Luke's Birthday

We headed to Idaho for the Fourth of July weekend.  Clint came up with the idea to help Mom and Dad build their deck for our family reunion this year.  

It was great...the guys all worked on the deck while the girls did fun crafts and games with the kids and made lots of delicious food to eat.  Luke's birthday fit quite nicely into this celebration.  We had lots of cousins to party with  and I only had to come up with some of the treats and games.  It was kind of like an insta-party.  

He wanted a flag cake, so we came up with the idea of frosting cupcakes in red, white, and blue frosting, then arranging them in stripes to resemble a flag.  It turned out cute, and the kids loved the cupcakes.  

He got some fun presents including lots of games, so we had even more insta-fun.  We watched the fireworks that night from Jake's and Michelle's backyard.  It was a great view and no crowds to get lost in.  We had a wonderful time with family.

Probably the most memorable event of the weekend, besides Luke turning 10, was Saturday night at the completion of the deck.  We broke it in by using it as an American Idol stage.  Chris was Simon, Jana was Paula, and Luke was a guest judge.  They were very harsh on all the adult competitors: "I don't think you're even taking this competition seriously!" and "You can pack your bags because you're going home," were some of Simon/Chris's English-accented comments.  And glowing reports for the kids, especially Kaylee and Kayla.  "You are a star, and you should know that," and  "That is what makes you so special," were some common phrases Paula/Jana used to describe these two.  "I really think you could make it all the way," and "Ladies and gentlemen, you're looking at the next American Idol," were some of Simon/Chris's nicer calls.  Luke was a little on the judgemental side, but he really got into the spirit of the thing.  He just didn't know to differentiate between grown-ups and kids as well as the other judges did when he was handing out criticisms.  He had some great comments, too, though, and in the end all the kids were winners, just like they deserved to be.  We sure had a good time.  My family's awesome!