Happy birthday Jake!!!

Here is Jake, last week with our cute little niece Allegra. Jake is such a good big brother. He really takes his role as a big brother seriously. Every day last year, he went to Carter's classroom door to get him and make sure he got on the bus. Second graders are allowed to walk alone to their buses, but Jake wanted to make sure he got there okay. They even played together during recess and lunch. Jake always takes good care of Malia too. He's the only one of the kids Malia will let carry him around. This has been a great year for Jake. He started a new school, which was terrifying for him. Thankfully, he's been blessed with great friends who included him from day one. He got baptized last September. He also started cub scouts. For several years before his birthday, he kept saying he didn't want to go to scouts, but we encouraged him to at least go once and see what it was like and he's loved it since. He is responsible and smart. He got straight A's for the first time at the end of this year. We are so proud of him. And let's not forget his natural talent for any sport. He is so fun to watch on a team because he gets so into it! I can't wait til he plays for his school next year!

Jake invited three friends to go bowling with him. Rick took them to Fresno State to bowl and when they got back, I surprised him with this cool cake!

Then, I gave each of the kids a ball of pizza dough and let them roll it out and put whatever toppings they wanted on it. It was funny to see some of them piling the toppings on and others just put a little here and there. I love this picture becasue it shows the personalities of my girls...Malia is sitting on the table in between Jake and Jacob. She adores Jacob C. She kept talking to him all the way through lunch and he humored her and acted interested. He's such a nice kid. And then there's Bella who also likes to be the center of attention. She was right there in the thick of everything the whole time.

The theme of Jake's gifts this year was Sports (surprise, surprise). Rick got Jake some golf clubs and a golf bag and all the accessories (tees, wiffle golf balls, real golf balls, a towel, etc.) He also got a tennis racket and tennis balls and Papa hooked him up with a tackle box. He is set for when the weather cools off enough to set foot outside again.

Rick and I went out for the evening and left our kids with a great babysitter. We left the remnants of the cake and some cupcakes on the counter. When we got back, the frosting had been eaten off all the cupcakes. I'm not even mad. You see, I know that it's genetic and THEY CAN'T HELP IT. Try as they might, frosting calls their names and they must eat it. Forget about the cake part...useless calories.

It was a great birthday. We're glad Jake is part of our family!