You've Had A Birthday Shout HOORAY!

How do we already have a THREE-year-old?  I still can't figure out how that happened.  For about the whole month before his birthday Gavin kept talking about it, and was excited for his animal themed party.  We celebrated at this huge park in Orem with a fun park, a large pond with plenty of ducks to feed, and brought some balls for kids to play with.  Gavin even helped me deliver the invitations to his friends, and put together goody bags for them to take home.  I'm not the type of person that likes to organize things, so I was a little surprised at how stressed I was over planning a three-year-old party.  It turned out great and Gavin had a blast with all his friends.  We had pizza and watermelon, juice boxes, and monkey cupcakes!  I love how Gavin was still talking about his monkey cupcakes a month after his birthday!

Ammon, Jack, Jackson, Eve, Lizzy, Eden, and Gavin

Since my dad was leaving early the next morning on Gavin's actual birthday, we came home and opened some presents from my family.  Gavin loves his very own Canada chair, new PJs, and his "cool pen" (Tag Reader) from Nana and Grandpa Ducky.  From Nanny M and Papa Gavin got some books to read with his Tag Reader.  It's really neat!  Gavin can take the pen and when he presses the words in the book, it says them out loud for him.  You can also press anywhere on the pages and there is some sort of audio associated with all the illustrations.  So now during quiet time Gavin can read his books all by himself.

My parents also started a tradition with each of their grandchildren on their birthdays, where they write out a story about when they were that age.  This is super special, and not only does Gavin get to learn something about when his grandparents were his age, but I am learning new stories about my parents as well.  Eventually my siblings and I will be able to compile all these different stories together for a really neat history of our parents lives!  Here's my dad reading his letter to Gavin, about playing with his cousins when he was little.

A tradition that we've taken from the Edgel's family, is heart attacking each other on our Birthdays.  Here's a picture (taken by Gavin) of some of the hearts and shapes on his bedroom door on his Birthday.

After church we Skyped with Edgel's and Gavin opened more Birthday presents and ate more cupcakes.  Gavin got lots of special gifts, and was excited to find out about getting a sandbox from Grandma and Grandpa Edgel!  It was a little while before we got everything set up for his new sandbox, but I'll be sure to post some pictures of him playing in it at some point!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR CRAZY THREE YEAR OLD!