Happy Birthday, Dallin!

I didn't get these posted yesterday, but here are pictures of Dallin's birthday. He had the best day!

Opening gifts: He got a baseball bat, basketball, bug vacuum from Grandma, rocket kit from his birthmom, and a basketball net...for his new basketball hoop! Well, it was new to him. We were able to buy a used basketball standard from some friends in our ward. James went over to get it late Wednesday night and had the fun of getting to push the thing two blocks home in the dark. When Dallin got up the next morning, James told him that there was a basketball standard out in the driveway that they needed to fix for his friend m's dad. So they spent part of the morning putting new bolts in this thing, all the time with Dallin thinking that they were fixing it for his friend. Dallin had no clue! At one point I asked him, "Why is Daddy fixing a basketball hoop for M's dad? Why can't M's dad fix it himself?" Dallin very matter-of-factly replied that well, M's dad needed us to fix it, so we were." It never crossed his mind to think that there was anything unusual about this.

So anyway, when Dallin opened the package with an airpump for his new ball and a new net, James the jokester said, "You know what, I noticed that the basketball hoop we're fixing for M needs a new net. Maybe we could give this net to M?" Dallin's face fell, and he said, "No, I don't want to give my net to M." At that point, I warned James, "OK Dad, it's his birthday, don't take this too far! Don't you make him cry!" James said, "Well, why don't we just go outside and see if it fits?" Dallin was very hesitant about this, but he followed Dad outside. James held the new net up to the hoop and said, "Look! It fits just right!" At this point, I could see Dallin was about to lose it. I gave James a stern look! Luckily, he said, "Well, guess what Dallin--this isn't actually M's basketball hoop. We bought it from M's dad, and it's for you!" Dallin didn't know whether to believe him or not, but he was pretty darn excited when he realized that this was HIS basketball standard!

Here's Dallin's cake! We looked at lots of basketball-themed cakes, but Dallin chose this jersey one. We decorated it in Utah Jazz colors, though it's obviously not completely authentic. Dallin helped put all the candy on. It was very easy, and I think it turned out really good!

Just finished blowing out the candles (darn those slow-motion digital cameras!)

In heaven with his new basketball hoop and basketball! He and dad had SO much fun playing all afternoon yesterday! (Nothing melts a mom's heart like watching her son and her husband playing together. I kept having to go to the window just to see it again and again!)