Gavin's 7th "Star Wars" Birthday

We celebrated (yet again) Gavin's birthday with a friend party on Monday, April 8th.  He really, really wanted a friend party and because Laynie had one, it was hard for me to say no.  I did tell him that his next friend party won't be for at least 3 years down the road.  (They wear me out!)  

We celebrated Star Wars style by having lightsaber cupcakes

and Yoda Soda.

We decorated the table with Star Wars plates and got some star balloons.

We were able to find enough Star Wars toy prizes for the boys to choose from when they won one of the party games.  We also made light sabers for everyone from pool noodles.

When the guests arrived, they decorated a party bag with stickers and markers and put a few party favors inside them.  Then they lined them up by the door.

We went downstairs and played "Pass the Lightsaber" (no pic) and Star Wars BINGO.

Then the young padawans were trained to become Jedis.  The boys had to "travel through Tatooine and not be caught by bounty hunters.

Cross the lava pit (no pic) without falling in like Anakin did.

Go into the "star ship" and pop a storm trooper.

Fly the Millennium Falcon through an astroid field.

Escape from Jabba the Hutt's lair.

Then try to blow up the Death Star by shooting rockets into a target.

It was then time for presents,

then cake and ice cream.  And while the boys were eating, we practiced talking like Yoda!

Spring Break: Days 3-6

On day 3, we went to the Pioneer museum on Capitol Hill.  We played a Bingo game and found John Moyle's wooden leg.  Then we drove to Woods Cross to have an early birthday lunch at Mc Donald's for Gavin.  His good friend, Brock met us there, as well as Ashlyn and Julie (Brock's sister and mom).  We went to Julie's house afterward then picked up Matt from work so he didn't have to take the train home.

On day 4, we drove down to Mt. Pleasant to get the kids' teeth cleaned.  Gavin was cavity free and Laynie had two little cavities.  Then we visited with Karen and Sadie and played with their baby chicks in their back yard.  Then we went to Amber's house and visited.  Then made it to Grandma's house and stayed the night.

On day 5, we went to Scipio, Utah and on to Fillmore, Utah.

Old Garage in Scipio

Old Territorial Statehouse in Fillmore, Utah.  It was to become one of the wings of the capitol building, but the capitol got moved back to Salt Lake City before the rest of the building was ever built.  There is a fun little museum inside that only charges a buck or two to get in.

We came home then met at Amber's house for pizza then the Gunnison pool for the kids to have a fun swim.  We all got together to celebrate Rachel's, Gavin's and Grandma's birthdays.

Girl Cousins!

Pizza!

Gavin blowing out the candles

Grandma taking her turn.

Rae opening a gift.

 We slept one more night at Grandma's house then traveled home during general conference so mom could listen to it on the car ride up.  Dad had some fun gifts waiting for Gavin.

We gave him a popcorn machine so he can sell popcorn on the street - something he's been wanting to do.

A soccer ball

and football

Grandma/pa Anderson came for dinner

and gave Gavin a cool lightsaber.

Spring Break: Day 2

Matt had a good idea to go to the Lego Movie 2 then hike Battle Creek Falls in Pleasant Grove.  I only fell asleep once during the Lego Movie and really enjoyed hiking up to the falls.  The weather cooperated for our day by raining while we were watching the movie and starting to sprinkle rain right as we got done with our hike.

(See the falls in the background?)

We stopped at Macey's for ice cream afterward.

Odds n Ends

Matt wrote a cute little story about Laynie and her obsession with crusts.  I'll have to blog about it later.

A nice jeep ride in late February.

We went down to Cousin Brett's baptism and then visited Grandma/pa Sorensen and their newly born puppies.

Gavin working hard in school in February - learning his shapes.

Laynie's sweet sunbeam teachers gave her the material to plant seeds in "good soil" after learning about the parable of the sower.

Spring Break Day 1:

Matt got a couple days off work during Gavin's Spring Break so we could get out and do things together as a family.  On Monday, we ventured to Eureka, Utah - an old mining town.  I really enjoy going to places like this - Matt, not so much.  But he was a good sport and tagged along with a painted on smile.

One of Porter Rockwell's homes that he had built for his 3rd wife close to Eureka.

The museum wasn't open, but we were able to peek in.

Behind the city hall, there was an old jail house.  The old cells were still intact.

An old mining car.

The town had probably 10 store fronts on their main street, but only 2 were in operation - a general store and a restaurant. Everything else was abandoned.

Old architecture on Main.

An old caboose.

Inside the caboose.

We then ventured 4 miles south of Eureka to Silver City - a ghost town.  Silver City had around 1500 people living there in the early 1900s.  Silver and Gold were mined out of the canyon.  A huge smeltering operation was built there but was only in operation for 4 years because a new and improved way of extracting the precious metals was developed and it was cheaper for the mining companies to ship their rocks to Murray, Utah were a new facility was built that incorporated the new extraction method.  Shortly thereafter, the entire city caught fire.  No structures remain, but there are LOTS of foundations.

Gavin inside what was probably a kiln at the smelter.

Remants of a kiln.

Just having fun.

We may have found out after we let Laynie play in the dirt that the grounds in Eureka and Silver City are contaminated with lead and other things... Contaminants from the pilings (discarded mining tailings) blew all over the land in this region.  Eureka is having to replace all their land around public buildings by digging out over 2 feet deep of contaminated soil and replacing it with other soil from a different area.

This is only a small portion of the Silver City smelter mill.  It was quite fascinating to see.

We played a fun game of hide and seek among the foundations and cement walls of the smelter.

We got home and went to Patriot Park - Saratoga Springs' newest park.

6 new ball fields encircle the playground.  Guess we know where our tax money went!