Princesses Anyone?

I guess it's a sign your kids are growing up when they start getting invited to friend birthday parties! Yikes! Cute Katie Kate was turning 3 and her mom has been planning her party for months! In fact, she so wanted Lily to come to the party, she checked with me back in January to find a date that would work!

Well, Miss Katie had a Princess & the Frog party. We had gone to see that movie over Christmas, and rented it right before the party so Lily would be all up on her Tiana and Prince Naveen! All the girls were supposed to dress like princesses... uh... we don't have any princess attire at this house! So, off to Kid to Kid I went, and was NOT going to pay $15 for a dress-up! I found a Tinkerbell shirt for Lily that she wore with a tutu, and Tess got out her tutu too (thanks for those, by the way, Mary!) I put their hair up in little buns with fluffy hair ties and got some glitter on their cheeks, and I think they actually looked pretty cute!

The party was at the church where the girls got to make foam crowns:

Put on makeup:

Take their picture with Tiana:

And played Pin-the-Kiss-on-the-Frog!

The funniest part about it all was when they just let loose in the gym! Seeing a HERD of little princesses running around the gym after a ball was just too funny.

Lots of princesses and lots of fun!

Happy Birthday Benji!

This sweet little guy turned 2 on Valentine's Day!

Mary went did such a good job on his party!

They did it at Dave & Lex's house - it's so nice to have another gathering place! Mary decorated the house with super cute hearts and made these darling heart-shaped brownies and treats.

Allen made tasty Taco Soup for us all.

We got to make picture frames (which reminds me - I think Lily's "masterpiece" is still in your basement, Lex!) and t-shirts for all the kids!

They had so much fun! Lily LOVES art projects - she could spend all day with paint!

I totally stole this idea from my friend Jodi's girls who had shirts like these - I loved them!

Benji's toys were a hit for all the kids. Especially this xylophone!

Happy Birthday sweet Benji! We love you!

Tummy Tuck?

Our Tess was born with an umbilical hernia.  We were told that usually they go away, but this little gal's was just getting bigger!  After scheduling and rescheduling this surgery around her frequent teething-induced ear infections, we finally got Tessa her "tummy tuck!"

Here's the before:

We went to the new Primary Children's Hospital in Riverton.  It was so nice and clean and not crowded at all!  Poor Tess was a little nervous to start:

Once she got a dose of the miracle-working happy juice, she was good to go!

I seriously cried when they wheeled her away!

Phew - finally back home for lots of rest.

Just look at that gorgeous "buttalon!"

Super Bowl XLIV

Oh the Super Bowl.... We had such high hopes this year!

Wow's team, the Indianapolis Colts looked like they were going to take this one! We were at our friend's home in Herriman for the game, and while April and I were chatting upstairs, all the guys were downstairs watching the game. I knew it wasn't good when it got quieter and quieter down there. Sure enough - 10 minutes before the end, Wow came back upstairs and said "We're going home!"

Um yeah... the Payton and the Colts didn't win... :(

Happy Birthday Mary!

Well, since the arrival of all of the kiddos, it's a little out of control in the birthday department. We decided starting this year not to make a big deal out of sibling birthdays. However, when Mary's birthday rolled around we couldn't just let it go!

We decided no gifts, but wanted to have a sister's day anyway! We went to the craft store and got yarn to make scarves, had a super yummy chicken enchilada dinner and crotchet the night away with a little Doris Day movie.  (Well, most of us crotcheted - Beck just snoozed...)  ;)

Happy Birthday Mar!

Sabrina's Blessing

While we were all in Logan, little Sabrina was blessed. Isn't she gorgeous?!?

My dad gave her a really beautiful blessing. I'm so glad we were there for her special day.

*** My sister Mary took these gorgeous pictures - they are just beautiful!

Hardware Ranch

We headed up to Logan on New Year's Day and that weekend got to go to Hardware Ranch!

I hadn't been out there in years and years, but it didn't disappoint! It was FREEZING that day, so we were pretty bundled up.

 Tessa LOVED all the moose. She kept "woofing" at them! Precious!
 

New Year's Eve

Well, I don't know if Dave & Lex knew when they invited us to their home for New Year's Eve that we would expect (well, maybe not expect, but definitely hope) that this will be come a new tradition! We had such a GREAT time up there! I made my amazing Seven Layer Dip and everyone else brought treats and we headed north!

The Logan crew was all there too! We played lots of games, lots of music, lots of food and lots and lots of fun! The "folks" (Mom, Dad, Granny and Grandmother) headed back to Logan relatively early, and Mary & Allen had to leave early too for work the next day, but Beck and kids and all of us slept over. We saw awesome (probably illegal) fireworks over the pond behind Dave's house and played a rousing game of "Mormon Bridge"

Happy New Year!

Bouncing Around

While we were in Logan, Dave hooked us up with an evening at the local gymnastics training facility. We had so much fun bouncing around and burning off a LOT of energy!

Christmas 2009

Well, our Christmas holiday started out with a bang - or a bite! Literally hours before we were supposed to head up to Logan, Lily put her face right in Princess's (the babysitter's dog) and scared her and got a little nip on the nose. GREAT!   (Of course once she got her "Kitty, Hello!" bandaid all was well!)

We headed up to Logan on Christmas Eve. We had our traditional Broccoli Soup in breadbowls and the Luke 2 sing-a-long. I left the stockings out in the girl's beds so they could have something right when they woke up Christmas morning!

And of course one for Wow:

We did a "Kids Christmas" in the morning. These girls scored!

Tessa falling in love with her baby from Great Granny

They LOVED their new play kitchen. It didn't take long for them to get their aprons on and start cooking!

It's pure madness, but I love it!

We had our Christmas dinner in the early afternoon, and after we put kiddos down for naps, we did the "Grown-up Christmas" I gave Seuao a bunch of random things, but I think he really liked them all!

His Indianapolis Colts Build-a-Bear with Lily's voice in his paw!

He TOTALLY surprised me and gave me a laptop! I was not expecting that at ALL! Such a sweetheart!

Me and my sibs surprised mom with a Brighton charm bracelet. Each of us picked a charm that represents us, along with one for John. She LOVED it!

My mom surprised me with a rocking chair that I have been eyeing for YEARS! I was so surprised!

My mom and dad surprised each other with a snowblower and a trip to Florida!  Wow!!!

This was a great Christmas. I love that we spent the whole day opening presents, playing games, and loving and enjoying each other.