Matthew's 11th Birthday
Balloons!
Dad, Ryan, Emily and Megan blew up 3 packages of balloons on Matt’s Birthday Eve and then the girls helped me quietly take them into his room while he was sleeping.
He told us he woke up in the middle of the night and had to tip toe to the bathroom through them in the dark… and said he had a big smile on his face the whole time.
Naturally the boys had a ton of fun with them throughout the morning. They played a ton of games on the bed, pushed them all into one corner of the room and buried themselves, and played lots of balloon volleyball.
Glad Target had some blue and grey ones. Their party supply area was looking pretty bare.
Emily and Megan came in to help it rain balloons so I could take a few pictures. Love this happy boy!
Surprise Visit from Mrs. Craddock
So fun to have Matt’s school teacher come to the house to sing Happy Birthday to him! She’s the best! We all gathered around the door to watch her dance around and sing happy birthday. When Chris asked her for a picture she was so excited and said, “Oh Matt, I wish I could give you a big hug. This social distancing thing is really hard on huggers!” but instead she stood back and then waved as she headed back to her car. What a great teacher!!
Opening Presents
The pile of presents was wrapped and sitting on the white table when Matthew woke up — along with some white powdered donuts, which he was pretty excited about.
After lunch — mini Pizza’s were Matt’s pick — we gathered to watch him open his presents. He was pretty excited for everything! He’s so fun to buy presents for.
Grandma and Grandpa ordered a book for him. He just finished the story of Jack and the Beanstalk of the same author so he was excited to receive this one. He also got a card with $20.00. So fun!
I love these pictures! The girls gave Matt his own bottle of A&W Rootbeer and he couldn’t have been more excited. And then some M&M’s and a coupon for $10.00 towards a Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Controller - which he’s been wanting for awhile.
Ryan and Luke gave him $20.00 towards a Switch controller as well. So exciting! We looked at trying to find them at Target or online pickup somewhere but couldn’t find them at all! Crazy Corona Birthday!
A card from Grandma Johnson with $60.00 in it! Love his reaction. He’s laughing in the first picture because the money fell out and he didn’t see it. Luke showed him the pile of bills and that made him laugh.
We didn’t have a box big enough for a soccer ball, so we wrapped up a clue in a smaller box and sent him throughout the house looking for his next present. He hoped it was a BIKE… but we still heard the squeal once he found this BYU soccer ball.
Matthew’s very own YETI. I missed his excited face so I told him to ‘reinact’ it and he gave me this middle one. Love it! Now I have teal, Ryan has navy, Megan has coral and Matt has sky blue. So fun! He started drinking rootbeer immediately after opening presents and when it was done switched to water. “Mom, I’m going to drink so much more water with this.”
Matt’s big present - a new bike - we couldn’t find anywhere! We looked at two different Targets… searched for on-line options and curb side pick ups and found nothing but a few expensive bikes. So we picked up a new bike helmet and will wait until the stores are stocked with bikes. Poor Matt! His bike stopped working at the end of the fall but we put off getting him one over the winter months. He was hinting and hoping for a bike but now has to wait some more! Hang in there Matt!
Zoom Party with Friends
Matt was excited to connect with Anders, Ian, and Cade on Zoom. He showed them his birthday presents and they had fun chatting and being silly.
We played a couple games of Drawful on JACKBOX. Matt’s pick. Then Dad took Matt to King Soopers… his first time in a store in months. He was happy to pick out his own birthday donuts. The rest of us made dinner while they were out. We ate spaghetti — Matt’s pick —and roasted carrots and zucchini. The Jacksons came over to bring Matt a few treats and wish him a Happy Birthday. Then we played a couple games of Seven Wonders — this time without Armada but in TEAMS, which was fun. Then donuts for everyone (except Luke and I. Luke ate some ice cream instead and I had some keto peanut butter bars. I’m trying to eat low carb these days).