favorite animal is dogs.
• Favorite game is the booger one (Gooey Louie).
• Best song is Jingle Bells.
• Would like to be a cheetah because they run fast.
• Wants to go to Disneyland or Legoland next.
• Wants to work on computers like Daddy for his future job.
• Favorits books are Wind-Up Busy Car Books by Usborne.
• Favorite show is "Goosebumps" series.
• Favorite movie is "Police Patrol".
• Nickname is Sterling Silver.
• Favorite foods include macaroni & cheese and chicken nuggets.
• Favorite cartoon is "Garfield".
• Worries about fires and earthquakes.
• Favorite sport to play is tennis.
• Would want to play the guitar.
• Is ticklish.
• Best friend is Kayla (Makayla).
• Wants to be Mario, a dog, or a cheetah for Halloween.
• Favorite vacation so far is Oregon.

He chose his cake.

And  scattered his present opening throughout the day. (Mostly cars and trucks.)

He selected Chuck E. Cheese for the celebration!

He was happy to meet Chuck E.

Eating some pizza.

Play time!

Sterling's funnest game, of course.

Striking some poses.

And the crazy parents!

Grandpa & Grandma came over for some cake and ice cream.

A fun filled birthday!

June 2014

This is my 100th post according to Blogger! I am glad I have stuck with it because memories are priceless.  June sure slipped by fast! One of the last days of school Makayla came home with this enormous trophy for being the best improved girl reader in her class. Very nice Makayla!

Her teacher, Miss Damjanovich, retired this year and I am sad about this. She was such a wonderful teacher and helped Makayla be a strong reader, a skill that will help her forever.  I was really wishing for both the boys to have her too, but alas, it is not going to happen.

The day school ended was the same day we hopped on an airplane and went to Seattle and the Oregon Coast for ten days.  That trip was one of the best vacations we've been on!  Such fond memories. A favorite souvenir was these handmade name letters from the pirate shops. We've already hung them in the kids' bedrooms.

When we got home, we found our Tweety fish dead.  Poor fishy, he was sick before we left.

Maisy and her kids came to visit for a few weeks and we spent some time with them.  We finally got all the cousins together for a photo. No luck getting all their attention though.

Dog pile on Uncle Danny!

Hanging out with cousins is fun!

Yummy cherries from Grandma's tree.

 We took a trip down to Thanksgiving Point Farm.

The horses were the highlight.

Xander made quick friends with this goat.

And we went on some wagon rides and had a picnic.

This was my favorite picture from the farm.

We headed up to Paradise for my beautiful cousin Maren's wedding reception.  The Hebdon's yard is looking so nice!

Pretty cloud opening on the way home.

Sterling had his 5th birthday.  He requested a family party at Chuck E. Cheese so that's what we did

Snuck away to Lagoon one day. A really weird thing happened.

An unfortunate seagull was hanging out under the Flying Aces ride and tried to take flight while the ride was still going. It was struck and killed immediately. Poor seagull, what a terrible way to go!

Muttsy has been sick lately. We think she must have eaten a poisoned gopher or something to be so weak. Makayla made her a sign, "Do not tuch her inless you are soft. Thank you."

We always go to the same firework stand in Sandy because they entertain us while Daddy shops.

The kids got to be human gerbils on water. Makayla loved it while Sterling was getting nervous about his air supply.

We had a good day at the library where Patricia Thomas, the author of "Stand Back," Said the Elephant. "I'm Going to Sneeze!" read her book (memorized!) and the kids made a craft.  

We ventured to Lowe's and made a sheep drop game from the new How to Train Your Dragon movie.

Speaking of that movie, Scott took the kids to see it, and to dinner and ice cream while I was away at girl's camp.

 

 Our theme was DOTS, Depend on the Savior.

We had 14 girls come and it was fun! I only stayed for a few days of it. Luckily, with 8 leaders, we were able to stagger our time.

And Scott and I celebrated our 12th year anniversary by picking up this smoker. We've been wanting it for awhile, but just couldn't justify buying it unless we had a good reason. We've already smoked some corn-on-the-cob, ribs, and mac-n-cheese. Yummy! Here's to another tasteful 12 years!