Happy Birthday Ty!!

Yesterday as the nation celebrated the birthday of the United States we too celebrated a birthday--Ty turned 5 on the 4th of July! What a great day to party! The festivities for the big day actually started on Friday when we went to Portland and picked up Grandma Lewis. We are so glad she is with us and we love having her here. She has been such a great help especially since Nate has been working the past four days the usual 12 hour holiday shift.(We miss our daddy terribly and can't wait for his early return tonight!) We were up until late hours of the night decorating the house and making the most incredible Jurassic birthday cake!We started with a plain chocolate sheet cake (that's what the birthday boy ordered!)

We added frosting, volcanoes, dinosaurs and a tree and wal-ah we have Ty's birthday cake! (For those of you who don't know Ty very well---he loves, LOVES, LOVES dinosaurs!)

We began the special birthday with a yummy 4th of July breakfast: pancakes with blueberries, strawberries, and whip cream! It was nice to have our daddy with us for breakfast before he left for work.



Next we went to Cloverdale (a tiny town south of us) and celebrated in the "Red, White, and Moo" festivities! We did some inflatable jumping and bouncing things. We watched a great parade--which was so small it went around the route two or three times! They threw out so much candy we filled two gallon size bags! The kids thought it was so fun to get candy thrown at them!
We ate our lunch in a shady campground in the forest. Yes, it was actually quite hot here in Tillamook on the 4th of July! Shocking I know!



We went to a party and BBQ at our friends house. They had a slip-and- slide but we aren't talking a little slide, no this was a 100 ft plastic slide with a fire house going all the way down the hill and landing in a bubble bath at the bottom! Ty and Mara didn't want to have anything to do with it! Our friends also had a wading pool for the kids made out of fire gear. Again Ty and Mara would not get in. I finally convinced Mara to go in with Caleb and me and I literally had to pick Ty up and throw him in! I knew once he was in he would have a fabulous time and he did! He LOVED it! But he was super shy and didn't want to play at first!

Did I mention our friends live on a farm? The kids loved seeing pigs, baby calves, chickens, roosters, horses, you name it! E-I-E-I-O!

The BBQ was delicious 'finger linkin good' as we said last night!

Everyone there sang to Ty and he was thrilled to share his dinosaur cake with the crowd.

We stayed around to watch fireworks but because it was so foggy we couldn't see them! (On the drive home we saw a few go off!) But what's a birthday without presents? Finally when we got home after all the festivities Ty opened his presents and was thrilled with the generousity of everyone who gave to him!



I reflected a lot yesterday of the wonderful child Ty is and how grateful I am to have him as my son. He is a very special little boy and I love him so much. He has a mighty spirit and is very valiant and obedient. I hope that he will always use his determination to be righteous and make good choices. I know why he was sent first, he is a good example to Mara and Caleb. He is a leader. Ty is so creative and smart. He is blessed beyond his years. He has a tender heart and is so kind and loving. Ty is a funny boy and makes us all laugh and smile! I thank my Heavenly Father that he sent me Ty and I am proud and grateful to be his mom! I love you buddy!