Our Spring

This has been such a wonderful and blessed Spring! I have neglected my blog lately, but I'm making myself sit here and write it all down before I forget all of these memories! We had about 4 or 5 weekends back to back where either Josh or I said, "This is my favorite weekend we've had as a family!" It doesn't always happen this way, but it's just been a particularly sweet time with lots of fun family activities!

I will have to do this in installments:

Family Camp-Out~
The family camp-out we went to was one of them. We packed up all of our outdoor gear (we hardly have any, but we brought everything we had) and headed off on a Friday night to go camping about an hour from town with some wonderful families at our church! We had a ball, letting the kids run around outside and enjoying the great weather with no working cell phones and beautiful scenery to enjoy! We enjoyed a devo by the campfire, roasting marshmallows, we slept fairly well (for camping), had great food, got to explore and see neat things, and enjoyed the company of all of the families that went. One of my favorite parts was watching James have a ball with his friends (of all ages). I feel tremendously blessed to have so many families at our church who know, love, and spend time with our kids. James just eats it up, and I know these relationships he's formed and is continuing to form will bless him throughout his growing up. He was so sad to leave when it was time to go, and he kept running around making sure he'd said good-bye to every person. We had to roll down the window so he could yell good-bye to the junior high girls walking on the path. :)

James' 4th Birthday~
James had a great 4th birthday. On his actual birthday, Josh took the day off, and we went to breakfast and the zoo together. James was a bit of a birthday monster, and every time someone would call to wish him a happy birthday, he'd say (in an Eeore tone) "Thaaank youuuu". Even though he'd talked about it for months and months, it just fell flat for him. :) By that night, though, he was perked up when we went to dinner at Ninfa's with Nana and Deedah. We still really enjoyed the day, just being with our little 4 year old, and celebrating him! The next day was his birthday party day, and he was so cute and excited all day! This was the enthusiasm I'd been looking for in him! It was such a sweet and special day, seeing him get so excited about his party. We went out and bought party favors, and he got really into helping me put them together. He couldn't wait to give them to his friends! His anticipation grew as we ran last minute party errands! We all had a great time at his party! It was at The Jumping Party, which is such a great place to throw a party. We thoroughly enjoyed James run around and play with his friends, singing happy birthday to him, and just celebrating our precious boy! I am so thankful for each person who came to help celebrate James turning four. My family headed back to our house afterwards for coffee and more presents. Below are pictures from his birthday and birthday party!

Birthday




We were so happy to run into James' buddy, Creighton, as we were walking in, and James wanted to be with him the rest of the time there.





Party Day