Morgan's 14th BiRtHdAy!!

For Morgan's birthday, she requested Olive Garden for dinner (which we did a few days before her birthday).  As we were waiting to be seated, I had to laugh at this brood of mine.  As is typical, no one (including my husband) sits and quietly waits.  There was tickling, wrestling, and laying on top of each other.  They have so much fun together! (until someone gets hurt of course :)

Morgan opened one of her presents at dinner...her coveted Ipod Touch!  We wouldn't let our kids get one until they turned 14, because we didn't think they were old enough to be responsible about texting.  I've had too many friends who have told me their kids were addicted to texting, and we want our kids to be present with their friends and with us when they are with us.  We will still have to do some teaching I am sure, but hopefully she's old enough to exercise a little more restraint and understand both the benefits and drawbacks and act accordingly.  She's one smart cookie, so I'm sure it will be great!  Anyhow, she was over the moon that she FINALLY had one!

 Some of her friends at church did a "heart attack" welcoming her into the 14-year-old class at church.  So cute!!  GREAT group of girls.  I'm so glad Morgan is a part of such an awesome group of friends!

That Saturday, on her actual birthday, we did a family party for Morgan, where she opened the rest of her presents and also invited a few of her closest friends over to celebrate with cake, ice cream, and swimming!

This part is what made my heart melt.  Colton was SO EXCITED and had been planning his gift for her for WEEKS.  He knew Morgan really wanted this specific necklace she had seen online.  He had me help him order it (with money he had earned by doing extra jobs) and he had been anxiously waiting to see her reaction.  Loved this!

Morgan with her friends...

Colton's 12th BiRtHdAy!!

Colton turned 12 this year!  Kind of a big birthday!  He became a Deacon at church, and he started the ranks of Junior High!  Love this cute boy!  He asked for German Chocolate Cake...

 Hmmm...look at that Colton - guess you didn't blow hard enough.  Why won't those candles stay out?  We loved seeing him try to keep those suckers out!

Bryan knew Colton wanted some Adidas slides (just like his).  He used his own money to get them for him.  Sweet big brother!  Colton was so excited!

He was also excited about this REALLY nice professional soccer ball...

Colton had asked for all soccer stuff - and he got it!

Look at these two twinners!  They have a lot of fun working together...Josh and Sarah came over to participate in the birthday fun!

The next weekend, Colton had a "friends" birthday party.  They had Colton's favorite "Better Than...(whatever)" cake, ice cream, and played "007" with the adults trying to find all the kids who were trying to get back to our house from across the neighborhood without getting caught (at night).  It was a lot of fun!

Colton's friend's family makes these AWESOME coconut rice crispy treats.  They are seriously amazing!

KYLE is NINE!!

On Kyle's birthday, I surprised him and his class at school with ice cream sandwiches to celebrate!  Can you tell he's excited?

That night we let him invite a couple of friends over to celebrate with us at our family party.  I asked Kyle the day before what he wanted on his cake.  His answer?  Oreos, gummy bears, and sprinkles of course!

I bought the candles that keep relighting themselves.  It was SO FUNNY!  You can see Kyle's expression change in the following pictures...he couldn't believe the flames kept coming back!

My sister, Brittany, was in town and had gotten Kyle some pool toys.  He was so excited!  Those are ALWAYS in demand around here.

Kyle's final gift from us was a Flicker "Y" Scooter!  He was over the moon!  That thing is fun!  Even I HAD to try it out!