Our Baby is Three!!!

Last Monday was Cai's birthday. I was able to take him out on a special date in the morning. We got to the mall before the stores opened, so he played on all the little ride toys. Funny thing - Ryan used to ride them all the time and I don't think Cai ever has. We don't go to the mall nearly as much , now that we live so far away from a mall. Unfortunately, I didn't have any cash. Even so, he had a great time pretending to drive the different vehicles and I'm not even sure he realized they could move! (The other unfortunate thing is that I forgot my camera!) We went to the Disney store and Cai picked out a new swim suit, shirt and towel from Papa and Dee Dee. Then we went to the Croc store to pick out new crocs, from Gramma and Grampa. This year he chose a Buzz Lightyear for his croc. After that we rode the train around the mall and since it was his birthday the driver let Cai wear his hat! On our way out I let Cai pick out a cookie - he chose a double doozie which is two chocolate chip cookies with frosting in between. I told him he could eat it on our ride home, thinking he would eat maybe half of it. But, he ate the entire thing!! I couldn't believe it.

Here he is with his new Crocs.
We had a very simple party: pizza and cake by the pool with his cousins.

Caius, we love you to the moon and back. You are such a joy to our family. You make us laugh all the time with the crazy things you say and do.

It is hard to believe that our baby is three. No more two year olds at the Johns household. It has been a long time since our lives haven't revolved around nap schedules. A new season is beginning.

A New Decade Begins

Ryan turned 10 on Tuesday!!!

Birthday breakfast: Waffles with strawberries and whip cream!
Opening his new skim board slip n slide from Papa and Dee Dee.

Sporting his Michigan shirt and crocs from Gramma and Grampa (we won't mention the jack knife from grandpa and the wound that followed:)

Ryan wanted to have a party at the beach, so he and his friends could play sports and have fun in the water. We went to Galt's Ferry Beach. Here's Kris and the boys making the lines in the sand for their beach volleyball tournament.

After two rounds of Volleyball they headed for the water and stayed there. It was a beautiful, hot day. So much for the other games we had planned - but I might say that this was the easiest party I have ever done!

The whole gang eating dinner.

Ryan was born 5 days early, on his Uncle Ryan's birthday. We had planned on naming him Jaiden, but decided that perhaps the Lord had other plans. He did choose our son's birthday to be on the same exact day as Ryan's, who would never have children of his own. We believe that the Lord wanted to bless Ryan with a special gift that year and our son with a wonderful, godly namesake. Ryan lived much of his life in pain, but there were not many moments without a smile. He knew what it meant to suffer, and yet he knew true joy through peace with His Savior. One of our son's favorite memories from birthdays past is singing, Happy Birthday, Ryan and Ryan" Even though Uncle Ryan is no longer with us we still have the joy of celebrating his birthday each year and we look forward to be reunited with him one day in heaven. Perhaps he and Ryan will have a wrestling match that day:)

Amicalola Falls

We packed a lunch and headed an hour north a couple of Saturdays ago to visit Amicalola Falls. It was so amazing and beautiful!! We all fell in love with the place and we will be going back as often as we can!

When we first entered the State Park we were greeted by this sign . . . YIKES!

Thankfully we didn't see any bears, other than the stuffed one in the museum. First we drove to the top of the mountain to check things out. Here is Trevor looking down, over the Falls.

Anderson and Caius

We read a sign which said that we could walk down 450 steps to the middle of the Falls where there was an overlook bridge. After we ate our lunch, we headed down.

While we were on the bridge, I asked Kris if it were raining or if that was just the overspray of the Falls. He thought it was a little of both. We stood in amazement of God's amazing creation for a few minutes and then headed back up the steps. (going down was much easier:) Half way up the steps it started down pouring!!! We were all soaked, but we had a lot of fun!!!

Date Night With Ryan

Ryan asked if he could take me out for my birthday present this year. He had recently done a few things to earn some cash of his own. Wasn't that sweet that he wanted to use some of his money to take me out? He picked the place, Mexican, which we both love and then he asked if we could go to Bruster's afterwards for dessert. We had lots of fun conversation. He asked if he could hold my hand while we drove. He asked the waiter for things we needed and he was so sweet! At the end of the evening he said, "This is the best date I have ever been on!"

At The P-A-R-K Park

Here are a few more pictures from our time with the Andersons during the week before Easter.
Anderson and Charlie are wearing matching t-shirts (they LOVE each other). On the day Charlie was to go home they were talking about the possibilities of Aaron and Sara adopting Anderson so that he could live with Charlie:)
These two have a love hate relationship, but what gives me hope is that was Anderson and Charlie 4 years ago! Jimmy and Cai:

Preparing For Easter

The week before Easter brought with it three extra boys to our home. 7 boys! Charlie, Ben and Jimmy, my nephews, spent four nights with us. It was crazy, but we had lots of fun. I love my nephews and that my boys have cousins to play with - those are some of my cherished memories as a child - playing with my cousins!

One day we made crowns. We talked about how the Bible tells us that when we run the race of faith and are finished, we will receive the crown of life. We talked about loving Jesus and how he died on the cross for our sins, but is reigning in heaven now and someday we will throw our crowns before His feet in worship. And we sang one of my favorite Easter songs, "Crown Him With Many Crowns"

Jimmy (will be 3 in July)
Caius (will be 3 in June)

Ben (4)

Charlie (5)

Anderson (6)

Trevor (8)

Ryan (will be 10 in June)

La, La, La

Anderson & Me
Anderson's new Michigan crocs

Anderson & Caius

Mardi Gras

The Theme for March's family dinner was, you guessed it, Mardi Gras!!! I thought it would be fun for the kids to make their own mask for our dinner. Here's the gang.

Charlie

Caius

Ben

Mea

Family Dinner Night with their masks on

Trevor and Savanna

Ceceilia and Mea

I forgot to get a picture of the food, just think Cajun - we had Gumbo, shrimp jumbalaya, bread pudding and a King's cake to name a few. The King's cake even had a gold coin in it and the winner has to bring dessert next time. The kids yelled throw me something, mister and got candy and the adults had a Mardi Gras history quiz. As always it was lots of fun and laughing! I'll leave you with one last picture so you can laugh, too.

Anderson's Pirate Party

Here he is. . . so excited and waiting for his guests to arrive.
The invitation said, "property guarded by Pirates, so come at your own risk!" Here are our Pirate guards:

As each little boy arrived, we gave him an eye patch and bandana and the option to paint scars and a beard on his face.

Here is the whole gang getting ready to hunt for treasure. We had to move this part of the party indoors due to rain. It all turned out, though and we even played musical chairs and rock, map, swords!

The birthday boy with his cake - a pirate ship!

Today is the date Anderson was due:)