It's Great to be 8!

Vince turned 8 this year, and I must admit, I've been a little panicked for the past few months. I feel like once he turned 8, it would all go by too fast. I hope I can slow down and enjoy the ride!

Vince woke up to the house decorated for his big day. Balloons, posters, and streamers everywhere! I took a page out of sis-in-law's birthday book and made chocolate waffles topped with ice cream and chocolate syrup for his special breakfast. Yes, this is where he should be singing, "Mom is great, she feeds us chocolate cake (or waffles with ice cream!)". He thought it was pretty tasty. I must say, Josh actually stayed and had breakfast with us for once too. Go figure!

 We stuck a candle in his ice cream and sang happy birthday to him.

 Josh and Aubrey enjoying breakfast!

 Vince loved his balloons.

 He wanted me to take a picture of him jumping for his balloons as they floated away. Silly kid!

 Every other year, our kids get a friend party. Vince wanted to have a party at Nickel City. He went with a friend for his party and loved it. So, we got a babysitter for Marty (can you imagine me trying to keep track of him there?!) and Taylor and Josh and I drove the party goers to Orem. They all got a bag of nickels to go play and then we had pizza, drinks, and cupcakes. They all thought it was a lot of fun.

 Aubrey riding the horse. She's obsessed!

 Aubrey and Bradley. 

Weird side note, but Bradley's mom and I went to school together and now our kids go to school together. Kinda weird that we can grow up hours from here, and our kids end up in the same class.

 Opening presents

 The birthday gang...Peyton, Kameron, Aubrey, Bradley, Cole, Tag, Garrison, Vince, and Ethan

 Handcuffs from Aubrey...too bad she didn't think ahead and realize they would probably be used to detain her!

 Lazer tag guns from a group of his friends.

After we opened presents, we ate cupcakes and headed over to let the kids trade in their tickets for prizes. I think it took about an hour for them to decide what they wanted. They each had a couple hundred tickets and were buying things worth about 10 tickets. I finally had to tell them to pick one big prize first. That made things go faster. It was quite a long process, but, it all worked out and they had a lot of fun.

 Back at home, Marty was "helping" Vince open presents.

 

 Scout shirt! 

Aaaahhh! I have a child old enough for scouts! He's growing up too fast. He's super excited to go to scouts. I think he's read through the book about 5 times already!

He got a remote control airplane from Josh and I. He was really excited. He can't wait to be able to fly a real plane when he gets older. He loves it just like his daddy!


Here's a glimpse of Vince at 8:
*loves playing with friends
*wants to be a pilot, hunter, and someone who fixes guns when he grows up
*loves EVERYTHING involved with hunting
*loves airplanes
*loves tv shows that help him learn (mythbusters, magic school bus, hunting shows, etc.)
*loves reading
*loves school
*desperately wants contacts
*loves riding 4 wheelers
*is a great helper and a hard worker
*loves sports
*favorite color is camouflage
*favorite thing to do is shoot his gun and play sports
*recently saved his money to buy a rifle pellet gun...the day he saved enough may have been the best day of his life!
*worst punishment - taking away reading time at night. How great is that!

Vince, we love having you in our family. You are such a sweetheart. You are constantly teasing thinking of others and have such a tender heart. You love to tease go to school and learn. You're completely obsessed with teasing hunting right now. You love to tease play with your little brother and sisters. You love to tease read and learn new things in books. You love to be tucked in bed at night just so you can say good night to us. You love to tease cuddle! I don't know if you caught the subtle hints, but you love to TEASE also! You are a true big brother! Still, you're a great son and big brother! You are such a good example to your siblings and to your parents. We love you!