Brian and Linda's Birthdays
May 15th, 2008

Thursday, May 15th, began like any other day, but soon turned into a day that was very out of the ordinary! The Lampateeze was found out in the back yard playing in the sprinklers as they were watering the lawn. He was in pure heaven! Dad Higginson snapped this shot of little Alvin.

The Lampateeze would walk up as close to the sprinklers as he could without getting totally hosed, but letting the water sprinkle just enough on the top of his head. He had this light dusting of drops all over his body, and it made him look like he had fairy dust all over.

You know when you begin the day like this, it's going to be a GREAT ONE!!!

Later that morning Lorna and Kal could be found with Aunt Julie in the kitchen. They were baking something, and I wish I knew what it was! They looked like they were having a real blast!

That evening we all got together for the double birthday celebration. It's crazy that two siblings share the same birthday. But I guess with nine kids, the chances are a lot higher! Here we are gathered around, ready to sing Happy Birthday and have them open their presents.

Linda began by opening a movie called Stowaway starring Shirley Temple. I have never seen it before, but she was excited about it. I don't think I've ever seen a Shirley Temple movie before.

Next was Brian. He got a giant bag of peanut M&Ms! Then he opened a vintage puzzle that his sisters had gotten for him at an antique store they had been to that day.

Poor Kal was found standing alone crying pretty hard at this point. I thought maybe he'd gotten hurt, but then Linda said he really wanted to help open some gifts. What a face!

Linda already had Lorna on her lap, so Lorna helped her open our gift, which was the movie "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken."

Then Brian opened a cute card from his parents. His mother made this card, and I wish I had gotten a more in-focus picture of it! Brian's mother wrote a very thoughtful note inside. When you get a complement from either of Brian's parents, you cherish it and remember it forever.

Kal was beginning to get desperate. He was crying himself into a real state of despair. I didn't realize how distressed he was.....

...until Dad Higginson showed me a couple of the pictures he had taken of Kal crying. They were so darn cute that I lost it and started laughing so hard! Kal was TOO ADORABLE!

Danny and Linda tried to calm Kal down by telling him he would get to help soon. It wasn't quite what he wanted to hear. Vaughn knew Kal was upset, so he went over and tried to distract him with some toys.

He moved the toys towards Kal very slowly, hoping not to upset him. Kal wasn't too excited to have Vaughn there, but he tolerated him enough to get distracted for a couple of seconds.

Then finally Linda brought out a present for Kal, since his birthday was soon too. This of course made Kal happy!

Here he is with Aunt Julie discovering that the package contained some train cars for his train set! Kal loves trains, so naturally this put him in the best of spirits.

Vaughn was still vigilant in keeping next to Kal, hoping to be part of the reason for Kal's change in mood from bad to good. I don't think Kal wanted Vaughn touching his trains just yet!

Robert's birthday was four days later, and since Danny and Linda would be moving back to Idaho before then, they decided to give Robert his present from them that evening. And Robert also got some vintage train cars! (Next to Robert is his friend Heather).

Heather took care to show Robert how to play with the trains correctly. Robert found great delight in this!

Linda also gave Robert a nice book about California (I think)! Robert loves anything to do with California, so he was really excited about it.

Then it was Linda's turn again to open a gift. This was was from Danny, her husband. It was just a piece of paper, so we were all anxious to see what was written on it.

I think Linda was a little in shock when she finally realized what was on the paper. It was a drawing of a ring that Danny was having made for her. It was to replace the wedding ring she lost! She was so excited!

Yet again, Vaughn was there to get everything on tape. Here he is taking pointers from his Uncle Bobby. He knows where to get the best advice!

Robert is always very patient with Vaughn. They were really cute sitting there together!

Brian thought he was done opening presents, but then I busted out a surprise gift! Here he is pulling the, "Lisa...I didn't ask for anything else" face.

After opening the box, and finally realizing what it was, Brian was very surprised and happy! He asked, "How did you sneak this past me?" "Where have you been hiding this?" (It was a device like an IPOD).

Brian's father had helped me to download music onto it, so Brian would be able to listen to it right away. So here's Brian's Dad pointing out how to access the different songs.

Brian doesn't usually like surprises, but he seemed to be very pleased with this one, and it made me very happy! He made sure to give me a big Thank You, and it made me feel so good!

He was excited to listen to the music I had put on there, because it was a collection of some of his favorite artists and groups! What a cutie! The night had been a success!

I told you, when you start out the day like this, it's bound to turn out to be a GREAT ONE!

Love, Lisa