Bikes and birthdays

This post will mostly be pictures. First, a few shots of Eli's bike riding (and squinting in the sun):

A few times, I've done a half-hearted attempt at helping Eli ride his bike without training wheels, but he seemed to get frustrated or scared so easily, that I assumed it was going to take a long time - so I put off any real attempt. One day after school, I told him that as soon as Jonah had napped I would take him over to the church parking lot to learn to ride. I cautioned him that it would take a while and a lot of practice. He was really excited, so while Jonah slept, he went out back on our little cement pad and started trying. He kept having me come watch him go a little farther and a little farther, until soon he was riding around and around. The next morning he rode his bike to school. It was that simple. Poor buddy, he probably could have been riding his bike a long time ago! John had read that it was best for kids to learn on little bikes, so Eli learned on his 12 in. bike. I really recommend that, because he could get on and off easily and it wasn't too scary. It's great to be able to ride to or from school with him now. The first couple of days, he was so excited about it, he'd just giggle with excitement and say, "This is so fun!" And he wanted me to tell everyone we saw or talked to on the phone.

We had Jonah's birthday party combined with a family get-together on Saturday. He was born on the same day as his cute cousin, Penny, so they celebrated together. We did a cowboy/cowgirl party. For my journal, I'll give a few details: We had hot dogs, salads, soda pop, cupcakes, and other desserts. There were cowboy and cowgirl plates, horses on the cupcakes and rubber ducks dressed like cowboys for favors. My brother Dave and his new wife Jaime hosted it at my parents' home where they're living. It was so fun to be with family! We don't get together often enough now that my parents are on their mission. (Jonah's actual birthday is Thur., so I'll write more about him then.)