Mother's Day & Amy's Birthday Party
May 11th, 2008

We always really look forward to any holiday or special day during the year, because it generally means we will be seeing some of Brian's family. In this case, Mother's Day was no exception! We went over to Brian's parents' house in Springville to celebrate the evening, but also to celebrate Brian's sister Amy's birthday, which had been four days earlier on the 7th. That also happened to be Prairie's birthday! So right when we arrived, Vaughn dashed for the back yard and began playing with his cousins. His cousin Kimball grabbed hold of Vaughn and hugged him like crazy! I was lucky to get a picture of the two of them because Vaughn wanted to play and was trying to break out of her hold!

Kimball is a very tender and caring young girl, and she shows it a lot with Vaughn. I thought this picture very fitting for Mother's Day. I believe women (girls) are born with that sense of mothering....nurturing and caring for others. I think it is shown very well here.

And then of course, once Kimball got the mushy stuff out of her system, it was time to get a little crazy! Vaughn loved it!

Danny was outside playing with his kids while Linda took a break inside. I guess part of playing with Kal was to draw a chalk outline around his body. In the end it looked like the chalk outlines of bodies you find at murder scenes. But I'm sure I was the only one who noticed that. Kal thought it was great!

Danny and the Lampateeze....what a pair!

My sister Laura came over to help celebrate the evening, and when I tried to take a picture of her, Danny had to get weird. He loves to play practical jokes on people. Just look at his face....he is really in his element! He just can't resist being a dork! I like Danny though, because he keeps things interesting. I'm glad he feels that he can pick on me. I wonder what he was like as a kid?

I thought this was adorable! Laura is always great to play with the kids when she's over. She was having a great time drawing with the kids. Lampateeze took special interest in Laura's art. Why is he SO DANG CUTE?!?!

After a while of playing outside, we came inside to get ready to celebrate Mother's Day and Amy's birthday. I thought Alex and Riley (on the right) looked so cute here just enjoying time as sisters. And Laura was adorable entertaining the Lampateeze, while he clung to Linda!

Julie is a fantastic aunt and friend to Riley and Alex. They are always goofing around together. Julie has a gift with kids. Whenever our nieces and nephews come to visit, they all yell, "It's Julie!!!" when they see her walk in the door. And 99% of the time they call me Julie. It's definitely a complement!

Here's Amy and Brian having an involved conversation before we got the celebration under way. Did you notice the gorgeous cake on the counter that Julie made for Amy? YUM! Brian looks almost like a politician here giving a speech. What a cutie! I'm sure he and Amy probably were talking politics!

As you can see, the candles are lit in this picture, and that means we were singing Happy Birthday to Amy. I thought her expression here was very pleasant. Danny and Brian look a little uncomfortable singing in the background though! Lighten up you two!

And then came the presents.... Amy was great to let her youngest Sammy (Samuel) help her open her gifts. As tradition dictates, Amy received food for her birthday. Among the prizes were a bag of M&Ms....

.....a bag of Corn Nuts.....some Fiddle Faddle.....and I can't remember what else!

I guess all the food made the Lampateeze very hungry. Since he couldn't reach any of it, he went for the next best thing....Aunt Julie's arm. I wonder if she noticed that a piece of her arm went missing?

Vaughn just wanted some of that delicious cake! Just look at the poor kid's face! And speaking of cake....

...here's a better picture of the cake Julie made for Amy. Isn't it just fantastic?! Julie is an expert at making cakes and desserts. She really has a gift.

Once his belly was full of cake, Vaughn had some important things to do. One of those things was making sure to record the night's events. So he got out a little toy video camera and began to shoot the scene unfolding before him. What a pro!

I think Vaughn had taken some pointers from his Uncle Bobby (Robert, Bob, Buns and whatever other names we've called him in the past), because he looked like a natural!

He was even squinting his right eye while his left looked at the camera. What a nut!

I was glad Vaughn was there to help record things, because some important stuff was happening! It was time for Mom Higginson to open a few gifts we had gotten her for Mother's Day. Mom looked so cute here! She likes to avoid cameras at all cost, but she doesn't realize how great she looks.

Amy wrote a song about Mom and sang it to her for Mother's Day. It was quite the experience for all of us. Amy has a talent for writing music, and by the time she was done, there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

Here's another view of Amy while she was singing to Mom. I thought it appropriate that Dad accompanied her for the occasion. I don't think Mom realizes how much of an impact she has had on the lives of her husband, children, kids-in-law and grandchildren. I can't imagine a world without her. She is one of the most giving, thoughtful people I have ever met!

I thought I would add this picture in. Laura totally made my Mother's Day when she came over that evening. As you can see, Laura is one of the people that brings humor into my life. She has a way of cheering me up that no one else can do!

And this will be my "one for the road." I LOVE YOU LAURA!!!

Love, Lisa