Party Time

The girl's birthdays are just 8 days apart, which means we have an ongoing party for about a week an a half. End of July = Party Time! Our sweet Melanie turned 4 on July 20th. We had quite a few visitors on her special day. Both Grandmas, aunts, cousins, and friends all stopped by and spent time with us, even bringing cupcakes. (We were without our family vehicle and kind of stuck at home, so we really appreciate everyone coming to see us!) The cupcakes were good, but Melanie only wanted to eat the frosting off the top. A few days later, we had a party at my parent's house for all of our July birthdays. I think that we ended up singing "Happy Birthday" 5 times. But the girls each had their own cake. My Grandmother celebrated her 80th birthday on the 23rd, right between my 2 girls. My dad tells me that I had 2 chances to name my girls after her. But my Grandma agrees with me, no one would want the name Nelda. It may not be the most attractive name, be we really do love my Grandma so much and I'm glad that my girls have their birthdays by hers! And of course we couldn't forget Ms. Savannah. She coped a little better this year that she was last, since her birthday is the 28th. I can't believe that she's 6! The girls had a few presents to open that night. As you can see, their favorite gift was their own Book of Mormon with their name on it. They also got pink CTR rings, which they love and we are continually losing and finding. My youngest sister crocheted a scarf for the girls, she also gave them some sunglasses, a purse, wallet, and some money. She then posed the girls and took their pictures with all of the presents that she had given them. The pictures actually cracked me up. We didn't do too much on Savannah's actual birthday, but we had a big party for both girls the next day. Unfortunately, I left the camera at home and didn't get any pictures. But we had a bouncy water slide again. That thing is so huge that we had to hold the party at my parent's house. We had about 20 little kids come. My mom and I were seriously sweating setting things up for the party. And then right at 3:00, when the party was starting, a nice monsoon storm blew in. The wind was blowing nicely and the kids were all cold. We had to ditch the backyard and head inside after about 30 to 40 minutes, when it started raining. Luckily, my mom has a bunch of toys that all of the kids loved playing with because I didn't have any back-up games or anything to keep them all entertained. The party was still great despite the crazy weather. And since we had the slide for the rest of the evening, we had some old friends come over and BBQ with us and let their kids have a grand time on the slide. Of course the weather was nicer that evening. But we had a great birthday week! I love my little girls! Happy birthday sweeties!

Happy Birthday Dude!

I can hardly believe it, but my cute little dude turned 2 today! His sisters were so excited that it was his birthday. They doted on him all morning and both of them wanted to sit by him at breakfast. Savannah even made him a birthday crown, which surprisingly fit him perfectly. We celebrated by going over to my parent's tonight and having a little BBQ. Spencer's current favorite things are Dora, Diego, Waldo, and Spiderman (or just about any super hero) . So I talked my mom into helping me make a Spiderman cake. It wasn't high class, but we thought that it turned out well for us having no cake decorating skills. Spencer has even improved in his candle blowing skills since last year. He was quite happy to blow out his candles and he did a fairly good job too. We opened presents, which the girls helped a little too much. But they were very excited to give him the gifts that they had picked out specifically for him. Melanie gave him a Where's Waldo book and Savannah gave him a soccer ball. Jon and I got the little dude a Diego Tough Trike. He loved all of it. The kids even took a dip in the pool, even though it was quite cold. In the end, we had a fun time. Happy Birthday Spencer! We love you and couldn't imagine our family without you!

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby!

