Jordan turns 8!

Jordan had his 8th birthday while we were in Gilbert. We had church in the morning.

He ate some donuts after lunch.

Nati! The Kenyons came to Arizona for the week too!

Grandma Carlson

Kenzie loves taking pictures.

Jordan opened his presents.

Jordan, Jack, and Kenna are trying out his new paddle ball game.

Playing Skylanders War.

He's making a hear with his hands. He's a very loving boy :)

They played dodgeball.

Jordan wanted taquitos for dinner.

These kids made up a birthday cheer/song. It was cute:)

I don't think I'd like playing dodgeball with him :)

He had cake batter fudge for dessert. We had a fun day celebrating him!

Here's somethings about Jordan:

Wants to build houses when he grows up

Loves to give hugs and kisses

Loves playing games and sports and doesn't care too much if he doesn't win

Is currently reading the Percy Jackson series.

Loves to know how things work

Takes really long showers

Enjoys playing the piano

Does a lot of schoolwork on the computer

Hates writing

Eats most anything

Independent

Curious

Likes to cheer his siblings up when they are sad by being silly

Changes from sad to happy pretty easily

Often makes quiet sounds that drive his brother crazy

Almost always wears flip flops

Often wears shorts

Rarely cold

Great reader

Great at math

Easily distracted, unless he's really into what he's doing, then he's really focused

Likes listening to music when he works

Often likes the same music as Doug

Doesn't need much sleep

Loving

Generous

Happy

Sweet

We love him so much and are so happy he's ours!

Meteor Crater

Our next stop on the trip was the Meteor Crater. 

They said the meteor that made this gigantic crater was about the size of half a football field. Crazy that it made such a big hole in the ground.

It was windy and cold there.

Silly faces

Mad faces

This is part of the meteor.

There was a hand on museum for us to explore.

Colie was a little unhappy.

We bought the kids some post cards to write down something about the Grand Canyon and the Meteor Crater to hopefully help them remember this vacation a little more as they get older. I put them on key rings when we got home.

We drove to Mesa after we left the Meteor Crater. We stayed there for a week and were happy we didn't have anymore long drives for a week :)

Grand Canyon

Our next stop was the Grand Canyon. We spent an entire day there. Doug loved it. The kids and thought it was amazing to see, but a little scary :)

Doug brought his star gazing binoculars. We were able to see the Colorado River and some people  down in the canyon.

We also watched a movie about it.

The kids really just wanted to climb on the rocks.

We walked along the Trail of Time. It was a about a mile long. The kids would have enjoyed it more, but they were hungry. We ate lunch at a restaurant at the end of the trail.

I took this picture of my crazy husband really quick, then called for him to come back. He was way to close to the edge. 

Doug and Jordan are right next to the fence on the other side of the tree. The other kids and I stayed back on the bench.

Jackson is eating the "best ice cream ever"

Miss Mackenzie

Coleman

Jordan

Doug brought his telescope to watch the sunset (with his sun filter, of course! :)) and then he looked at the stars in the very dark sky. People started staring at him as he was setting it up. He let other people look through if they wanted to.

We watched the sunset:

After it was dark, the kids and I stay in the warm car while Doug stargazed. Jackson was entertaining them all with games he made up. After awhile, we all got out of the car to look at the stars for a little bit. But when we got to Doug he was already putting his telescope away because it was so cold.