Brighton's 5th Birthday

Happy Birthday Brighton!

Getting ready to enjoy his Hot Wheels themed birthday party!

Brighton loved the cake I made for him.."It's just like I always wanted" he says

Nothing Like an Empty pool to keep kids entertained
while we waited for more guests to show.


Playing a game of Musical Chairs. Congrats to our winner Berkeley Kirkham
(in the front there between the two girls) who received a special prize!



Pull string pinata....great invention, quick and easy and fair for everyone!
The kids loved it!




Time to open presents!

Darn wind kept blowing out the candles, so we had to light each one and
let him blow them out separately before the wind got to them.



Opting for a green apple sucker instead of cake and ice cream...whatever Brighton!
It's your birthday!...
....Although he did have cake and ice cream later.

Thanks to everyone that came and for all the fun gifts and toys!
We had a total of 12 kids there and I lost track of the grand total.
Brighton had so much fun and was still wound up until 10:00
that night playing with all his new wonderful toys!

Phoenix Trip

We had a great time visiting with Todd and Tanya's family in Phoenix. It was so great that the kids are so close in age. They all got along so well and just enjoyed being together as cousins and friends.

It was so nice to spend time with cousins and friends and get away from our long lasting cold spring and enjoy some warm Phoenix weather for a weekend.

Enjoy the pics!

Tate was so generous in sharing his power wheels with Brighton and Lilly, and they had so much fun 4-wheeling around the yard!

Lilly and Taylee each pretty much kept to themselves but I think they just enjoyed having another girl around to relate to.

The kids and I enjoyed a cool refreshing swim in the pool. I think Brighton would have stayed in all day if we had let him...he kept asking to get back in the whole time we were there.

Our thanks goes out to Todd, Tanya, Tate and Taylee for showing us a great time in Phoenix and for their warm hospitality. It was definitely a trip worth repeating in the future.
(After our baby is born and it's less than 100 degrees in Phoenix again of course.)

Visits with Grammi and Papa

Mother's Day Visit

Random Play Date at Grammi and Papa's

Lilly's 2nd birthday

Lilly's birthday was so fun. We just had a small family with a few family members and it was great. We had over 50 balloon filling up our tiny living room and she absolutely loved all the attention.

Her theme was hearts so this is the design I came up with for her cake.




Just goofin' around in her new birthday outfit I made for her.


Blowing out her candle....#2!

Brighton loved this part... He got to participate in it more than the gift opening at least!




Lilly got the baby cradle and care set from us and the big Minney poster was from Brighton.
Other gifts included, outfits, baby dolls(of course) and stuffed animals. She loves and plays with all of them on a daily basis.

Lilly's birthday was so fun. We just had a small family with a few family members and it was great. We had over 50 balloon filling up our tiny living room and she absolutely loved all the attention.

St. Nicholas Day 2010

Our family has taken on the tradition of eating our Santa Clause gifts on St. Nicholas Day which is December 6. Here are some photos of this event.

Brighton got a train set ....

and a Dora the Explorer game for the computer.......

and a sled!

Our humble tree with all homemade ornaments and garland.

Lilly got a big ol' play kitchen with all the food and dishes accessories to boot!....and her pink tu-tu that she loves!

LA Beach Day

We went to LA for a day trip desperate to get some sunny warm weather.

Leo and Lilly flying a kite on the beach in LA.

These are a couple starfish we found on the beach. We tried to bring one home but the dang seagulls stole it from us when we weren't watching.

Montana Thanksgiving That Wasn't

Quick Story:
We were supposed to go up to Billings to have a nice early Thanksgiving Dinner with Leo's dad and step-mom...The kids and I went up a couple days ahead of Leo since he had to work, well, come the morning of our Thanksgiving celebration, Leo got called into work and missed his flight. On top of that Mari got very sick and spent most of the day in bed, unable to spend anytime with the kids and I. And just to add to our mayhem, the turkey just WOULD NOT cook so what we did have for dinner were things prepped the day before and potatoes and gravy...basically it was a vegetarian thanksgiving that was missing one of the main hosts. We did have missionaries and a friend from Dan's work join us too, so the whole day was labeled. "The Thanksgiving that Wasn't" The kids and I flew back home that night...the turkey still wasn't done by the time we left.

Kids' Photo Shoot @ Papa Dan and Mae Mae's house

Being on a tight budget we set up a small photo shoot for the kids for their Christmas pictures at Papa Dan and Mae Mae's house during our "Thanksgiving That Wasn't" trip

Getting Lilly to stay on her seat was the hardest part. She thought it was hilarious to run toward the camera.

Then getting her to smile was a chore...She just did not want to cooperate.

Finally we got a couple nice ones.

This was the best we could get of the two of them....Lilly refused to let Brighton touch her or put his arm around her in anyway.

Brighton was just goofy. He loves his picture taken, but gets pretty cheesy about it.

This one melts my heart!

Silly boy!