freckles, friends, affection

Caitlin and Sam have the closest birthdays...just eight days apart.  I took Caitlin's favorite treat, doughnuts, into her first grade classroom. 

Her good friend Grace came over to spend the evening with her.

Caitlin wanted to have Panda Express in honor of her birthplace, Hong Kong.

That made everyone  just a little bit excited

It takes a deep breath for seven candles plus one to grow on.

The following Friday Caitlin hosted a pajama party for her friends.  Mary took charge of the games while I went to get the pizza. Thank you, Mary. You are a really big help.  After dinner Olivia sacrificed her personal safety to hold the pinata in the tree.  She was really brave.

 

Some words that come to mind about Caitlin...freckles, friends, affection. We love you Cate!

sixteen

In April we celebrated Sam's sixteenth birthday.  I brought home this dinosaur friend to appease Grant who was greatly disappointed that Sam wasn't going to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate.  Sam pardoned the dinosaur.  Everyone agreed he was too cute to smash,  so we just shook the candy out of him.


We all had dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe.

And earlier Sam and I had lunch at Kneaders.

And we couldn't properly celebrate Sam without movies.  We made several trips North in honor of his big day. One Saturday in April Sam and I enjoyed a trip to the Megaplex at Valley Fair Mall to see Oblivion and have lunch at Zuppas.  This picture was from a beautiful Tuesday.  It was wonderful to see Salt Lake City blossoming with tulips and daffodils, and the trees dressed in my favorite baby lime green leaves.  Sam and Ben went to see Upstream Color at the Tower theater.  Grandma Martha and I entertained the little ones at a McDonald's in downtown SLC.  I was sure I had taken Sam and Ben there many years ago.





Sam blesses our lives with ideas...like this one. A day that would have been lost if it weren't for his persistence, and creativity, and passion for a special day, and persuasiveness.  Sam you are great company. I hope you love being sixteen.