Happy 4th Birthday Jacob!

I can hardly believe that Jacob is four years old! He has been asking me for days and days when it would be his birthday. He was so excited to be four. Now when you ask him how old he is, this is what you get:

O Jacob's birthday we went to the park for a little while. The boys really wanted to go outside for a while because they were tired of all the rainy weather we have been having. Jacob and Ephraim played with Alyssa and Ty and had a fun time. The weather wasn't quite as nice as we would have liked, but at least it wasn't raining! Here is Ephraim on the play equipment:

We had fun running up and down the big hill and playing on the swings and slides.

I know it looks crazy that my boys are wearing shorts and jackets, but they both really wanted to wear shorts. The weather hasn't exactly been cooperative, but it was just warm enough that I figured I could let Jacob wear shorts for his birthday. Isn't he a cutie?

After playing in the park we went home to meet up with Grandma Heiner. She came to visit just for Jacob's birthday! Then we met Daddy at McDonald's for lunch. Jacob and Ephraim just love to play on the equipment there. They both had a great time climbing up the tubes and going down the slides. Usually Jacob is not so keen on the slides, but this time he actually went down a few times. I guess he really is growing up!

The boys thought it was really fun to see Daddy at lunchtime as well. After lunch we headed home. We had to stop at Macy's to get a few grocery items, and somehow we ended up with ice cream cones as well. I guess somebody was just getting spoiled for his birthday!

Then Ephraim took a nap and Jacob got to spend some time with Grandma while I finished this:

I was pretty proud of the way that the cake turned out. I am getting pretty good at making and using fondant!

Originally I was going to make the cake into a sphere, but I decided that was just too much work for me! I was pretty proud that I figured out how to make the antennae for the little green men cupcakes.

This is exactly the type of cake Jacob wanted... a Buzz Lightyear cake! I think this summer we will probably end up going to see Toy Story 3 when it comes out in the theaters. That should be fun for the boys.

Before long Daddy came home and we had dinner. Then it was time to open the presents! Jacob had been waiting all day to see what was in all of those fun boxes!

Jacob got a fun set of Toy Story duplo legos from Grandma and Grandpa Heiner and both of the boys just love them! They like to build things with the blocks and I think it is good practice for the more complicated lego sets they are sure to get in the future!

Jacob was pretty excited to get a cool Toy Story shirt and some nice shorts as well from Grandma and Grandpa Devereaux. It's funny, but Jacob really likes to get new clothes. He had to wear this T-shirt the very next day!

He also got a birthday card with some money in it, which he thought was pretty cool. He had to count it out for Daddy- yep, four dollars!

Then he immediately had to run to his room so he could get his money jar to put his dollars in there!

Jacob also really liked the crane that mommy and daddy got for him. At this point we asked him if he got everything that he wanted for his birthday. It was so funny to see this little thoughtful frown show up on his face... because anyone who had ever asked him would know exactly what he wanted for his birthday.

So Daddy went out and brought back the big box. Jacob was so excited! He opened it and found just what he wanted- his very own garbage truck!

He was so excited to get the truck out of the box and play with it. As a matter of fact, we had to ball up some of the wrapping paper into little wads so he could put them in the garbage can and then make the arm dump the can into the back of the truck. I wasn't sure if the boys would really play with the garbage truck, but it is apparent now that they both LOVE it.

After we played with the presents for a while it was time for some cake and ice cream! I let Jacob put the candles on the cake wherever he wanted them. He did a pretty good job of lining them up.

He was so cute while we were singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Then he took a deep breath and blew out the candles.

Jacob was having so much fun that he just didn't want to go to bed! What a great day he had.

The next day was pretty fun too. We got to go to the pool with Grandma Heiner and our whole family on Friday evening. We went to the Lehi Aquatic Center and had a fabulous time.  Jacob and Ephraim had so much fun! Ephraim loved the water and was fearless, of course. We put Jacob in a little life jacket, and before long he was bobbing around with Daddy and no longer afraid of being splashed by the water features. We all had a great time and will have to go back again sometime.

Happy Birthday Jacob! We are so happy that you are part of our family. We look forward to watching you grow throughout the next year and helping make your wishes and dreams come true.