A Celebration of Ian--10 years!

My sweet baby is 10 years old already! Where did the time go?? Ian is such a sweetheart, and we all love him so much! He's a good boy with a kind heart. He's funny and extra super smart. He's talented too! He plays piano, acts on stage in plays, plays the organ, and makes awesome comics. He's also good at making friends and cooking food! We're so happy to have Ian in our family. I wouldn't trade him for the world.

2015-Just born

2016-Ian is one!

2017-Two years old

2018--Three!

2019--Four

2020--Five

2021--Six!

2022--Seven

2023--Its great to be eight!

2024--Nine

2025--10! Double Digits! 

Ian's 10th Birthday Celebration, Part 2--Castles and Coasters

The celebration of Ian continues! Saturday, January 25th--Ian chose to go to Castles and Coasters with a few buddies of his: Adam, James, and Landon. We invited another boy, but I guess his mom changed phone numbers, so she didn't get my text. Erik took the boys and Gabe and Grandpa came, too. It wasn't a cheap birthday by any means, but at least it was easy--for me at least! Haha. I told Erik to take plenty of pictures, and here are the ones he sent me. It looks like the boys had a good time. Ian is lucky his birthday is in January, otherwise it would be too hot to go to places like this. After having a super fun blast at Castles and Coasters, Erik took the boys back to our house for some cupcakes and present opening. James stayed longer in order to play the switch with Ian.

 

In line--It doesn't look like it was too busy of a day

Bumper boats!

I don't know what this ride is called, but it looks fun!

Here are the videos. Erik took lots of them!

Bumper cars--hard to see but its Ian and Gabe

These boys loved making goofy poses

A fast, spinny ride!

Looks like a classic roller coaster ride.

After a few hours at the park, Erik took the boys to our house for some more fun:

Ian got a few fun gifts from his friends.

I took some pictures of Ian being silly with his cupcake. I didn't have a 10 candle, so I put two 5's on instead!

Happy 10th birthday to my sweet Ian. I can't believe he's 10 already!

Ian's 10th Birthday Celebration, Part 1

Ian's 10th birthday celebration was spread out over a few days. Grandma and Grandpa came down to help celebrate with Ian! Ian's birthday is January 24th--it landed on a Friday this year (2025):

I made Ian his birthday pancake, complete with a lit candle and a happy birthday song. I usually put whipped cream, but I must not have had any that day.

Grandma and Grandpa took Ian and Elisa to Dutch Bros around the corner from us for a Happy Birthday treat! How fun!

Later that day, I made some birthday popcorn (I had been on a popcorn kick since I got a popcorn maker for Christmas). It was made using melted white chocolate chips and sprinkles. It turned out yummy!

Ian chose Chick-fil-a for his birthday meal.

Gabe made Ian an awesome card. I wish I would have taken a better picture of it!

I got Ian a rock tumbler. I've been using it mostly. 

The next day, Saturday, Ian had his friend party (see next post) and later that day he wanted to go out (again) to his other favorite place to eat, Bobby Q's. He ordered what he normally orders--Mac and Cheese! And at the end, the waitress served him his free chocolate cake and ice cream!

This cutie sat in front of me--perfect spot for me to get some pictures!

I was going to delete this picture, but I think its kinda funny. There was a weird glare from the camera lens that ended up looking like a boogie on Ian's face! Ha.

Trying out the string toy given to Ian by his friend James.

Pizza Race

 January 18

I signed myself and Ian up for the Pizza Run in Arizona Falls (Scottsdale), Ian wanted to participate because there was pizza at the end of the race! Plus, a cool pizza medal and a pizza pin. There were also pizza shirts available to purchase (not included unfortunately). Ian wanted a shirt, so I bought one for him. Erik went with us; I think this was the first race he's attended that I've ran in. 

The track is out and back, and mostly paved--the first .4 mile is rocks, but I'm used to running on rocks. There are also no hills, so it makes for a pretty easy run. I did a little better with regards to speed than I had the last race I ran, but I wasn't anywhere close to placing. The woman that placed first in my age category also placed first overall (7 minutes per mile--yep even faster than the men) so I didn't have an ice cube's chance in hell of winning first place again haha. Seriously lady, go find some marathons to run--leave the 5K to us slowpokes. 

The kid's race wasn't chipped or timed. However, Erik timed Ian, and he actually did pretty well relative to what I had clocked him running on the trails. He sure enjoyed the Papa John's pizza after! I can't eat for right after the run, but I did have a piece with Ian after his run, which was about a half hour after mine finished. There was also a huge box of Tru Fru samples. They said we could take as many as we could, and I certainly took them up on that. They are really yummy and quite expensive so I helped myself to as many as I could carry. 

Here are the pictures and a few videos:

A few boring videos of me running

 A slightly blurry picture of me running that the company took. Last race it was so bad and blurry that I didn't even bother downloading it. This one was also blurry, but not as bad. Not sure what's going on with their camera/photographer.

Erik making sure Ian's shoelaces weren't going to trip him

I took a picture of Erik taking a picture of Ian

This must be the picture. Waiting to start...any minute now...!

And they're off! Go, Ian go!

Good job, Ian! 

The provided not only pizza and Tru Fru samples, but also granola bars, water bottles, and popsicles. There might have been fruit too but I'm not sure. Picture of Ian grabbing a water bottle

It was all worth it for the yummy pizza!

A picture of us just before we left. You can see our pizza medal and Ian's new pizza shirt. It says "Run all the miles eat all the pizza"