The Cake

I just wanted to post the cake my sister and I had for Paytons birthday. We were both shocked at how good it came out. We are honestly not very creative or crafty people. It was definitly a process to make. The ears where 3 layers and the face was 2. We filled the layers with chocolate pudding. He had to let it cool in the fridge after each layer before we put the frosting on. Even with the frosting we had to do two layers so the crumbs from the cake wouldn't show through. It's definitly not a cake you would see on 'Ace of Cakes' but we thought we did a pretty good job.

the face

the ears

it coming together

it actually kind of looks like Mickey Mouse

the finished product

Paytons Birthday

Payton had a wonderful birthday. His grandpa made him pancakes for breakfast witch Payton loves. We went to the Zoo for the day and got to see so many animals. He was kind of grumpy most the time, but I enjoyed it. We saw so many baby animals. Most the time he would just sit in the wagon but after a while we were able to get him out and he thought it was fun to have one of us sit in the wagon. He even tried pulling my sister in it.

 Payton got to come home and open his presents and have cake. He of course got spoiled with lots of presents. My mom gave him a Bolt stuffed animal that he just loves.(his favorite movie used to be Bolt) He honesly treats it like its alive sometimes. Tonight he was sharring his popcorn with Bolt. It's cute to watch. He got cow boy boots, a scooter, cloths, trains, shoes, and movies.

My sister and I made his cake. We were proud of ourselves. He definitly knew it was Mickey Mouse. He wasn't sure about the candles at first, but has definitly got it down now. My little boy is growing too quick. He is the cuttest kid ever, and we just love him to pieces. He makes us laugh quite a bit, and he is so good at making us just melt when he says things like, "I love you daddy/mommy, or morning mommy/daddy".

thats my dad in the background

Utah Trip

The trip continued as we made our way up to northern Utah. We had to get Payton a DVD player for the trip since we knew he wouldn't last without watching something. We have to admitt it was the best purchase we made. He loved it. His favorite movie is SHREK. We have probably seen it a million times, but what ever makes him happy we don't mind.

 We were able to stay at my parents house for a week. During our time there we did many things. We got to go and visit with Joshs grandparents. Payton had fun playing with his great grandpas marble game. We also got to visit with his sisters family. We played games there, ate, and watched the kids all play together. Payton loves playing with his cousins. He, Benji, and Packer had a wrestling match on the love sack. No one got hurt, and they all enjoyed it. We also got to go to Chucky Cheese with Joshs sisters family, brothers family, and his brother. The kids all loved it. I have to say the pizza there is no good. The kids didn't seem to mind though. Josh and I just love being able to get together with family. Sometimes thats not the easiest thing when you have 11 siblings all spread out, but we try and appreciate the efforts they make also to spend time with us.

My sister was able to join us at my parents house for Payton's birthday weekend. We were so glad she came up. Payton just loved playing with his aunt Stef. He would make her lay on the ground and the two of them would just laugh. It was funny to watch and listen to.

While there Payton loved bugging my parents little dog Calvin. Calvin didn't love him back so much. He would growl at him all the time. Payton would pick him up, try and wrestle with him, pull on him, and would let Calvin lick him on the mouth. (nasty if you ask me)

We got to and take Payton to this place called Kangaroo Zoo. They have a lot of blow up jumpy houses and games. Payton enjoyed it. He and Josh played baseball and Payt thought that was lots of fun. He loved playing with all the other kids, but wasn't so nice to some of them. He is kind of mean sometimes.

Payton got to spend lots of time with his Uncle Jared, and his grandparents. He would entertain all of us each night with his crazy behavior. He would jump around, dance, wrestle Calvin and just by silly. We all couldn't help but laugh at him. After Payton eats dinner he is like a crazy boy. The problem we had ever night was that we would eat so late and Payton woulde be crazy and wouldn't go to sleep until 12 or so. We didn't mind too much since we were on vacationa and he would sleep until 9 or 10 the next day. 

We had such  a great time in Utah and we loved seeing everyone. It is always hard to have to leave, but thats life. The whole way home Payton would talk about his grandma, grandpa, jared, stef, cousins, and even calvin. We had to explain to him that we were going back to Paytons house. He was sad to be home at first, but he is adjusting to real life again. He talks about everyone all the time. It is so neat to see how much he remembers and the things he talks about. I can't believe how big he is getting.