Happy Birthday Benjamin!!!

It has been a very busy, crazy week. I am getting a little behind on my posts so am going to combine 3 (yes three) of Benjamin's birthday parties into one. About a month or so ago we asked Benjamin what he wanted to do for his birthday. His first request was Chucky Cheese, next a Nephi Party and last a Star wars party. Gary and I are such suckers for our kids. For the most part, if their birthday or Christmas requests are feasable we do all we can to make them happen. Benjamin's birthday was on a Thursday this year which gave us the perfect excuse to take a few days off and go to Salt Lake. We left home late Wednesday Night (about 10:00) and got to Grandma's house about 1 am. The first matter of businees for the birthday was dentist appointments for everyone. Now if that doesn't say Happy, Happy, Birthday I don't know what does. We were all due for check-ups so I made 9am appointments for the lot of us. What more could a six year old boy want than nice clean teeth for his birthday? Although, Benji was the only one with any cavities (just 2 tiny ones) it was a quick detour before the real fun started. From there we headed to Chucky Cheese. We were the first ones there which is always a good idea. We had the place to ourselves for a good 30 minutes. My two sisters and their kids joined us for pizza, cupcakes and games. Benjamin just loves his cousins and he was so excited to have them there. We concluded our visit with the reedeeming of tickets and choosing of prizes. For anyone who doesn't know, you can buy any of the prizes with cash so if you don't have enough tickets don't fret. From there I dropped Gary, Spencer, and Benjamin off at the movies to see the new Star Wars Clone Wars cartoon movie. They absolutely loved it. It was really clean and as long as you are familiar with the regular movies you can follow it easily. When the boys got home we all headed for the pool to cool off (or heat up, depending on your preference). We topped off the day with more cupcakes and ice cream and opening some gifts in Grandma and Papa's back yard. What a great day. After such a full day we took it easy on Friday. We did a little school shopping early in the day and went swimming in the afternoon but mostly just relaxed. That evening, Gary and I were able to go on a rare date thanks to Auntie Kate watching the older two and Grandma watching the little ones. We really appreciate it. Thanks you so much you guys. Saturday was another pretty quite day. As I had mentioned before Benjamin had requested a Nephi party. Well, not all of his friends are LDS so we didn't really want that to be his friend party theme so we suggested it for a family party. We invited Gary's family over and asked that they dress the part. (or at least wear a headband) I made costumes for each of us. The kids were so excited. Desirae was running around squeeling, "Nephi, Nephi!" They loved dressing up. Grandma and Papa were such good sports. Decked out in bathrobes in the heat outside really shows their dedication as grandparents. They would do anything for us and our kids and we really love them for it. Aunt Karen and Uncle Larry were able to come to visit and eat some cake and ice cream. We had so much fun. Sunday was the end of our visit. We packed up, played a little, visited with Aunt Connie and Uncle Randy who came over for a bit and headed home. WOW, what a weekend. Thanks to all who made it such a special and memorable time for our sweet Benjamin. We love him so much and love that he is such an original.