Tyler's 9th birthday

Just in case you can't tell, ...it's a volcano cake.  It's what Tyler requested.  The chocolate chips are lava rocks, the green is green patches of grass on the mtn, and of course you can tell what the lava is.

Emalyn gave Tyler some candy,

Krysta gave Tyler a hot wheels racing car,

and he also received the Lego Indiana Jones Wii game and a Dagedar launcher.

I love his face here! Reminds me of a certain older brother of mine...

The candles were SUCH a disappointment.  They were supposed to be relighting candles (which I thought would be fun with the volcano cake), but as you can see, only ONE relit.  So he just thought it was a wierd fluke.  Oh well, it was fun anyway with the one candle.

Tyler is such a good boy and son to have in our family.  He is a very positive and fun guy to be around.  His enthusiasm is contagious to everyone around him, and a special blessing in our family.  He always tries to choose the right and be a good example to his younger sisters and brother.  He has done well in cub scouts-he's already earned his Wolf badge.  He has really loved reading about science this summer-you can ask him any question about the body and he knows the answer.  He retains the knowledge he's picked up from the books really well.
We're so glad he's part of our family! Tyler, we love you! Happy 9th birthday!

Russell's haircut

Okay, so I was tired of all the comments and doubts about Russell's gender...so we cut his hair today! All his beautiful curls are gone!

Here are the "before" pictures:

 Looking at them now, I have to agree somewhat, it was really long.  No wonder people couldn't get his gender right.

And the "after" pictures:

 He closed his eyes for every picture I took, because of the flash.  Or he's just really really tired...