Simon's Birthday Weekend

We had so much fun celebrating Simon's first birthday with us. He was in a great mood all day on Saturday, his actual birthday -- not one tear all day long! Pretty good for a toddler. Simon and I ran a bunch of errands on Saturday morning, including picking up his birthday cake. He was very excited about that! And then after Mark got home from work and Simon's nap time, we got food for his party and mums because it was such a great fall day. When we returned from our outing, we decided it was time to give Simon his present. I'll let you guess which one of us chose this gift for Simon. ; )

Yep -- he loves it! It only goes 1 mph but he thinks he's hot stuff.

Feel the speed!!

And I was the lucky one to get a thank you kiss!

After dinner, we took Simon to a little carnival at one of the schools in town. Earlier in the week, I noticed that they had a carousel set-up in the parking lot and we learned earlier this year that Simon loved riding the carousel. But when we found a train there, too? Oh my!! Simon was in his glory. He rode the train three times. One time he was the only passenger on the train and he grinned as he went round and round in circles. And as I said earlier, not one tear when we told him that the ride was all done. Such a good little boy!

We were very happy that Simon shared his toys with his friends. We had a party on Sunday afternoon with Mark's family and a few friends.

Simon loves to push trucks and will often push them up and down the driveway or round and round the house.

Sharing is good!! Luckily, we had plenty of adults who were willing to take them up and down the driveway.

Time to open presents!

Simon started out opening presents on his own ...

And he loved the card that played music ...

Soon, the other kids wanted to help Simon open his gifts. It was like moths to a flame! They were all so cute and so polite and wanting to be helpful.

We had the most delicious cake from Baker's Peak in West Lafayette -- so yummy! Mark had photographed the owner's daughter the week before Simon's birthday and she invited Mark and I to come into the bakery for lunch one day and to see their cakes. It was one of the best cakes I've ever had and so, so adorable too! They did a GREAT job!

Time to sing and blow out the candle! All with only a small bit of spit on the cake. : )

Happy birthday, dear Simon!! We love you so very much!

Happy Birthday to Simon!

Simon turns 2 today! We are enjoying spending the day together as a family and on Sunday afternoon, we will have a little party. He has been talking all day today about his party and cake. The boy LOVES cake! It was one of the first English words he learned. : ) I'll write more later but wanted to share this photo of Simon telling everyone that he's 2. Gosh do we love, love, love our son!!! Happy birthday, Simon Kebebe!!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy Birthday to Mark! He is celebrating his birthday on Wednesday. We are actually going on a date tomorrow night -- the first since Simon has been home! -- so we celebrated with Simon tonight. We think it was good practice for Simon's birthday this weekend. Thank you to our friend Christina for volunteering to stay with Simon tomorrow night so we can go out to dinner.

Happy Birthday Daddy/Mark! We love you!

Family Visit

Still catching up ... back in August, my parents, my sister Heidi, brother-in-law Thinh, and my three nephews traveled to Indiana from Pennsylvania for a visit! We had been looking forward to this for many months -- I still can't believe that their visit has come and gone! We had a really good time. There was lots of playing and time outdoors. Here are some of my favorite photos from their visit.

My youngest nephew, Mason, is 4 years old. He LOVED pretending to be a chef. He wore this outfit most of their visit.

This is my second nephew, Andrew. He's 6 years old and he did a great job playing with Simon. Andrew is really good with younger children.

All of the boys love playing with cars, building things, etc. They had a blast setting up various race tracks and obstacle courses.


Oh my! Another photo of Simon planting a kiss on his friend Ayla. He just loves Ayla! I love how Ayla is looking at the camera like, get this guy away from me! Don't worry, Ayla -- we're working on his manners!

We had a picnic on Sunday afternoon and rented the Boilermaker Special to give us a ride. We had a blast!! Some, who shall remain anonymous, were a little embarrassed about being in the back of the Special but I loved it!! So did Simon and the other kids. They took us all over Lafayette and we had a great time!

This is my oldest nephew, Brandon, who is 9. He and Simon really enjoyed the ride.

Pausing for a photo before the Special had to go to its next party.

My Mom, aka Mimi, is reading to Simon. She was so happy that Simon let her hold him!

Oh these boys!! They just love rough-housing with Uncle Mark!

One night during their visit, we had a birthday party for Simon since my family can't be here on Simon's actual birthday. He caught on quickly to opening presents and like most kids, preferred the toys to the clothing.

Simon's cousins loved helping him to open his presents.

After opening gifts, we had some birthday cake! Simon smiled when we sang to him. We think he kind-of understood -- we just need to keep him from trying to grab the flame with his fingers!

Mmmmmm .... cake!

Simon was alway happy to hitch a ride with one of his cousins. Four boys plus three tricycles equals a few squabbles but they really did ok!

We made a trip to the Columbian Park Zoo -- so fun!!

I love this photo! Especially Thinh as a butterfly.

There was also a photo session with Uncle Mark, a trip to Tropicanoe Cove and an afternoon at Monkey Joe's. I told my nephews that my goal was to show them such a good time that they begged their parents to come back every summer. I think I succeeded!!

Helping Daddy

Simon is really into transportation ... cars, motorcycles, trains, buses ... if it has wheels, he is into it. He especially likes to sit on Mark's motorcycle and will tell you that he's too little to ride. But he is not too little to help wash it! I think these pictures are just too cute. Simon was so proud of himself for "helping" Daddy.

Secret Family Recipe

What a gorgeous Labor Day Weekend! We couldn't have asked for better weather. We made the most of the long weekend -- it was chock full of things to do. I'm still not sure what happened to the month of August but I'll try to catch-up on my blogging over the next week. But I knew that Mark would be excited to share the photos of what we did on Sunday.

Mark has fond memories of making homemade apple butter with his family. He thinks that the last time the whole family (extended family) got together to make it was probably 30-35 years ago. He wanted to revive the tradition before it became a lost recipe. So we all gathered at Mark's sister's house (thanks Jennifer and Steve!) to make apple butter on Sunday. Mark's Mom borrowed the copper cauldron from her sister -- the same one that has been in the family for decades.

Preparing the cauldron for the apples

Look at all those apples! A full bushel, ready to go.

Placing the cauldron over the fire so that it's steady.

Mark's Mom showing the proper stirring technique.

Mark taking a turn while his brother Scott supervises.

Simon and Papaw keep a close eye on the action.

It took several hours for the apples to cook down.

Everyone took a turn at stirring the apples.

Even Simon had a turn but he didn't care for the smoke from the fire.

Now we're getting somewhere! Almost ready for the sugar.

Mark's sister Jennifer ladeled the apple butter into the jars.

The family assembly line got it all jarred up.

Mmmmmm .... nearly 40 jars of apple butter!

Just had to include this cute photo of Simon and his cousin Braylee.

It was a fun day and we are so happy to have the apple butter to enjoy this fall! Mark's hope is that we can do this every year. He will do his best to keep this tradition alive in the family ... though it may be tough to get him to share the secret recipe! : )