John's Birthday

we are up in Peoria today at my brother and sister-in-law's house to celebrate the 3rd birthday of my one and only nephew.

the theme for the party is fire, police, rescue vehicles, etc.  having girls myself, a party featuring emergency vehicles is not one that we ever threw.  thus, i am partying hard:

Uncle Matt is in the house baby!

or, "U Matt" as I'm referring to myself today.

the girls got here early with Dad and Mom and helped decorate.  Corrie and I arrived shortly before the start (lunch), as we had some errands to run in Clinton and Bloomington.

lunch was great.  really good Italian beef.

John had a super fun time opening his gifts.  he got some neat stuff.  to go along with the theme, Mom tracked down a Little Golden book about firemen that had belonged to my brother 30 years ago:

now, it's been passed down to the next generation.

times like today with family are something I cherish.  great conversation.  great memories.

many families don't get to (or don't want to) do stuff like this, for a multitude of reasons.

days like today make me smile.  (plus, i got a cool fireman hat)

U Matt, out for now.....

Matt