A Party for "TWO"!

L's best friend, Clara turned two today. Since her family is busy trying to get packed for their move, we asked if they wanted to do a joint birthday party for the girls. Emy was glad to do it. We used Elmo as our theme and decorated with balloons and streamers. Emy got a cake from Albertson's and we had a little party along with the Hedgpeth family. The girls seemed to have a good time and especially liked opening their gifts. Thank you to the Brasher's and Hedgpeth's for joining us in this little celebration of our girls turning two.

L wearing her party hat.

Auntie came down for the celebration.

Bahmah came down for a little bit too.

The gift table.

The cake Em brought.

The older kids did a great job playing together.

L loved her cake but Clara wouldn't even try it.

K, S, and G did a great job playing together while presents were opened.

Opening the gifts.

Farewell to Dear Friends

Our dearest friends, the Brashers, are moving to California soon. We decided to throw them a farewell party at our home so everyone whose lives they have touched could come and wish them well. Ben and Emy are one of the greatest couples I know. I am sure they are destined for great things. Everyone who knows them loves them. They have a special spirit about them and are so giving and loving to all they meet. They will be truly missed by all of us. We wish them well in their new home. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. We love you.

The Brasher Family

Here are some of the people who came to the party.
There were 14 adults and 23 children in all.

We all had a great time visiting and eating yummy food.

The kids played upstairs and down.

We were able to get a group shot of some of us.
Maree, Nic, Rachel, Melissa, Becky, and Emy.

Only a few of the men were able to come.
There was a YM Leader Training that evening.

Here are some of the kids who were still here at 8:30.
I was impressed by how well behaved the kids were.

Dancing Girls

I was cleaning my bedroom when I heard K singing in the playroom.
I went out there with the camera and found both the girls dancing
with their toys to the Jungle Book cd and K singing to it.

Playdate with Clara

L's friend, Clara, came over for a play date and they did wonderfully together. I think they are finally getting to the age where they can play well with others. It was very cute watching them interacting. L is really going to miss her when she moves.

Clara feeding L some ice cream.

They had a little lunch together.

Playing with the babies before putting them to sleep.

Clara wanted L to push her in baby stroller.

Clara gave L a turn in the stroller too. I loved watching them
play so well together. They have grown so much in the past few months.

Pig Tails

I can't believe it! L finally has enough hair to put it in pig tails! It is so adorable, too bad she rips them out with in minutes of me putting them in. To all those moms out there that put bows and other such things in their babies hair from the get go, I applaud you. If I had done that, L would probably be used to it by now and not feel the need to yank out everything I put in her hair. At least I was able to get a picture before she pulled them out.

Can you believe how big she is getting?

K all dressed up for church. She is getting so big too!

Christmas with Auntie and Family

My Aunt and her family came down on New Year's Day to celebrate Christmas with us. We opened each others gifts, had some lunch and then the boys watched the Rose Bowl while the girls went shopping. We had such a great time, even though the Ducks lost to the Buckeyes. And to my surprise, M said he had a great time watching the game.

L with her Big-Eyed Husky dog.

Mikaelas with the picture of the temple I cross stitched for her.
I also gave her a journal jar and a scarf which I made.

L opening her gift. This is one of her favorite gifts.

Mark with his healthy trail mix.

K opening her Doctor's Kit. She really likes this too.
She mostly uses it on the animals. Maybe she will be a Vet when she grows up.

M got some auto primes for reloading.

Nathan in a moment of weakness, smiling at the camera.
We got him a movie basket with popcorn, popcorn holders, and candy.

Karen sporting my scarf I made and showing us her journals and journal jar.
I also made her a cross stitch picture for her beach house.

Mikaelas got me a cool snowman cocoa mug and matching pitcher.

L's Christmas loot.

My Christmas loot. Lots of stuff for my Slice and good books to read.

K's Christmas loot.

M's Christmas loot.

Our Goofy L

L got this hat for Christmas and she seldom takes it off. She wears it around the house and to bed. She looks cute in it. Guess it's good that she likes it, hopefully she will wear it outside too.

Eating her oatmeal.

Swinging from the arms of the couches.
She is really strong. She can hold herself up for a long time.

Doing a somersault.

On the way over.

The finish.

New Year's Bash

We had our close friends over for New Year's Eve. This is something we have been doing for a few years now and we all have a lot of fun. We make lots of food, play games and visit until the ball drops. This year we played games on the Wii while the kids watched movies and played upstairs in the play room. I think we all ate too much, but we had a good time together.

Here is the food we made. I forgot to take a picture after all the food arrived.
We had jalapeno tortilla wraps, cranberry pin wheels, spinach dip and bread,
sea food shells, ganache dipped cream puffs, lunch meat and croissants,
veggie tray, nuts, chex mix and rice crispy treats.

Here are the kiddos mesmerized by Rudolph.

Here are the big kids playing Mario Cart on the Wii.

The kids playing upstairs.

The girls visiting and having a good time while the boys play the Wii.