Another Party. . .

We had one more party for Zach on Sunday afternoon. This one was just the family, including both sets of grandparents, and we went to Tulley Park. Grandma Kaye gave in to Zach's request to try on his new tattoo sleeve.

We had a yummy dinner of ham and cheesy potatoes. . .

. . . with Krispy Kreme donuts for dessert. . .

It was McKenna's first experience with donuts. . .

I don't think it will be her last. . .

It was a little chilly and windy out so when Zach scaled this tall tree. . .

. . . he felt like the wind was blowing it over so he didn't stay up there long. . .

Zach was getting cold so Grandma Jeanie encouraged him to start opening his gifts. . .

She sent him directly to the package that contained the warm hoodie!!

Once again he got lots of great stuff. . .

. . . and got to be the center of attention. . .

Well, except for McKenna but she's much cuter. . .

This was the first time I've seen Cody in awhile since he's mostly grown up now and holding down a good job. He turns 17 next week!! Wow!

The last gift Zach opened held 2 sets of really nice dumbbells. Two 10's and two 15's.

The rest of the party was spent showing off our muscles. . .

. . . and laughing. . .

Kelsey showed us her special talent. . .

I'm pretty sure she gets this flexibility from her mom!! I'm so impressed, Colleen:

All that talk about muscles and flexibility and exercise led to, of course, a serious round of arm wrestling. . .

It was another very fun family party!!

The Day After. . .

I woke up way too early on Saturday morning and couldn't get back to sleep. I finally decided to go hang out in my "clean", quiet family room and work on my blog. I quietly went to the kitchen and made some coffee so as not to disturb the sleeping boys in my living room when I realized someone was missing. Zach was not in his sleeping bag. He was not in his room or in the bathroom. Turns out, he woke up early, too, and went to work on his new Star Wars Lego! We spent a quiet hour and a half, just the two of us, "working" in the family room!
He doesn't really play with his Legos anymore but he really enjoys putting them together and setting them out for display. He has quite a collection.

When the boys woke up around 9:00, I fed them breakfast and went in my bathroom to take a shower when I found THIS crawling on my mirror!!!:

I'm pretty sure we vacuumed up his home before the party and he was coming out to eat one of us alive for disturbing him!! I haven't yet identified him but I've never seen a spider like it! Unfortunately, he had to take a swim in the toilet. . .

All good things must come to an end and Jered had to leave so we took a few good group shots before he left:

Zach finished up his project before I got back home. . .

Pretty cool. . .

Megan and Gloria entertained each other all afternoon. . .

Hayden came back over later in the day to hang out. The kids all did great and even let me take a little, much needed nap!!

I've felt a little nostalgic about my baby turning 16. . . Of course, it makes me feel old. . . It feels like time is flying by way too fast. . . But I'm proud of the way he's turning out. . . I think he'll be really good at taking care of me when I'm an old lady. . . Isn't that the point of raising kids??

Big Screen Birthday Party

Ready or not, the party took place on my yard and in my house on Friday night. Rob and Kurt set up the big screen and projector with 5 of our good speakers (great surround sound) and even a sub!!

Zach was surrounded by all of his good friends and everyone seemed to have a fun time. . .

It was really nice to have Kurt and Laura come and hang out with us. . . even though it stressed me out just a little to have them see my house. . . and my yard. . .

We BBQ'd dogs and burgers for dinner and then opened gifts. . .

Hailey was my official photographer, which was great because I have lots of really nice pictures of the party, but not so great because I don't have any pictures of Hailey!!!

Tyler was a great gift assistant. . .

My sister gave him a great tattoo sleeve. . . It was a big hit!

He received lots of great art supplies. . .

I'm glad he isn't yet too old for Lego's. . .

Shelly gave Gloria a tattoo sleeve of her very own. . .

What a cutie. . .

Lucy was very interested in everything. . . she's obsessed with lights and shadows so she had quite a time with the movie set up. . .

Jeanie made a beautiful Snickers cake. . .

Hailey took a good video of Zach blowing out his candles. . .

Thanks for taking such great pictures, Hailey!!

Around 9:00 p.m. Zach received one of the best presents of the night: Jered showed up! His family just happened to be in town packing up a few more things so he surprised us by coming to the birthday party!! I was totally surprised and didn't take a picture of his arrival but I did take a few later in the evening.

Some of the kids had a chance to play the Wii on the big screen before the movie started. . .

It was too dark to get any good pictures once the movie started but this one is good enough. L to R: Kurt and Laura's feet, Hailey, Rob, Hayden, Calvin, Andrew, Zach, Gloria, Jered, Morgan, Stephie, Megan's legs, and Spencer: (Tyler was inside having a great time with Zach's Star Wars Legos!)

After the movie, everyone hung out for awhile. It was soooo good to see Jered!!

Zach opened the big Lego and some of the boys started putting it together. . .

As much as I dislike the chaos in my family room, kids can find all kinds of treasures in there everywhere. . . Tyler found a fun mask. . . I'm not sure what Andrew's doing. . .

The party "ended" around 1 a.m. and everyone went home except a few of the boys who were staying the night (including Jered!!). I think they all fell asleep around 4 a.m. . . .

Even though I'm not good at having company over, I'm usually glad when I make the effort. I think the party was a success and I know it will be a good memory for Zach. . . Sweet 16. . .