Patrick's Recipe

I was trying to find a recipe today when I came across this. Patrick had just turned 4 and saw me writing down recipes. He wanted to write his own. I asked him what his recipe was called and he said "Zucchini Cheese Sandwich". He is so sweet. You can see all his 4 year old concentration was put into this.

Better Late Than Never

Here are the boys and their Halloween costumes. Nick was the $1.99 last year costume (for lack of better title) and Zach or "Christie" was a cheerleader. Zach didn't trick or treat much but instead opted to watch a movie with girls! He is growing up so fast.

Happy Birthday Zach!

After. This pictures deserves a story, right? It all begins with Zach.

If you're family, or knew us when we were living in St. George, we are sure you can't forget when three year old Zach loved Barbies. He would never put them down. His brothers tried relentlessly to persuade him that Barbies were for girls. They even purchased him a "Ken" Barbie in hopes that his fascination with the "pretty hair" of the Barbies would soon fade. The Ken Barbie didn't last long and we soon found him stuck down a sewer pipe after our basement flooded with sewage. He really liked his girl Barbies.

As Zach got older, the fascination dwindled, at the delight of his brothers. Every year since, as a celebratory act, Andrew has purchased Zach a Barbie for his birthday. This isn't an ordinary Barbie, this Barbie was bought with the sole intention of being burned.

This is the before shot.

The Tools

Well, you've seen how the story ends.

Zach had his 14th birthday yesterday. We've had fun celebrating it all weekend. We asked everyone around the house why they love Zach (it was too late to call you, Adam and Andrea, but we invite you to leave your love in the comment section)

Hiram: "I love that Zach loves animals"
Jane: "I love that Zach is very loving and tender"
Michelle: "I love that his hair sometimes looks like a helmet."
Andrew: "The way he laughs and the way his face lights up when he sees Trish (Andrew's girlfriend)"
Patrick: "Is this a trick question?"
Nick: "Zach's always mean to me"

There you have it, Zach. We love you!

As a good night story, we leave you the following:
Last week the Special Needs Mutual performed for our ward in sacrament meeting. It was so sweet. Michelle was especially excited to see some old kids she has worked with. Zach was asked to be the Bishop's Messenger that day and was sitting on the stand with the Bishop. Afterwards, in the foyer, a sweet older woman came up to Zach and said "I am Robbie's grandma and I just wanted to tell you what a great job you did performing up there!"

We always knew there was something special about Zach.
We love you Zach, happy birthday!

Finally

Michelle finally started her own blog. You can find it here. Now she can stop taking up our blog space with her pin cushions and things. I have more to post, I'll probably do it today or tomorrow.