Ryan's Birthday

It's so hard to believe that my baby is turning 5!  It is still so young, but kind of a magical age.  He is not a preschooler anymore.  He will start Kindergarten this year.  He is 1/2 way to 10!  How did 5 years fly by?

I remember when he was a tiny little newborn.  I held him and nursed him. I knew he would be my last baby and tried to cherish every minute with him.  It seems like just yesterday when I was so worried that he was having seizures- I still feel my heart clench at the scare we had and the relief when we learned he was ok.  Time goes so fast.  He was such a busy baby!  He was walking alone at 10 months and climbing out of his crib before he was 2!  He is a strong, spirited little guy!  But to watch him grow and change has brought me so much joy!

One of my favorite parts of the day is when he will climb in my bed in the morning just to "cuddle". I will sometimes go get him out of his bed a few minutes before I get up- just so he can have his cuddle-time!

 He is learning so much.  He can write his full name and recognizes almost all of his letters and sounds.  He loves to play games and play with his guys.  It is awesome to see him discover the world around him.  He has a very vivid imagination and will tell me all kinds of great stories about the things he sees in his world.

 The other day he said, "Mommy, I am going to grow backwards.  I am gonna turn 4, then 3, then 2, then 1, and then be your little tiny baby again!"  Oh how I wish he could!

The big 5 year-old starts his birthday with opening presents!

Off to school with cookies to celebrate....

Lunch at Subway (his choice) with mom!

Afternoon class.....more birthday treat.....cupcakes!

Then we went to Chilis (again-his choice) for his birthday dinner.  Grammy met us there to help celebrate.

Happy Birthday to my favorite 5 year old!

Happy 5th Birthday Ryan!

For Ryan's birthday he really wanted to go to Makutu's Island.  This is a big play place for kids with a huge treehouse, slides, climbing structures, bridges and tunnels!  It is a lot of fun!   We invited out family and a few friends.  I think he had a great time!

Ryan was so happy to finally get his "Yummy!" plate from Aunt Rochelle!

What a fun day!  Happy 5th Birthday Bubba!

WICKED!!!

In November, I had bought my mom tickets to go see Wicked for her birthday. We had loved this show so much when we saw it in London and couldn't wait to see it again!   It wasn't playing at Gammage but it was playing in Tuscon at Centennial Hall.  So we made a road-trip day out of it!

We started out day with a delicious breakfast at Cracker Barrell on the way out of town.

Then we headed out to the U of A Campus.  Neither of us had been there before and we took a little time to drive around the campus and area.  It is a beautiful campus with lots of neat red and used brick buildings.  Then we lined up for our show!

We weren't supposed to take any pictures inside the auditorium, but.....well......

We had a really great time!  The show was amazing and we sang along with a bunch of the songs!  We absolutely love Wicked!   Afterwards we walked along the main street and ate dinner at Pei-Wei. 

Because we were in Tuscon, we decided to head over to UMC where Gabrielle Gifford was.  There was a huge memorial to all the people who were killed and injured in the terrible shooting in Tuscon.  We went to see the memorial and pay our respects.

I can't even begin to describe the emotions I felt walking through this.  It was unreal- there were so many people and so many candles, cards, flowers, signs.  It was very quiet and you could just feel the sadness.  It just overwhelmed me with both the sense of loss of these innocent lives as well as the outpouring of love and caring from the community.  I was really glad that we were able to go.

We headed over to the Safeway where the shooting had taken place. They had a smaller memorial there.

It was a sad and thoughtful ending to a good day.  We had alot of fun and enjoyed our show....and then ended on a sad note.  I think sometimes seeing tragedy makes you really appreciate what you have and hang on a little tighter to the ones you love.