Justin's family b-day party

Every other year our kids get a party with their friends (on their even b-day's beginning with 6) and the other years...the odd years... we celebrate it with family. This year Justin is turning 9 (9! I can't believe it!), so that means family. It's always a bit of a delimma since we live where it's so hot and there's no way my parents would be caught dead at a pool, so this year we compromised with our wet slide/pool in the backyard to cool things off. We had a nice time visiting and taking it easy while the kids played. Justin scored with a ton of loot. All he asked for is money so he could buy a Nintendo DS and a couple of games, which is exactly what he did after everyone left. He's been playing it every since. Happy birthday, Justin. You are a wonderful young man and we love you bunches and bunches!

Avery, Justin and cousin Matthew

Justin loves basketball. What a fun b-ball cake! And that's Devin and Matthew playing with the train set. (Allyson, that's the one you gave us. Nice, huh?!)

I love this picture of Devin with his name sake, Uncle Mark. Especially because Uncle Mark is fishing with a pink fishing rod. :-)

And not to leave anything out, Kirk and I went on a date that night. We got tickets to see my favorite comedian, Brian Regan, perform at Pechanga. So, we got a sitter, went to dinner and a show. Too much fun! What a great day we had!