birthdays in July…..

We have SO many birthdays to celebrate in July…..This July, Shawn Michael Corley turned 40 - i can't believe it…..i don't feel old enough to have a 40 year old baby but i DO!  SO very proud of our boy and the man he has become.  Shawn is so much like his daddy…..quiet and not much into being the center of attention…..opinionated…..somewhat of a loner in a room full of people…..but in the right situation, he can truly be the life of the party.  He so funny…..he can tell stories like nobody else.  I love that lately it seems his heart is softening quite a bit….we talk to him more often and he and his dad are really getting closer……He's a precious son and a wonderful father to our Avery Grace.  He's creative - and ONE day soon, one of his ideas is going to take off like gangbusters……He's so talented.  SO proud of him.

We all met on Sunday to celebrate his 40th…..and Angie's birthday and Angie's mom's birthday…..

It was a family affair in Frisco….and we had such a good time.  Pork butt tacos (thank you Chase Corley) yummy cilantro rice (thank you Angie Corley) and i made desserts for the birthday peeps….strawberry cake for Angie and Deb Deb and cheesecake for Shawn…There was swimming….yummy food and family and more swimming…..it was such a fun day!  This coming Friday, Shawn, Avery, Addy, Michael and i will travel to Portofino Island for a little vacation….Chase will fly in and meet us there.  They guys are going deep sea fishing and the girls are going to play in the sand and kayak in the cove…..it's to celebrate Shawn's 40th.

Let's back up to Saturday tho…..and on SATURDAY, we celebrated a special little boy turning FOUR!  Oh my goodness, cannot believe our baby boy is FOUR!  What a precious little gift he is!

We showed up about an hour before the party was suppose to begin.  We were greet at the door by a butt naked Hayden Michael Corley.  How fitting - his birthday suit!  Our arms were full of goodie bags, food and his gifts….we made our way into the kitchen to put everything down and before we know it, i look down at Hayden (someone suggest he get underwear on and he did) and he is grinning ear to ear with one of his gifts in his hands!  "Oh Yook, It's power ranger morpher blah blah blah" - i can't remember the name of it but he sure did…..He's SO excited.  I am still situating food and stuff and before i know it i look down and he's opened the second gift - soooo excited about it….and then he's reaching for the third one and i think why not….he's going to have soooo many gifts to open later.  That little boy was SO happy - "mimi, can you open it for me?" - so i open the boxes and i truly think that little boy would have been just happy to stay there and play with his gifts…..several guests came and were already in the pool and he was still there in the kitchen playing with his toys.  A friend said don't you know Christ would LOVE for us to be that way with the gifts He has for us…..to open them with such abandon and to be SO happy with what we receive?  

Well, on to the party.  The party, BTW, was a beach themed party….not exactly what Hayden wanted…..he wanted a power ranger party, "No DIRLS" and NO SWIMMING…..but once he finally wrapped his head around the beach thing, he got into it.  EVEN with the DIRLS!

Ava is a dear little friend of Hayden's!

It was a huge party…..SO many family and friends there to celebrate our little man turning FOUR!

There were lots of presents…..and of course Chase couldn't help but play…..

And let them eat cake…..his cake was a beach ball….and he was SO serious when we sang to him….

And then blowing out the candles….

It was such a fun day celebrating our little man…..and in the end, he did get an "ire man cake on the actual day of his birthday which was Monday…..

Happy Birthday sweet Hayden Michael Corley…..we can't wait to see what God has planned for your precious life.  We pray daily for HIS guidance and protection over you.  You are precious in our lives and we are SO very thankful God gave us YOU!

The end =)