Kyle's Birthday FINALLY

For the last 46 days Kyle has been counting down each day to his birthday. And each day he has to look at a calender and start counting all over. I tried to explain to him that if yesterday there were 37 days left to his birthday, that would mean the next day there are 36 days and there is no need to count them all again. But he would insist on looking at the calender and count each day- every day. At least he is old enough to do it himself. What a cute kid. So for his birthday we made a fun breakfast, opened presents, then the other kids and I cleaned up while he played his new Wii I Spy game. Kyle loves I Spy books. When Darren got home we went to the pool, then Darren took the kids on a bike ride, since Kyle just learned how to ride a bike. He also got a new helmet for his birthday- with a bell for his bike! Then we made his birthday cake and for dinner we went to a disgusting Chinese buffet that the kids loved! Kyle got rice, french fries, jello, ice cream and soda. Paul said it was the best restaurant ever! Darren and I just looked at each other. At least it was cheap- and the kids had a great time.

Kyle made his own cake!

When we got home we had cake and sung Happy Birthday.

We let Kyle choose a game to play, and of course we ended up playing the flour game. You know the game where you put a quarter on a pile of flour and whoever knocks it over has to dig the quarter out with their teeth. It's fun, and a complete mess! If you ever play this game- make sure you play it with kids, because they WANT to knock the quarter down, so you don't have to worry about fishing it out. Now, if you play this game with a bunch of adults, NO ONE wants to knock the quarter down. I would just avoid the game entirely unless it's your kids birthday;)

Ellie

I am so thankful for our little Kyle. He is such a joy to our family. Darren and I were talking about when he was born it was a very hard time in our life. In fact I wasn't wanting to have another child right then- Paul was 2, Ellie was 1 and I was working overtime trying to rescue our struggling business. But one night I had a dream. In my dream my mom came to me and said, "Emily, come with me, I want to show you something." I followed her and we went to the temple. When we got there a very sweet spirit came up to me and put their little hands on my cheeks, and said,"Momma, what are you waiting for? I want to come with with our family!" I immediately woke up- I sat straight up in bed and told Darren we needed to have another baby. He was dead asleep and didn't really know what I was talking about. A couple of months later I was expecting. Kyle brought a lot of joy to our family during such hard times. When he was a baby he had a habit of always putting both of his hands on my cheeks, now he is 6 years old and he still does it. Every time he puts his little hands on my cheeks I think of that dream, and how grateful I am for the spirit that can communicate with us so we can know what to do in our lives. I know he was meant to be with our family. I think Darren and him must have been great friends in the spirit world because they have a special connection. We love you little Kyle!