Reuben's 5th Birthday!

We can't believe Reuben is 5 years old...  

He's been waiting for this day since his last birthday...

He had a great day, despite being sick with a stomach bug.  

We had all his favorite meals, which he had the next day... (that stomach bug, remember?)

He opened presents before church, which led to a slightly irreverent morning...

He enjoyed a bit of his birthday cake (complete with a Reuben-sized handprint for the IronMan look he was asking for).  

He enjoyed more of it on Monday.  (We all did!)

Here's the innocent wonder and excitement on a new 5 year old's face:

New Faces

Jonas got braces:

Troy got glasses:

Jonas' High Adventure

By Jonas...

It was fun.


No really.  I was in charge of the food for the week.  It was really interesting.  We went white water rafting and that was really awesome.  We hiked two mountains.  Super cool.  We used the van to fit everyone.  We did lots of swimming on the lake.  We made a raft for the lake and didn't get very far.   We got some rain but that was also enjoyable somehow.

(Mom's note:  Jonas was the only scout to hike the second mountain with two other leaders.  The leaders were very impressed.  One even gave him an El Paso SWAT coin for his excellent endurance and leadership qualities.  We are glad to have him back!)



(Mom again:  During this week, the kids and I played with Lincoln Logs and enjoyed some "Wild West" activities. The kids made some horse-sticks and we had good sheriff and deputy days...)

Harry Potter Week

Last week we celebrated Harry Potter with a movie marathon... a movie each day leading up to Harry Potter's birthday on July 31.  We played with chopstick wands, color streaked our hair in honor of Tonks, and ended with a huge dinner party.  What a blast!