OWEN is TWO!!!

Owen turned two on October 8th and we had a party for family and a few close friends the following Sunday. Here are some very out-of-order pictures. (We had a train theme which you'll see glimpses of.)

NayNay (Nathan) Murray and his momma Christal. Nathan is starting to say all sorts of words and is trying to stand up out of a crawl, so it won't be long before he and Owen can really terrorize each other!
Me and my bro Alex and his honey Diedre in from Lubbock. See--adults can have fun at a kiddo's birthday party!
Cousin Bailey and friend Emmy playing with the really neat easel (white-board side) that Owen got for his birthday from Bee and JoJo.
Emmy sporting Owen's construction goggles (she had just taken off the hard-hat that came with the tool-kit). So much fun! Owen also got a doctor kit...so he's already got several career choices being presented to him!
Careers aside, Owen is truck man. All kinds of truck, but specifically firetrucks. Here is a new one that is compatible with his megablocks...such a hit! (Speaking of trucks: When Owen wakes up in the morning, he usually calls out for me. When I go into the room, he doesn't say hi or good morning he sort of yells "truck vroom vroom!" as if he's been dreaming about trucks and waiting for someone to come in so he can tell us about them.)
This is his "kissy face"...not sure what provoked him. If you know my mom (Bee)--you'll know that this is a genetic gift he has...
For the first half of the party, Owen pretty much ignored everyone else and worked diligently to separate the cluster of balloons we had. He would pull on a string to set a balloon free (often entangling it worse first), then he would walk it to a specific part of the room and say "right here" and leave it there. Very particular.
Here is sweet Rebecca in her party dress, being held by my dear friend Stephanie who was in town for the weekend for our 10-year high-school reunion (a blog post in itself). It was great to have her around both because we always have fun, but because she was my right-hand-woman in pulling the party off!
Here is Owen's train cake. Steph and I had a lot of fun making it. I think with the amount of candy I bought to decorate it (75% of which you probably don't see in the picture because we didn't use it) it probably would have been cheaper just to buy one...but a lot less fun!
Here is Owen on his actual birthday eating his first of 2 cupcakes after refusing to eat any dinner...what the heck, it was his birthday. :)

And here is Owen blowing out his candles (or rather, spitting on the cake while I blew out the candles). Everyone was piled in our office/playroom and he is standing on the chair behind our desk...I think he was a little overwhelmed by the number of people and attention so he sort of, well...you'll see.


We thought the party was a lot of fun, both for the kiddos and the adults. The only bad part was that it served as a petri dish for a "bad bug" (Owen's words) that got a LOT of us sick...(Me, Bee, JoJo, Owen, Grandpa Stan, Luke, Mel...and then other people that these people came in contact with). Yuck! (And no, it was nothing in the food, although it did cross our minds!) The next week was pretty rough with lots of sickness and Kyle out of town on a grand elk-hunting expedition with his dad and brother. Anyways, he's back now (no elk--sigh) and we're all feeling better and catching up on life. Special thanks to the grandparents who all stepped up to help take care of us even though they were under the weather as well. Oh, to live near family! :)