Dave and Jan’s grandson and granddaughter (Ryan-5 and Erin-2 – Stephen and Meagan’s children) both celebrated birthdays during the month of April.  Because their birthdays are within two weeks of each other a joint birthday party was held in the back yard at the Balsley house in Brea.

Joining the celebration were the Seymours and Clampitts, Ryan and Erin’s other grandparents and uncle and family.  From left to right around the table are Zerlinda Clampitt, Jan, Dave, Amos Clampitt, Ryan, Benjamin Clampitt, Bruce Seymour, Meagan, Stephen, Connie Seymour,and Heidi and Chip Clampitt.

The theme for the party (planned by Stephen) was based on the video character Mario and company – as evidenced by this colorful crew.

Gift opening, of course, is always a highlight of any birthday party.

Erin became better equipped to serve as a cheer-leader at the event.

Erin’s gift in the big box (which kept the kids fascinated until it was finally opened) turned out to be a slide of an appropriate size for a busy two-year-old.

And what birthday party would be complete without yummy deserts?

Two weeks later, on Easter Sunday (Erin’s actual birthday), the same group re-gathered at the Clampitt home in celebration of the Lord’s resurrection.

Grandma Connie Seymour planned a clever Easter-egg hunt where each youngster was searching for “eggs” with individual animal faces so everyone ended up with the same number of “eggs” in their basket after the search.

Grandma Seymour also had an “Easter basket” for each of the young people, so everyone had fun exploring and playing with the contents of their basket – as Amos and Stephen are doing in the picture below with Heidi Clampitt.

As you can easily see, Ryan and Erin (along with their Clampitt cousins) are having a good time growing up – and they are certainly growing up!