Celebrating Birthdays!

I love birthdays and I love these boys of mine whose birthdays are six days apart.  They chose a shared celebration this year.  We started off the "party" with a trip to Monkey Joe's.

Can you see that Ethan was excited?  He was bouncing before even going in.

As a one- and two-year old, Jared was so brave and would do all the big slides.  Then, as fear became a reality, he went through a phase where he wouldn't do any of it.  I was so proud of him today, as he conquered that fear and did all the big slides over and over and loved them all!  Ethan was such a sweet brother and helped him through the tricky parts of the obstacle course.

 I love the action shots!  :)

   When they are sweet, they are so very sweet.

 Can you see their expressions?  They slay me.  Maybe I'm biased.

 Jared went down so fast, he bumped his nose at the end pad.  He was so amused.

Ever since living in Provo and playing while waiting for the dollar movie to start, air hockey has had a special place in our lives, so of course we had to play.

 Someday I will learn how to take nice pictures in a place like this with really terrible lighting, but I LOVE  the expressions!

 I love that they are old enough to really play.  Jared kept getting points because I was trying to tell people which pictures to take.  :)

 (I even had Ethan taking pictures.)  :)  Sometimes I just want proof that I'm there.  :)

As part of our day, Ethan got to choose the meal (since he likes real food more than sweets), and he chose Cracker Barrel.  

Jared (who really only likes sweets) got to choose dessert.  He chose a cookie cake.  We were all happy with his decision.  

 Does it get any cuter than this?!

 Ethan was disgusted at Jared's licking of the candle.

 Happy, happy birthday boys!

I am so grateful that, at least for now, they were happy to share their birthdays and that they were so kind to each other during the festivities. I love them!

I love celebrating and I always struggle because I want to do it all!  When the boys chose the option of having a family fun day as a shared birthday celebration, I was both pleased and disappointed.  I love being together as a family!  I also think that they actually had more fun that way. Sadly, I must admit that I missed planning fantastic parties.  I love celebrating with friends too.  I wish we could do it all, and yet, I know that I'm glad they don't need it all to be happy.