A traveling birthday

Zach had an interesting 9th birthday this year. He turned 9 at 1:36 am and wanted to be awake at the exact moment. We were traveling back from Missouri and he set his alarm. The alarm went off on his watch, but he didn't wake up. He was all the way in the back of the minivan where we couldn't reach him and so we just got to listen to the alarm for awhile. We finally got him to wake up, celebrated by singing and eating a cookie, and he was soon back to sleep. We got to Grandma and Grandpa's in Indiana after 2 in the morning and got up to go to 9:00 church. We barely made it through Sacrament Meeting. Dad was sitting next to me and the only time I think that he was awake was when I poked him. We gave up and went back to mom and dad's and took a long nap. Grandma helped Zach's birthday feel a little more like a celebration when she made him homemade cinnamon rolls. Every time we see her, he begs her to make them, so he was happy!
I love this picture of the kids with Grandpa sitting on the front porch of their house. They love their grandparents!
Ashley and Natalie felt sorry for Zach that he would spend his whole birthday in the car driving back to Michigan, so they planned a little "car party" for him while we drove, complete with confetti (we're still finding remnants!!) They made up a game they played with him and then watched "National Treasure II" on the DVD player.
We're so glad that Zach is in our family. He definitely adds a mischievous spirit, but also a sweet one. We needed a boy in the family with all these girls. He keeps the girls on their toes with his teasing!