Hattie and Jake's Birthday

Birthday girl Hattie, age 2, thinks little Cousin Dutch is kind of a cute baby. Dutch, age 7 months, think Hattie's kind of all right, too, especially if she hands over that soda.

Little Cousin Anson, age 7 weeks or so, chilling out in his underwear.

Hattie got to ride all the way to the party with the pinata in her lap. She really became attached to it, and had no idea what a pinata is all about.

She took a couple of half-hearted hits at it, for the cameras.

Birthday Boy Jacob, age 4, was next, and he took some pretty good whacks at it.

Older kids like Izac had to wear a blindfold.

When the pinata broke and spilled it's contents, all the kids dived for the candy.

All the kids, that is, except for Hattie, who wasn't expecting her pinata to be destroyed. She wailed inconsolably. Her pinata, and her heart, were irretrievably broken.

It would take much more than a few miserable peices of candy to mend her broken heart. It would take time. Lots of time.

And Birthday Cupcakes and Birthday Candles.

And singing "Happy Birthday".

And watching Jacob blow out his Birthday Candles.

She hadn't quite grasped the concept of blowing out Birthday Candles, so Mama Susan had to temporarily confiscate the sucker.

Here you go Hattie, blow 'em out!

Yay, I did it!

Pinata? What pinata?

Didn't I see some Birthday Presents around here somewhere?

Hey, look what I got!

Thanks, Papa, for, um, whatever this is!

Here are some airplanes that I don't have to put together!

Hattie: Look Daddy, Papa and Grandma gave me my very own cell phone.

Mommy: I'm going to have to take the batteries out of that annoying noisy toy phone and hide 'em!

Oh, look. Bubboos!

Thank you Aunt Carla!

Tank

This is Jared and Mindy's youngest. His name is Dutch and he's seven months old. He's a tank. Jared told me he weighs about 24 lbs.

He's pretty good natured, not fussy at all.

It appears that he likes to eat.

The only time I saw him get cranky was when Mama Mindy was a little slow delivering the vittles.

"Don't mess with me, big guy!"

Here's Aunt Carla holding and feeding him while he contemplates taking a nap.

Okay, his tummy's full...

Snore.

Here's Grandpa and Dutch. Look, we're practically twins. Well, 60 years apart, is all.

All buckled up and ready to hit the road.

I wish that big guy would quit flashing that thing.

Independence Day, July 4th 2008

We're flying the flag here at 648 in honor of our nation's independence, which was declared 232 years ago today by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. God Bless America.

There are flags flying all over Utah Valley.

And jets, too.

Later tonight there will be fireworks. Here are some pictures from last year.




Here's wishing you and yours a happy and safe Independence Day.