Grandpa Cronin's Birthday Weekend

Last weekend we went up to Utah for grandpa Cronin's surprise 80th birthday party. We weren't looking forward to the long 8 hour drive, but we were excited to hang out with family that we don't see very often. It was cold up there, the kids froze every time we got out of the car...they were in shorts, you'd think they lived somewhere where it's hot this time of year.

We stayed at my parents house, which was nice for the kids. They don't see grandma and grandpa King very much and they love to play with Buddy and the Lincoln Logs. We got there just before midnight on Friday, so there wasn't any time to play. The next morning Jaron and Jantzen were quick to get out the Lincoln Logs and start building. Jaron built Jantzen these cool "Buzz Lightyear" jet pack wings out of them. Josh taped them to Jantzen's back and he was so happy, he didn't want to take them off when it was time to leave for the birthday party.


Jantzen also had to show off his cool new "Woody" socks...thank you Target dollar bin. He already has two pairs of "Buzz" one's, and has his eyes on the "Rex" and soldier ones.


At grandpa Cronin's house, we just hung out with family, waiting to go to uncle Mark's for the actual birthday party. While we were there, we got to enjoy some of grandpa's yummy homemade burritos that we had missed the night before...yes, the re fried beans and tortilla's are all homemade and are the best!

The boys ran around outside in the cold, and at times rain, while Jaedyn stayed inside and entertained the rest of us. I caught a cute impersonation of Elvis from her, check out that lip...



We finally left for Mark's house to start the party. The kids loved the big backyard and all the fun toys there. I hardly saw them all day, they were having so much fun playing with their cousins, in the rain.




After we ate lunch, we took some family pictures. I don't have one of the whole group, but I did get some with our little family. As you can see, it's very hard for our family to all smile or be serious in our pictures, Jaedyn just loves to pull Jantzen's hair...that's our crazy family.



After pictures, we sang "Happy Birthday" to grandpa Cronin, gave him his gifts, and then enjoyed some cake, root beer floats, and a variety of homemade fudge.


Here's Jaedyn hanging out with her uncle Colby. She's in a different outfit because she had her own mini photo shoot in this hat that her aunt Amber made. I will post them as soon as I get them because they turned out soooo cute!


We came home on Sunday, but before we left I got some fun pictures of the kids with their grandma and grandpa King. It took several shots because Jantzen was being kind of a stinker and didn't want his picture taken...I know, not "my" Jantzen. I did, however get some really cute smiles out of Jaedyn.


Overall, we had a quick, busy, but fun weekend. It was nice being able to get together with family from both sides that we don't see very much. I'm glad we all got along and hope that we can get together more often. "Happy Birthday" grandpa Cronin, we hope you had a good time too.