Yes, another birthday! Savannah turned 5 today! It seems like she was born just yesterday. We didn't really do too much today. I sent the girls off to their little preschool class. They were excited to take in lollipops and doughnuts to celebrate their birthdays. Then we went to Red Robin for dinner; Savannah's favorite place to eat out. And yes, she's wearing a sweater. Who gets cold when it's over 110 outside? Savannah, of course. I did make her take the sweater off before we left the restaurant. And why do we have a sweater in the car in the middle of summer? Because it gets so cold in our Primary room. I guess it never made it back into the house.And we finished up with some ice cream from Baskin Robbins. Savannah originally thought she wanted Rocky Road (a girl after my own heart) but in the end she went with Oreo Ice Cream. We gave her a few gifts, mostly new clothes, which she needs since she's growing like a little weed. Happy Birthday my Sweet Baby Girl! I can't believe how the time has flown! I love you dearly!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Melanie continues to promise me that she'll stay my little girl forever, but there she goes and has another birthday. I can't believe that she's already 3! We decided to have so fun by going to the mall and getting both Melanie and Savannah's hair cut. I can't believe how long their hair has grown just in the last few months. Being at the mall of course included some play time in the play area, a stop at Wetzel Pretzel, and of course a treat from See's Candy. It was lots of fun just having a little girl time. Then we went over to Grandma's house for a little party. We celebrated with a cupcakes that were topped with Princess Rings. I thought it was cute that Melanie thought that she needed Savannah's moral support to blow out the candles. And being the good big sister that she is, Savannah was quite happy to help. The rings were a big hit, and of course everyone had to pick their favorite princess. Melanie picked Aurora and Savannah picked Cinderella.I thought it was funny that Melanie licked the frosting off of her cupcake and called it good. Spencer, on the other hand, completely devoured (or destroyed) his cupcake. He even saved some of the frosting on his pacifier for later! I also wanted to throw this picture in there and show everyone that Melanie and Grandma's doggy, Lilly, now get along. Melanie was deathly afraid of Lilly for a long time, but has finally got over it. I'm just glad that Lilly is so easy going and takes the abuse from the kids quite well. Of course we had plenty of presents...Grandmas, Aunts, and Uncles always spoil her. Melanie loved everything she got. She has carried little Snow White everywhere today and we've had to change her outfit almost every hour. And who thought that the activity case with over 1000 items was a good idea? Thanks Grandma; Melanie and Savannah have already fought over all the different little pieces. Last, but not least, Melanie has been asking for a dollhouse for her birthday for the last month. So Jon did some work and found a really nice one on craigslist. It is wooden and came complete with really nice furniture. Melanie was tickled pink when she saw it. Sorry there's no pictures of the actual dollhouse, but Spencer was way past done (he's working on getting 2 molars right now) and no further pictures were taken. The girls have enjoyed playing with the house today, but there were so many accessories that they can't seem to get past the "setting up" stage and Savannah keeps telling me that they "haven't even got to play yet!"

Happy Birthday my Sweet Baby!It seems like only yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital. What a cutie!

Happy Birthday Little Buddy!

I can hardly believe it, but my little baby is already 1! We started out the day with some birthday pancakes! After his morning nap we went over to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. It was his first time trying pizza, and he really liked it. He enjoyed all of the games and lights, even though he had a difficult time riding any of the rides because he was a little small still. I wanted to do something small with just our family, but the power went out and I wasn't able to make anything for dinner. So we went to Grandma's house instead. Luckily she had a birthday zinger for the birthday boy, which he also really liked! Spencer got to open a two presents; one from each of his sisters. Savannah gave him a small Elmo doll and Elmo book and Melanie gave him a large ball. We had a proper celebration with cousins and cupcakes a few days later. Spencer never quite figured out how to blow the candle out or why everyone was singing. But he loved destroying the cupcake and smearing the frosting all over the table. I think he only got a little bit in his mouth. The birthday boy even got Grandma to share her fudgecicle with him. He certainly enjoyed that. And believe it or not, we actually celebrated his birthday one more time, over at my parent's house. I took all of the kids swimming and Spencer really loved being in the water. This is him trying to open his presents before we got in the pool. And yes, he's trying to bite it open!Again another cupcake to smash! He lucked out and we gave him 2 of them, which he got everywhere. Spencer got to open a few more presents. He really loves the new Spiderman chair that Grandma gave to him and the toy golf set from Aunt Natalie. He even liked the card from Great Grandma and I'll just hang on to those $2 for him! I can't believe how fast he's grown.

Happy Birthday my sweet little buddy!