5 Days with Uncle Jeff, Auntie Dawn, Lauren, Brooke and Leah

Uncle Jeff, Aunt Dawn, Lauren, Brooke and Leah came to AZ once again for Thanksgiving and just like last year we spent as much time as we could together!  On Sunday morning the boys went golfing but Sara and the kids went over to see Auntie Dawn and the girls.  As if no time had passed since they last saw each other Ashley and Lauren were BFFs.

Ashley got to open her birthday gifts from the MN Hillins crew and as you can see really got into it!

Cutie pie!

On Monday Trevor went to school to celebrate his friend Connor's birthday, Tuesday was Trevor's birthday (separate post) and on Wednesday lucky boy had his 5 year well check.  He needed one shot which he was not a fan of but we learned he's grown 2 inches and gained 4 pounds.  The doctor said he is just perfect and to tell anyone who says he's too skinny that he's just right!  He's still over 90th percentile for height and right at 50th for weight.

After his appt we went over to Grandma Pauline's and Papa John's again.  The kids had their favorite meal of soup...

....and while Papa John attempted to fix a bee problem by the pool the kids played the Headbanz game.

That evening after the kids went to bed we played a game of 5 Crowns and surprise!  Dawn won this time!!!

On Turkey day we all got ready for our annual picture.  At this point in the trip Brooke was just as in love with Ashley as Lauren so Ashley was a pretty spoiled little girl with all of the cousin love!

The crew!

Grandparents and Grandkids!

Just Grandkids!

Then we got one of our lovely family of 5!  Of course Toby had to be included!

And because in the 10 years Sara has been a Hillins, we've never had a 'sister' picture, this year we got one!

One of Ashley's birthday gifts was an adorable outfit that matched her cousin Brooke's!!  Both girls seemed very pleased to have the same dress and look all cute!

Thanksgiving day was spent swimming and eating and soaking up memories until we see the MN Hillins crew in March when we are all in Mexico!  Pretty sure the kids will pick up right where they left off here.  In the pool :)

Trevor Turns 5! What a special day!

Trevor was so excited that his special day finally arrived!!  He picked out his birthday outfit and got dressed all by himself!  When he came downstairs he saw a celebration all ready for him...complete with balloons gifts, the special day plate and breakfast favorites of blueberry muffins and apple fritters!

How is it that he looks older from just hours ago the day prior??



We let him open his gifts in the morning so that he could play with them after school and before his evening birthday celebration.



Ooooh...a dino just like Sam!



Yay!!!



And the airport set from Costco he's been lusting over for weeks! 



Trevor had school and he wanted to go so Ashley and Mommy dropped him off and then the girls had special time at the mall playing!



Mommy and Ashley don't always get such special time together any more...we are often running errands or doing house projects so Mommy had just as much fun as Ashley on this outing!



We hurried back to school though so we could catch his special birthday celebration.  They made him a birthday crown that he proudly wore all day!



Mrs. Brown called him up so the class could sing and he could pick something special out of the treasure chest.





Then he went around handing out the birthday gift he brought for his classmates (Lego mini-figure crayons that the kids were very audible about loving!)

The kids are SO polite saying 'Happy birthday Trevor.  Thank you!'



Trevor was careful to make sure that he didn't miss anyone!  What a fun celebration with his school friends!



For lunch Trevor wanted to go to Chick-fil-A and it was the birthday boy's lucky day because Daddy got to meet us there!  (And Daddy got to enjoy his first ever Chick-fil-A!)



In the afternoon while Ashley was napping Trevor went with Grandma Pauline, Papa John, Uncle Jeff, Auntie Dawn and the girls to Cracker Jax for mini-golfing!  As this picture shows, he had a great time!!



In the evening everyone came over to our us for one last celebration for Trevor!  Unfortunately Lauren got a headache/migrane so she spent most of her time laying on Trevor's bed while Brooke and Ashley were buddy buddies.  Brooke was loving it!

We didn't play any games but Brooke and Leah did enjoy dressing up in their Star Wars gear and fighting with light sabers!



Ashley wanted in on the action too!



Trevor was so excited to open his gift from them!  A Star Wars millennium falcon and figurines!

He couldn't stop playing with it!



But he had to share with Uncle Jeff...

....and Daddy!  They all give it a big thumbs up!



Lots of love coming from this picture!! 



We froze some of Trevor's birthday cake so that we could have it again with Uncle Jeff and the girls.  It wasn't fancy but everyone thought it was delicious!



 

Especially Ashley who couldn't believe we were having cake again.  Pretty much the month of November equals cake in her mind!

Happy 5th birthday to our son who makes us proud every day!  He is the most empathetic, caring, loving, smart, funny and imaginative kid we know and we thank God every single day for giving us to him.  As Mommy and Trevor say to each other every night...'love you tooooooo much!'  Can't wait to see what this year ahead brings!  XOXOXO 

Final Basketball Lesson of the Season

 Trevor had quite the cheering squad for his last basketball session of the season!  Uncle Jeff, Aunt Dawn, Lauren, Brooke, Leah, Grandma Pauline, Papa John, Daddy, Julie, Bobby and Remy were all there to cheer him on!

Boy did he love being watched!  He was on fire!

 

He wasn't afraid to get in there this time!

Would fight for the ball!



He even stole the ball three times....but unfortunately he ran for the wrong basket each time.  He's learning....it was only his 4th session after all.



After basketball we went to Valley Luna for dinner.  As usual Trevor had to sit by Lauren and the two were buddies all dinner.

Auntie Dawn told the waitress that Trevor's birthday was the next day so the wait staff came singing...Trevor wasn't sure what to think!



But then he came around and gave a big smile.  The last picture we took of our 4 year old.  Where does time go??



 

ASU Football Game

On Saturday the boys - Daddy, Trevor and Papa John went to the ASU football game!  Trevor was so excited to go thinking it was his first football game ever...he just doesn't remember that he went to a Vikings game before he was one and wore these same noise cancelling head phones!

Their seats were in the first row in the corner....great views!

 Selfie!

Trevor apparently was fascinated by Sparky (is that even his name?)

 Trevor is in his silly phase with pictures.  This is his gansta look apparently LOL

 And another train/tram ride back to the car!  Complete with his new foam finger and Sparky mask.  Another successful outing!  Trevor now says he wants to play football.  We are all for that but could we groom him to be the kicker?  :)