Monroe...part 1

This is mostly going to be about Clayton's birthday. We celebrated it while we were in Utah, which was really fun because Clayton's birthday is July 24th! For those who don't know, that also happens to be Utah Day. So we got to be in a parade, see a parade, go to a fair, and see fireworks. The beauty about Clayton being so young is that he thought it was all for his birthday. Magic!

I can't believe my baby is 5. It has gone by so fast. He's the best oldest child I could have asked for though. Here are 5 things I love about him (although the list is infinite):
1. He is a wonderful big brother. I can't imagine a better one. Noah and Jo are definitely two lucky kids to have him as their older brother.
2. He's incredibly smart. Seriously, I know that everyone thinks their kids are smart, but he really is. He's going to blow them away in kindergarted this year!
3. He's very cautious. Sometimes I don't love this so much because he really needs to be convinced to try new things, but overall, I think being cautious is a good thing (he is rarely hurt).
4. He's funny. He's always telling jokes or doing other things because he thinks they will make us laugh. They usually do.
5. He's so accepting. He has tons of friends. He doesn't care what age they are, what gender they are, what ethnicity, etc. He wants to be friends with them all. This is a trait that I hope he continues to have throughout his life.

Anyway, on to pictures:
The primary parade the day before:

Birthday morning. I made him a shirt to wear last year so that everyone would know it was his birthday and I wanted to do the same this year. It's a little big, but he didn't care, he was just so happy that it was finally his birthday!

At the parade:


The town celebration:

Home Depot was there letting the kids plant flowers. Cute idea!

They also had races. Each age group (starting with one year olds) was able to run a litte race and win a quarter.
Noah totally won for his age group. Way to go Noah!!


Clayton got to race with the 5 year olds. He was so excited about this.

For his cake, he'd been telling me for weeks that he wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream. A man after my own heart. This is what he got:
The rest of the celebration:

Watching fireworks:
Opening presents:
Eating cake and ice cream:

5 facts about Clayton at 5:
1. He has tons of imaginary friends (and quite a few of them come from MarioKart). The big ones are King Boo, Roselina, Daisy, Wyatt, and Wonder Red.
2. He loves to ride his bike and (recently) rollerskate.
3. Peanut butter and Jelly is still his favorite meal.
4. He loves to play Wii with his dad.
5. He loves board games. His favorites are Hi Ho Cherry-O and Hungry Hungry Hippos.

It's a little sad for me that he's 5 now and going to start school here in less than a month, but he's the greatest kid a mom could ask for and I'm really blessed to have him in my life. I love you kiddo!