A "4th of July" Birthday

Well my Mothers birthday is not quite on the fourth of July, but close. July 6th. Being so close to the 4th, it is her favorite holiday and we always celebrate it with red, white and blue. The red, white and blue star she is holding was my gift to her. I found it a long time ago and thought it was perfect for her. I love being in charge of Mom's birthday cake/dessert. I try to think of some fun way to decorate it with a red, white and blue theme. This year I was excited to try out my new cake pans. They make this cute miniature 3-tier cake! It was white cake, with whipped vanilla frosting and garnished with blueberries and red gel icing. This was just for her. For everyone else I made a layered ice cream treat with raspberry sorbet (red) vanilla ice cream (white) and blueberries (blue). The raspberry sorbet and blueberries were a yummy combination.

The ice cream dessert didn't turn out very pretty, but they tasted good.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Fourth of July we spent up at my parents house. They live out in the country in the same house I lived in from age 11-20. Their home is completely surrounded by trees. I like to joke that you can run around the outside of the house naked and no one would know! (I don't actually do that in case you were wondering). Its great for the kids because they have tons of room to run around and play, ride bikes, play in the sand pile, explore the trails, and now thanks to Papa they have a new toy to play with (pictures below). The other set of grandparents live in town, so the kids get the best of both worlds.

My sister Heather was in town during the fourth so she was there along with her best friend Crystal and her parents and Jeremy parents Tim & Janet. My other sister Julie was having her own party at her house that day. Here are some pictures from our 4th of July...

Mom always has cute 4th of July decorations out.

It was the first time Jeremy and I bought fireworks since we've been married. The boys are finally at an age where they think they are cool. They were loud, but the boys were not scared.


Kevin and Ashton had fun filling up the water balloons and trying to get each other. Kevin would fill them up, Papa Tim would tie them and Ashton would put them in the bucket.

Heather and Talea (9.5 months) I just loved her dress!

Talea was really digging the corn!

Notice how Jordan (the boy) is playing with the tool box, and Talea (the girl) is playing with the jewelry. I guess gender specific toy selection starts earlier then I thought!

Jordan with his Mimi Janet.

...and with Papa Tim.

Swimming naked with his cousin. They are going to love these pictures when they get older. Better yet, Jordan will be so happy when I tell him how Talea liked to french kiss him when he was a baby :)

Heather and Dad (better known as Papa Roger)

And here is the new toy Papa Roger just acquired...

Mimi Janet took it for a spin with Ashton. Ashton said "You are crazy Mimi! You are crazy!!"

Here Kevin and cousin Titus are waiting for Heather and Mom (Mimi Florence) to come around the corner so they can tag them with a water balloon. Can you see the look on Kevin's face? He is pretty excited about it.

Kevin is in throwing position and look at the face on those girls!

They were happy the boys missed. My goal was to get a picture of Mom driving this thing! I don't think any of us thought she would do it. Nice work Mom! Way to be adventurous!

They 3 Amigos eating a holiday cookie.

Last but not least, the family portrait...