Dane's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Dane's birthday in style this year. My side of the family goes to Jackson Hole every summer, and this year, we had to get it in before Bri and Andy moved to Arizona for medical school. That meant that our trip landed right on Dane's birthday. It was so much fun! We started the day with breakfast at Nora's and had their amazing banana bread french toast (yummers!!!). After filling our bellies with lots of deliciousness, we headed out to Jenny's Lake for a beautiful hike. We finished off the day with homemade mac and cheese and birthday cake, and lots of fun presents.

The Birthday Boy at Nora's

At the top of the hike, we were rewarded with these beautiful falls.

Dane only wanted Daddy to carry him, and freaked out whenever anyone else tried.

He LOVED ridding on Daddy's back, and kept talking about it for weeks after.

Campbell loved the hike too:)

Sitting with Bapa, opening his presents.

Dane loved playing with his birthday balloons before he released them into the air:)

Dane had the great luck of stretching his birthday celebrations out over an entire week! Since we were not able to have the "A" side of the family there for the festivities, we just had to throw a proper birthday party for our little guy.

He is OBSESSED with dinosaurs, and so we decided to use that as our theme. I attempted my first "real" cake decorating, and was pretty pleased with the results. Dane LOVED it, and that made it worth all the effort. We always love getting our families together, and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful summer night with them.

The cake

The Birthday Boy--Oh so happy to be taking a picture.

(He was upset that he couldn't keep playing with his toys while we cut the cake and sang happy birthday.)

The whole fam

At two years old, Dane:

-Can sing his ABC's

-Can count to 10

-Sings a number of Primary songs, which include (but are not limited to) his favorites of I am a Child of God, Pop Corn Popping, Once there was a Snowman, I Love to see the Temple, Love One Another

-Loves dinosaurs, and knows the names for more than I do.

-Loves all animals, and is fascinated to learn ALL he can about them. He can sit for hours on end reading about all the different kinds there are. He knows names to things I have never heard of before, and can spot them out in pictures.

-Is amazingly good at throwing tantrums.

-Gets very concerned when he hears someone else crying. He has such a tender heart.

-Still LOVES taking a tubby, or anything else involving water and getting wet.

-Loves watching videos of himself, or seeing himself in pictures.

-Knows his colors

-Loves, loves, LOVES his daddy

-Loves playing with Cooper

-Is mostly good at playing with Campbell

Those are just a few of the things I can think of off the top of my head. It's hard to believe he is already two. He is so full of life, and is such a great talker. It's fun to start seeing what kinds of things go on in his head. He has always been so observant, and it's really starting to show how much he has learned by just watching and listening. We are so grateful to have him in our family. He's a great brother, and a wonderful son. We love you Daner!