Evelyn's 4th Birthday

I can't believe that my little Evy turned 4 this past spring!  

Evelyn wanted a stuffed turtle and a headlamp most of all.  She is so cute!  

We had banana splits for dessert.  Evelyn requested banana splits, but I don't think she had ever had one before.  She didn't like the banana part so much.  Ha ha.

A visit from Grandma

August Fun

I haven't blogged in a while.  Here's a sampling of what we did:

1. Lots of swimming in Grandma's pool and hot tub with cousins and aunts and uncles (poor Evelyn is not old enough to go in the hot tub yet.)

Abigail in her swimsuit someone gave me.  She did not get in the pool.  

 2. Jared got an amazing rocket from Grandpa and Grandma for his birthday.  It goes up to 1100 feet high!  We have had lots of fun launching it on a couple of different days. 

3. Jared had a fun pack meeting for scouts.  He earned his Wolf award, and then our whole family (minus Abby and me) went kayaking.

4. We have gone up the canyon a handful of times to roast hot dogs and marshmallows.

 5. We celebrated my birthday.  Alan made yummy omelettes for breakfast.  Then we went on a ward picnic for lunch.  We had a yummy dinner of lasagna soup and this AMAZING Andes mint cake I made (it literally took me three hours to make the day before my birthday.)

 

 Alan surprised me with a new fun game called Rolling Through the Ages.  I love it!

Happy Birthday, Jared!

 A few days after Abigail and I came home from the hospital, we celebrated Jared's 9th birthday!  I somehow found time to cook him the dinner he requested and made him his chocolate cake while Alan took the kids out for some fun times.  They went to a children's museum and then up to Grandma Stout's house for a movie afternoon.

 Jared got a ton of gifts this year!  Star Wars swim towel and t-shirt, several new games (Harry Potter Clue, chess, and Stratego), some books (including the Peter and the Starcatcher series), and a fancy rocket that shoots up 1100 feet.  (We recently launched it for the first time--it was amazing!)

I love this boy!  He is growing up so fast.  He soaks up everything he learns and reads.  He is such a responsible boy and a good big brother to his three little sisters.  He's looking forward to 4th grade!

Early Birthday Party

This kid is almost nine!

Last week we had an early birthday party for Jared.  His birthday wasn't for a few weeks, but our baby is going to be born around the same time.  We decided to embrace the earliness and have Jared invite just a few special friends to go see "Finding Dory" in the theater while it was still brand new.  Jared invited two friends from our ward, Kincade and Lauren, and a friend from school, Jace.  The movie was super awesome (everyone got to pick some concessions, as well), and then we came back to our house to have cake and ice cream and open presents,  I forgot to take a picture of Jared with his presents, but they were just perfect for him: a new strategy game, a build-it-yourself solar robot, an R2-D2 bubble machine, and an animal balloon kit.

This party was way easier to plan and carry out than the Fancy Nancy party that I threw for Maggie in May.  I think that he had a great time, which is the most important thing.

We'll post pictures of his REAL birthday when it comes.  :)

Maggie's 6th Birthday

 Maggie sure got spoiled on her birthday!  We had her friend party on her real birthday, then she still got to open even more presents from her family later that day!

New clothes, barbies, and Frozen shoes, lunch box, and swim towel

We sure love our 6-year-old princess!

Maggie's Fancy Nancy Party

I honestly don't enjoy throwing birthday parties for my kids, but this year I reluctantly planned a Fancy Nancy Party for Maggie.  It turned out pretty well, I think, thanks to the Dollar Store.  

I set up several stations for the kids: a "Get Glamoured Up" station where they received a hat, purse, boa, necklace, and ring; an "Ooh La La, Beauty Spa" station where they got their nails painted, and eye shadow and lip gloss that they got to keep; and a "Create Your Own Posh Purse" station where they got to decorate their purse and hat with feathers and jewels.

 Alan's mom and two of Alan's sisters (Marilyn was in town from NYC!) came and helped me with the party, and I honestly could not have done it without them!  They helped each girl get fancied up.

Alan and his mom helped glue feathers on with the hot glue gun.  Evelyn had fun participating, too.

 After getting fancy, I read them Fancy Nancy's Tea for Two book, and then we had our own little tea party with mini muffins, fruit kabobs, and lemonade.

We sang Happy Birthday with a candle stuck in red velvet mini cookies

Then Maggie opened up her presents.  I maybe should have planned a game or two, but I was hoping all the crafts and and nail painting would pretty much take up the whole time.  I think the kids that came had a fun time, and they all took home lots of stuff to keep!