The Many Celebrations of Evan's Birthday

Friday, Ralph and I decided we'd do what our good friends, Jeanne and George Houston, do with their grandchildren. Everytime a grandchild's birthday comes along, they take them to lunch or dinner, and then take them shopping and let them buy whatever they want for a certain amount of money. That way, the child gets what they want, and they have their grandparents' undivided attention. The picture above is Evan playing with " his purchase ". He bought a batman tower and the latest fad called a Bakugan. After giving him many restuarants to choose from, he chose Chick-fil-A! That wasn't even one of the choices, but it was what he wanted. We had a very special time together! We returned him back home at bedtime, and then, went back to the hospital to see Granny.

Saturday was the big kids' party! Amy and Corin came up with something really unique this year. The party was at a rock climbing wall in Decatur. Most of the kids had never done that before, but they all really got into it!

It was a new experience for Evan, too, but he loved it.

The theme of the party was " Teen-age mutant ninja turtles ". Here is Amy's latest cake.

All the kids enjoyed the neat cake, the ice cream, and the "goody bags".

Little Miss Sweetpea had fun, too.

After the party, the family went back to Amy's to watch Evan open his gifts.

Today, we took a short time away from the hospital to celebrate Evan, Amy, and Matthew's birthdays.

By the way, I didn't mean to say that Granny was our "Patriarch". I know that I should have said "Matriarch". Duh!!!!