Birthday Girl

We told her not to do it, but she just wouldn't listen.  We keep telling her not to grow up, but she does anyway.

 What was supposed to be a "low key" party turned out to be a fairly detail oriented production...not because of me this year.  It seems I have given my children the party planning bug.  Audrey looked at party ideas online, and wanted to be involved in making all the decorations and favors.  I loved doing it with her.

 Audrey wanted to have pink lemonade and she found some heart-shaped cookie cutters at the store to make heart--I mean "I love Hello Kitty" sandwiches.

 She also helped me tape and fold and hang these tissue paper pom poms.  She was very clear on what she liked and where she wanted them.

 Audrey and I cut and glued all the faces on her favor bags...she did a great job making and drawing Keropi for the boys.

 One of my favorite things about decorating for a party is the treat table spread.  Hers turned out so cute.

 we managed to keep our menu simple: heart PB&J sandwiches, a Lucky Charms snack mix in cute Audrey-made cones, pink lemonade, and beautiful cupcakes made by an awesome friend of mine.

 My friend Amanda catered to every request Audrey had--strawberry flavored, hello kitty for the girls and green apple flavored Keropi for the boys.  She even hand made all of the characters with frosting.  She did such an amazing job!  They really made the decor..and tasted great...a little too great.

 We played pin the bow on Hello Kitty.

 

we sang and ate those delicious cupcakes

Her birthday guests included: Derek, Maddi, Lily, Sophia, and Chad

 We put Hello Kitty tattoos on everyone (including the boys)

 Everyone loved doing sand art

 

 Audrey opened sweet girly gifts.  She couldn't wait to put on her new pink cowgirl boots.

And she played with her new toys and her girlfriends until dinner. 

First Day of School

Every year I am so excited for school.  I love the excitement of new beginnings, and new learning! 

I also love shopping for school supplies...maybe not a good thing, but I love the smell of new pencils.  As they mention on "You've Got Mail", I would love to have bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils around--maybe next year I will do that.

I started taking the kids pictures in the same places so I could have somewhat of progression/growing shots.

                     2011                                                            2012

 

Joy School 2010                                                 First Grade 2012

 

 

Kindergarten 2010

First Grade 2011

 

Second Grade 2012

 

  

 

2011        (baby)                                                                    2012 (toddler)

 

Ready to go!

 It is now tradition that daddy walks with us on the first day of school.

 Now we have 2 Adelaide Tigers.

 Even though Audrey did Kindergarten at home, she already has lots of friends at school (saying hi to Beau).

 Look at her beam.

Summer Love

Here is a bit more summer randomness and things I love about summer.

 Eating outside near the garden, under blue sky and an umbrella of leaves.

 Watching the children explore and search for treasures (in this case "beanie balls" in the gutter)

Weekend parties like Fidelity's work party and Truman's birthday all in one day.  The kiddos got to eat out for breakfast, play at a park with bounce houses, have their faces painted (very well I might add), play super heroes with cousins, have cake and treats, and have Grandma and Papou spend the night all in one wonderful day.

 

Summer Colors! I always knew I liked "happy colors", but now that I have been able to decorate a house, and choose whatever colors I want, I realized that the colors of summer make me happy.  This picture is a perfect representation of some of my happies: A bright patterned table (made for garden starts) with cheery lemons and fresh lavender on top; a view out the window of sunshine, a fun orange umbrella, and a lush garden abounding in orange and yellow flowers. so so happy. :)

                              

 Selling fish for Nana and Papa on the sidewalk. Although we got rained out both days we tried.  Derek and Audrey loved holding the signs and waving to people.  Derek was quite good at it.  He would shake the sign around while yelling, "get your Salmon, and Halibut."  Chaddy held up a picture for a little while, but soon wanted to wait/play in the car.

 Children using their imagination to create fun in the warm yard.  I am not sure what this particular adventure was, but they have enjoyed pretending they were orphans stranded in the desert who are trying to survive on whatever food (usually picked from the garden) they could find and building their own shelter.  Hey, at least they are learning survival skills, right?

Homeless?

Oh I Love, Love, Love summer. I always have and always will.

Staycation

 Christian was able to take some time off for a last of summer vacation.  We toyed with the idea of driving to California and spending time with family and the beach, but in the ended decided not to drive and to stay and have fun here.  It was our first ever "staycation", and it was a BLAST!
Day 1:  We started out by going up to Snowbird.  We did all their summertime activities including the tram--which is a ski lift type tram tram that takes you up to the summit of the mountain where you can walk around and enjoy the gorgeous view of the mountain ranges and valley below.  so cool. There was also, a high-wire ropes course, bungee trampoline, rock wall to climb, an alpine slide, a mountain coaster (a ski-lift chair on a zip line), and bounce houses.  It was SO fun to spend all day letting the kids do these activities as much as they wanted, and all the while being up in the fresh air and beautiful surroundings.
Day 2:  After an exciting day yesterday we took it easy--riding bikes, and playing at home until afternoon when we went to the zoo.  They have a new harbor exhibit there with seals, otters, a polar bear, and black bears that we wanted to see.  The exhibits are well designed where you can see the animals close up, which was great.  Also, their polar bear loves the attention.  It swims up to the glass where the kids are pressing their faces to, and pushes off their faces to swim backwards in the the water...and he does it over and over again! So funny.

 

Day 3:  Ready for another exciting day, we took the kids to Cowagunga Bay, a newish water park in Draper.  It is pretty small, but they use the space well.  There water slides, a pool, a lazy river...all the necessities for a full day of water fun.

 

After the water park we drove home to change, shower, and pack an overnighter bag to spend the night with our good friends up in Park City. They had found a fun condo to share there.

Day 4: We went up to the Smith & Moore (lake) area to hike around for the day.  Aside from Chad being tired it was great fun.  We got to play in the stream with friends, found a snake, and watched Steve try to catch a fish with his bare hands.

We love enjoying the great outdoors with friends.  After our hiking we ate lunch at a fun roadside diner that had great BBQ food. Then we walked around Park City and played at a local park before dinner and swimming. 
Day 5: Time to come home for Church and a day of rest.  What a great staycation...the perfect mix of excitement and relaxation.

Up the Canyon

An evening up Meuler Park Canyon

The stream was nice and low so we could let the kiddos play to their hearts content without worrying about them being swept away.

 The loudest silent scream on earth! Chad was quite proud of that.

Chad is okay with getting dirty now.  He used to hate these types of outings because he would get dirty, but now he knows that it will all wash off and everything will be okay.

Some hot dogs, smores, and night-time stories finished off the evening.

Ballet Beauty

 Audrey's first day of ballet (and tap).Audrey was so excited to try it out, and of course, she did great and gave it her all.  She is the most beautiful ballerina of all, don't you think.

Yarrrrr!

As part of our summertime activities we found a fun Pirate cookbook, and invited a few maties over for a pirate "feast".

 On the menu were:

 Seafood Scurvy (AKA tuna casserole with goldfish on top)

 Peg Leg Pickles (cream cheese and ham wrapped pickles...an amazingly big hit)

 Fresh from the sea Octopus (cut and boiled hot dogs)

A few silver coins (peppermint patties) and best mates
We all had a blast, and the kids are ready to sign up if they get to eat like this all the time.