Mary Turns 12!

May 5, 2012

May is crazy busy for the Rice family.  It seems like just about everyone has a birthday or an anniversary around that time, (except for the coolest of us who have birthdays in the Fall), so early May is a great time to get together and celebrate it all with one giant party.  Mary is the star, of course, but we give mini shout outs to Scott and Brandon as well. 
When we all go over to Grandma and Grandpa's house, we love playing in the backyard, where we can throw things at each other and run around like crazy people.  We are the Rices.  We have no indoor voices.

Bubbles are da bomb, yo!

Rose tried to sneak a phone call to Tokyo with Mary's unattended phone.

Ahh, the poop frisbee, because who doesn't want to play with poop?  Mark was lucky enough to receive the beloved disc for his birthday one year from Aunt Sara and Uncle Dave.  Then we donated it to the white elephant gift exchange at the Rice house.  Apparently whoever opened their poopy present didn't want it, because they left it at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Their loss really, because poop yields hours of fun and can really fly across the yard with gusto.

Matthew is an old pro in poop throwing.

There are lots of exciting toys to play with in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.

No one gets bored, and no one gets left out.  And Mommys can sit down for a full 60 seconds straight...maybe.

There were so many wonderful smiles to see.

There were lots of great giggles too!

We stopped playing for food and to rest our "old man backs."  Rose took care of poor worn out Max by giving him kisses and hugs.

She also found some adorable shoes lying around that she insisted on trying on.

Then it was finally birthday celebration time.

This is the face of a (almost) 12 year old girl getting the gift of her dreams.  She got a kindle, and I have never seen her smile so much for so long.

Happy birthday to everyone!  (Except the coolest people.)