Sammy's Fourth Birthday!

Sammy's fourth birthday came quickly...he keeps growing so fast! Since his birthday was on a weekday and all the other kids at school have parties there, we opted to do the same. Later in the day, we went with friends (Shannon, Linda, & Tom) to Jenpachi Japanese Steakhouse. Sammy got a real kick out of the chef who cooked the meal in an dramatic manner.

Spider-Man, Spider-Man,
Does whatever a spider can...

The birthday boy...

Stories at the party...

Sammy waving...

Group photo...

The Jenpachi guy took Sammy's photo...

The only thing burning brighter than the candle,
is Sammy's future....

An Ikea Birthday...

This past Sunday we went up to the Twin Cities to celebrate Diane's birthday. We met at Ikea and then went to Molly & Chris' place to celebrate. Grant made the chocolate cake of all chocolate cakes. Anne took a few photos and passed them on to us (below).

Sammy the executive...
...at home at Ikea...

A man was making balloons for the kids at Ikea...
...Sammy of course asked for a white horse...
...unfortunately the balloon popped...
...all that was left was the head...
...so we left the horse's head on a bed display at Ikea...

Maker of chocolate cake of all chocolate cakes...
...Grant puts finishing touches on the cake...

The birthday girl and her cake...

Guess who's birthday is coming up?

Make sure you tell Annie Happy Birthday this week coming up!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE!!!!

Sammy's 3rd Birthday Party - Preparations

Preparations for Sammy's 3rd Birthday cowboy took more work than a Texas-sized roundup. We corralled his Aunt Diane into working some of her magic with the food. And Grant figured out how to inflate Cletus the cactus (after Paul and Anne scratched their heads for 30 minutes). Thanks Diane & Grant!

The carrot cake from Daube's Bakery was wonderful. We had purchased western-themed napkins and plates with a cowboy on them. When Michele took the napkin to the bakery, they said they'd do the same on the cake. Cowboy Sam was pleased with how the cake turned out.

Mice eggs...

More vittles by Diane...

Cletus the 3-headed inflatable cactus...

All ready for the festivities...

One of the napkins we had purchased..

Sammy approving of the cake...

The cake...
..keep in mind they were working with icing...
...not fresco/plaster like in the Sistine Chapel..

In Old Southwest (Rochester)...

In Old Southwest Rochester, we had a rip-roarin', root-tootin' celebration of Sammy's third birthday. We'll post some photos later, but here's a teaser photograph.

The Tooth Biscuit Gang had struck again! This time they had absconded with the tooth of a fair maiden named Avery. Cowboy Sam was soon on the trail of those felonius theiving incisor rustlers. He tracked them down and got the drop on them. The Tooth Biscuit Gang never had a chance and thus a shot was never fired.

Sammy posing with the captured Tooth Biscuit Gang...

Celebrating Grandpa's Birthday...

This year is Paul's father's 75th birthday. Sammy made sure we celebrated it by surprising his Grandpa with a cake. Here's to many, many more birthdays Sammy can celebrate with his Grandpa D.

Those are testudines on the corners of the cake...

Sammy sneaks in from the porch to surprise his Grandpa...

With Aunt Annie's help, Sammy surprises Grandpa with a birthday cake...

In Zen-like fashion...
...Sammy explains to Grandma & Grandpa D...
...that the glass is neither half empty nor half full...
...the glass is just too big...

Surprise Party for Michele...

Last Saturday we gave Michele a surprise birthday party (Paul's sister Diane did most of the planning). We had family and close friends over. We can't say how old Michele is (to protect the innocent)...but we can say it was a milestone birthday. Happy Birthday Michele!

Roses pale in comparison to Michele...

The table & cake...
we had to edit out the numeral candles...

Playing "Cranium Wow", Chris sculpted with clay what looked like a "male appendage"...

Diane tears up with pride over Chris's sculpture...
...then we realized it was an umbilical cord...
...notice Michele's birthday girl head wear...

Molly, Johanna, and the 2oz bottle of Heinz 57 Ketchup...
...Johann promised to take the bottle through airport security....
...to Uruguay...
...and take a photo of her, her mother, and the ketchup...

We had "n" balloons...one for each year of Michele's life...
...so we can't say how many, but one can speculate...

Chris ties up Sammy to the balloons...
...moments before he lifts off the floor...

Sammy loves balloons a lot...
...and a lot of balloons he loves even more...

After some helium escaped from the balloons...
....Sammy touched down...

Ashlynn gives Sammy a hug...

Sammy instructs Ashlynn on how to be a rock star...

Playing Apples to Apples...

Vanessa, Brian, Jaime, Molly, and Chris...

Chris...
...the man of 1,000 faces...

Brian gives the camera his serious look...

Chris and Veto...

Guitar Hero...

While up in the Twin Cities this past Friday, Chris pulled out his "Guitar Hero" game after we celebrated Michele's [redacted] birthday. Apparently while rock music plays on the screen you are supposed to click colored buttons which apparently have nothing to do with guitar strings...let alone music. No matter, they were still guitars and you could see the look on Sammy's face, "When will my time come to be a guitar hero?"

Sammy wonders...when...when will it be his time...

Relaxing in Grant's arms, Sammy daydreams...

Sammy's time has come...

Meanwhile...Vanessa, Michele, and Anne chat...

The case of the missing number...

This past Friday we were hit with a bit of a mystery. You see, Molly (with Sammy's help) made Michele a cookie "cake" for Michele's [redacted] birthday. But something was amiss...it was the case of the missing number (or how to stay young)...

Sammy sees what happened but does not rat out anyone...

Inspecting Molly's work, Chris notices
a number is missing from the cookie "cake"...

Caught...we found out Michele had removed the number from her cake cookie...

Unable to determine Michele's exact age...
...we still lit the cake...

Sammy helps his mommy blow out candles...

But even Sammy's help was not enough to help Michele blow out the candles...
...fearing the smoke alarm would go off, Ashlynn helps out...