Emily’s Birthday

My sister Emily turned 25 on July 1st.  I remember feeling like that was a rather big birthday (turning a quarter of a century)….that was until I turned 3o!   In any case, it was a really big birthday for my sweet sister.  I was so happy that we were able to celebrate it with her.

First of all, I fell I must give a bit of a preface before you see all of the amazing pictures in this post.  My sister Laura has takes GREAT pictures and was kind enough to share them with me.  She is so gifted!

On her actual birthday, Emily’s husband had to work late (life of a PhD student), so we had a small celebration at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Mikayla was a complete angel throughout the entire dinner.  Gavin, however, was not!  He did not want to sit in his chair or eat anything, so he spent most of the dinner in my lap.  Good thing he’s a cutie!  At this restaurant they sing to you on your birthday while you wear a sombrero.  How fun!

On, July 3rd, Morgan joined us and we celebrated, in full family style, at our favorite Chinese place.  (Yes, the McKinney family has a favorite restaurant for every type of food that you could think of) The Birthday girl with her beautiful family.

After dinner, we went back to my mom’s house.  The kids spent some time just running around outside.  We have had some crazy heat this summer, but that weekend we were given a little reprieve and had pretty comfortable temperatures.  I know my kids enjoyed getting to spend some significant time outside in it.     These boys had so much fun together.  As Andrew gets a little older and more on Gavin’s “level” they are really starting to actually play together.  I know they will just be best buddies as they grow up.    Mikayla likes to play in Papa’s rock pathway.  She is always collecting interesting looking rocks to bring home with her.   The swingset was a big hit with all of the kids. So after some playtime, we had some cake!  Does the birthday girl just look beautiful? (I think so!)

Now I can’t think of a better way to wrap up a near Fourth of July birthday party than with some fireworks.  The boys got together and put on a great show for us.  They seemed to really enjoy working together.

Mikayla and Gavin had a nice time watching them together.

The fireworks in all their glory!

That is a picture of me trying to make a heart with a sparkler.  After the fireworks, Jeremy went home and took Gavin with him.  Mikayla was sad about him leaving.  She didn’t want to leave either, though.  I guess that is the kind of thought process you get after staying up past your bedtime two nights in a row.     Well, can you think of any better way to cheer up a little girl than with some frosting on her finger.  Sounds good to me!! ;)

Anyways, we had a great couple of days celebrating my sweet sister.  I hope she had as much fun as we did!  Love you, Emily!