Whew, what a weekend!

Fortunately for Starr, when your birthday falls on a Sunday, we usually celebrate all weekend...and this weekend was no exception. On top of birthday activities, we had Jeff's baseball game, ward bbq, and of course the long awaited BON JOVI concert. So needless to say, it was a fun filled packed weekend.

As for Starr turning 10, she's been such the drama queen lately that I was worried I wouldn't have anything nice to say about her....just kidding. She really is a sweetie, always thinking of others and so good with Joseph and Josh. Of course, still is and always will be a "daddy's girl". I love that -- and of course, her dad does too! On Friday night, to start out her birthday, we went to dinner at her Favorite restaurant -- HOME TOWN BUFFET -- yep, she loves it. We did this while the guys went to the Bon Jovi concert -- So me with 5 kids .... need I say more. Actually, while at the buffet, after chowing down, I asked Joseph if he wanted some dessert and he said, "You want me to eat CRAP?" (meaning junk food -- we call it crap in my house). Boy, do we train em' right, or what? After dinner, Starr had a sleepover (which is a rare thing and reserved only for special occasions) at her best friends house next door.

Starr and Janae heading to her sleepover.....
On Saturday, Steve and I split up -- he and his BFF, Mark Brown (here from Seattle for the Bon Jovi Concert) took the little boys to Jeff's game and I took the girls ice skating. I actually told Steve I was only going to watch them until he piped in, "That's too bad, it would really be a good work-out for you." So of course, the guilt set in and I reluctantly agreed. I would have burned off some good calories, but Emi and I were tired half way through skating and decided to split a chocolate bar - so much for the calorie thing. I also decided while skating.... and I've only done it twice -- I REALLY DISLIKE ICE SKATING. Holy cow, there are little 5 and 6 year olds skating circles around me and though my legs and chasing each other -- I thought I was going to die a few times. I'm really sad to say I didn't have a good time. Don't get me wrong, I didn't fall one time, but I was close to hugging the wall a good portion of the time. And Starr and her BFF, Janae are troopers -- twice they would stop to rest, take off their ice skates, examine and whine about their blisters and chewed up feet from the rented skates, and then 3 minutes later put their skates back on and go back out on the ice....kids! Well next year, lets hope she picks something else. Either that, or I'm watching from the window with the other SANE mothers.


On Sunday, we had a great family day with Mark Brown still visiting and then family and friends coming over for presents and cake in the evening. We loved meeting Bryce's girlfriend, Heidi -- LOVE HER! Even my kids thought she was pretty terrific. Katie stopped by with her friend from Utah, Dave, for a few minutes -- so it was fun to finally meet him also. And of course Starr's BFF, Janae and Uries were all here to celebrate with us. By the end of the night, Starr decided her birthday, which in the morning was pretty lame (didn't help it was our fast Sunday) was pretty cool.

Starr did a beautiful job decorating her cake.

As a side note, Steve, Jeff and Mark had a blast at the Bon Jovi Concert Friday night -- for those that don't know, it's Steve and Mark's tradition to get together and go whenever Bon Jovi has a new tour (which has been every 2 years) -- so this is the 3rd time they've done this. ROCK ON!


These last pictures are for Mark. Erica, thanks for sharing Mark with us this weekend -- we wish you and your whole family could have come down! We love you guys!