Good Morning, Birthday Boy!

Ethan turned 7 last week. I am still in a state of shock that I now have a SEVEN year old!

We started the morning with presents, the birthday banner, cupcakes and bacon for breakfast.

New DS game.
And, this is one John and I actually know!

The boys are REALLY into Star Wars as of late - and most of his other presents revolved around that. More on the birthday boy later!

The Day of Injuries

Her is our oldest. He is about to turn 7. Yes, 7! It is hard to believe.
Yesterday was a challenging day for this happy guy.

First, he had his finger smashed in a play ground accident. See above - it is black and swollen under the nail (which he will most likely lose). He is covering his pointer finger because it is also infected (and he did not want anyone to see)! Hopefully he will be able to keep all his fingers. ;)
So after the finger smashing we picked him up early from school - because it hurt too bad to go back to class (and it only 30 minutes until the end of the school day).

After this, we came home and I told Ethan to take it easy.

We obviously have different definitions for "take it easy"... suddenly I heard a crash and a scream...

He had jumped off the bed, with Lego spaceship in hand and landed on his chin.

Here was the result...

A deep gash on his chin. The doctor thought maybe he landed on a pen it was so deep. Lesson learned... Lego Spaceships are sharp.

After a couple hours at the doctor's office he was glued back together and this is the result. there was too much blood to take a "before" picture.

And now... two days of no baths (this is like an early birthday present for Ethan) and no rough play so it can heal.

Ethan was shaken yesterday - but seems to be back to his normal happy self today.

I actually feel blessed that we have made it seven years before needing stitches, glue, a cast etc. Hopefully we will not be starting a new trend!

What Have We Been Up To?

One of the best things about living back in the mountains is that several friends from college are still here (and others love to visit!). In the last several weeks - the best thing we have done here is have these college friends over! Just like always we like to grill out and have families over... so here is the mountain edition...

Robyn and Spence (close friends from college) came up for the weekend and we had two other couples over for fun and merriment.
What you kind of see on the counter is kabobs.

Some kiddos - they insisted on eating outside - although it was pretty chilly.

Wild man Isaac with his buddies. But, oh boy does he miss best bud Asher. Still talks about him every day and every time we have people over he asks, "Asher going to come too?".

Ethan and one of his favorite silly friends... Samuel.

Ethan has done well with the changes and adjusted to life here quickly. We are thankful he has made several new friends at church and school... but he still misses his best bud Kieran.

And, what BBQ would be complete with a princess or two?
Here is Olivia (new haircut and all) with her new buddy. But, she still misses Maddie and Campbell A LOT and asks for them everyday.

What, can I say, I know what they mean I miss my friends too! Although life here has many new adventures it is still hard to say good- bye to such great friends back home.

Bye for now... it has been a long day. More on that tomorrow.