My Birthday...And the Arrival of the Grandparents

Just before my 33rd birthday, my husband's parents immigrated to Arkansas from England!  It's something we've been hoping and praying for for almost 7 years, so it was a joy for the day to finally arrive.  And since they are Dennetts, and 'knees up' is their middle name, we had a party to celebrate both my birthday and their arrival.  

The morning of my birthday, I woke up to two beautiful boys, a wonderful husband, coffee, numerous presents, and a nice breakfast.

Every day is a gift when I get to spend it with this guy.

 For lunch, aforementioned wonderful husband prepared a marvelous picnic lunch for me with all my favorite little foods. We took it to the top field, invited Grandma and Grandpa, and munched.

Every time I turned a camera towards Eli and told him to say cheese, he would actually lift up his piece of cheese and show it to me.

Silas munching on chips and sitting under the Wedding Tree.

He even made me Fried Brie with Panko crumbs!  He's amazing.  And the Brie was amazing, too.

With Grandma...hooray!

One of my babies and me.

All of us at the picnic.  I always love picnics on my birthday because it's so late in the year.  The weather almost always seems to be nice and gives us one last opportunity to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather before the cold comes.

The next night was the real 'knees up' which, I think, roughly translates to dinner and dancing.  My father-in-law and brother-in-law cooked a brilliant Beef Wellington and gave us a proper English meal.  It was delicious and I'm very thankful we have such great cooks in the family.

We do have a wonderful time when we all get together.

Char taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

And the wonderful dessert she made me (white chocolate/raspberry cheesecake and lime cheesecake).  They were both delectable.

I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Next came the bonfire, which had to be quickly put out as the wind was too strong and the ground too dry.

But not before Eli and the rest of the children had some marshmallows.

After that we came back inside, put most of the children to bed, and started the music.

Stephen was our sitar player while Char and I danced Bollywood style (no pictures of that thank goodness).

Silas always enjoys some Scottish dancing with the grown ups.  I don't know why his parents let him stay up so late.  Oh, wait...

There!  Proof!  Sort of.  That is Lynden dancing!  I did warn him before the wedding that it would lead to this.  

I do also have to note that this was my first birthday since the arrival of my mother to the area.  While I didn't get to spend my actual birthday with her (she was traveling for work), it was a blessing to spend a day out with her for my birthday.  I also got to spend the evening of my birthday with my sister, and we got pedicures and ate sushi - exactly what I wanted.

Eureka Springs Train Ride

Eureka Springs has an old passenger train you can take a ride on.

Silas had a soccer game in Eureka Springs, so we took the opportunity to ride the rails.

Before the ride we were able to wander around the old coaches and engines.

It was like a train museum.  They mostly had steam engines and even had coal still sitting in the yard.

It took a little while for Eli to warm up to the big machines but he finally got over it and ended up climbing all over everything.

Eli and Silas really enjoyed pretending to be a conductor.

This was the controller's train car. 

We finally got on the train and listened to the conductor give a fun speech about the history of the railway and, more specifically, trains in the Ozarks.

The train never got going very fast and didn't go far but it was still a fun trip.  

Listening to the conductor; he was an interesting guy.

Grammy joined us for the trip to Eureka Springs, but she declined any pictures.

Watching out the back.  One of the things we got to do was smash a penny.  We all put pennies on the rails and once the train went over them, they were smashed pretty thin. 

It was a wonderful day full of soccer, sun, trains and ice cream. 

Silas' Sixth Birthday

Silas turned six in October!  He has been such a blessing to his father and me.  He's kind, funny, silly, serious, sensitive, brave and sweet as can be.

Birthday morning.  He got a load of presents. 

I filled his doorway with balloons.  Him and Eli loved playing with them.

Opening presents, an England shirt from Grandma and Grandpa Dennett.

Eli helped me make his cake.  

His aunt and cousins came over for lunch.

He could read his own birthday cards this year!

His ocean/battleship birthday cake.  Not my best job ever, but it made him happy.

He requested bowling and burgers for dinner.  We met up with the twins and my sister in town.

Eli in his Steak 'n Shake hat.

Sadie a whole plate of french fries but not much burger.

Wyatt stole a few off my plate. 

Silas getting ready to bowl!

The wind up.

Watching its progress.

"Yea!"  Eli enjoyed bowling, too.

Grammy got to come bowling with us!  It was a blessing; the first birthday celebration since her moving up to Arkansas.

Sadie, Silas and me watching Sadie's ball go down the lane for a strike.

After bowling we played a few video games.  The boys loved this one, a boat/shooting game.  Their expressions are so serious.  Next, Eli and Silas played a car race.  Christian had Silas and I had Eli on our laps.  The parents pressed the gas pedal and the boys steered.  Eli won.

At the end of the day with all of his presents.  

He's been a joy from the day of his birth.