Under the Sea Party

This year Jena had an "Under the Sea" Party. I found SO many adorable ideas and luckily Jena was excited about my plans as well. We spent the last few weeks drawing, painting and using contact paper to make all sorts of sea creatures. I had even seen a post on how to make a tie dyed shirt that looked like waves. Ours didn't quite turn out like the original, but they were still the cutest tie dye shirts I've ever made :)

During her party we started with coloring dolphin pictures, fishing in a little kiddie pool, and playing a bean bag fish game. Then after a little chaos we went to everyone's favorite part... DESSERT!

We had cupcakes and instead of ice cream we had Jello Fish Bowls. Heather posted this idea a while ago... you mix up blue jello and put it in the dishes you want. Then cut slits in the top and push the Swedish fish inside so it looks like they are swimming. The only thing with these is that you have to eat them up within a few hours after putting the fish inside... apparently the fish don't do well in the Jello after too long :)

The kids loved finding the fish in the Jello and who doesn't like frosting... Jena sure does!

Then we went outside for some fun. The kids played on the slip n slide and in the mini pools. We had little squirting fish for them to get each other wet. We tried to make bubble snakes, but chasing and popping bubbles seemed to work better. Then Ryan unleashed the hose and no one was dry after that...

I forgot to put Taylor in a water diaper and this is what she looked like when I realized my mistake :)

Once we were all done with the water, we dried everyone off and went inside to watch Jena open her presents. She had such a great time with so many of her friends here and of course she is already thinking about great ideas for her next party.

Nothing, but smiles from this boy today... he did get to eat Jello, cupcakes, gold fish, pretzels and there were lots of people running around ... he thought he was in heaven!

What a fun party! Thanks Jennifer for all your help!

Birthday Celebration!

Our little girl just turned 5. Wow five, already! She has been talking about her birthday for the last few months. Now that she is five she keeps asking when she is going to start kindergarten and referring to things she use to like and do when she was four. She is growing up too fast.

On Jena's birthday daddy brought home "Princess and the Frog" cupcakes. These two little girls are obsessed. They even love to watch and sing to the music video at the end of the movie. Luckily, I secretly love it too... it's way better than watching "the Chipmunks Squeakquel" over and over again.

This year, Jena was very excited about getting money in her Birthday card, but she still doesn't quite have the concept down. The other day she received some play money from the dentist and figured she was really rich now. We had to discuss the differences, but in the end she still thought both were equally great :)

We love this sweet little girl so much. She is really turning into a great helper and friend. We are truly blessed!

Kellie's Baptism

We all gathered at the church to watch our cute niece be baptized on Saturday. I was so impressed with all the little cousin's patiently waiting for Kellie's turn because anything could have happened while the four other baptisms were being performed. And these sweet little kids were practically perfect... as if we normally get so lucky at church :)

After the speakers, musical numbers, baptism, confirmation and lots of family pictures, we headed off to eat and expend some of that extra energy... It didn't take long for some mischief to happen since while at dinner, Cody grabbed my drink and was shocked at how cold ice water can be as it is pouring all over you (and me!) What a curious little boy, but luckily with the warm weather outside my clothes dried pretty quickly. Maybe I'll have to start carrying around a "just in case" outfit for me as well as one for each of the kids.

The rest of the evening we spent at Rochelle's house. We talked and had amazing Pavlova as the kids swam in the pool. Taylor sat for over an hour playing with her cousin's zhu zhu collection. She was hooked, especially with the baby hamsters :)

Jena spent all her time in the pool. I don't even think she had dessert, all she wanted was to be in the water. She and Olivia were the last ones in the pool and finally had to be coaxed out of it when all the older kids left. This girl is definitely our water baby.

After the zhu zhu pets, Taylor found another one of her favorite things to play with... her Uncle Bart.

Lastly, I couldn't resist one more picture of this little man. He is the sweetest thing and was so happy with everyone running all around him.

Congratulations Kellie on making such a wonderful decision to be baptized and for inviting us to celebrate with you! We love you girl!

Just Like Daddy...

Children are SO observant. Sometimes I look around and laugh at the little details they have decided to emulate. Often it is something I am doing that they are copying, but in the last week all three have showed something they like to do that they got from daddy...

Jena and Ryan love fans. I do too, but they like it directly on them. Jena was feeling a little too hot the other day and decided that this was the perfect solution while she finished her artwork.

Taylor has been obsessed with playing games on Ryan's iphone or itouch. He tries to keep the phone away from her because she likes to move around and delete his apps. She is just way to clever and is always thrilled to get her hands on these fun electronics.

Cody got a hold of Ryan's old video game controller and thought he had found the greatest treasure. It's so nice that currently the controller is the most exciting possession ever because it is not going to last forever...

I love these little kids and can't wait to see what they do next :)

Our New Pet?!?

Ryan came home to find a little friend waiting next to the driveway. We debated what to do with him and then figured that animal control would be the best people to answer that question. They figured it was a King Snake, but after looking on many websites we think it was a Pacific Gopher Snake. Luckily, they go after rodents and aren't dangerous unless you push them around. So, we left our little friend there to digest his recent kill. Maybe he's still around in the yard or maybe he's found a new hunting ground.

As long as he's not poisonous and as long as he eats as many rats as possible... he can stay as long he wants, even if he was over 3 feet long!

California Adventure

We were invited to California Adventure with some friends, so early Saturday morning we headed out with our kids only knowing that we were headed to a big surprise. The girls were thrilled when we showed up in front of Disneyland and even more excited when they saw their friends waiting for them. Our favorite ride had to be the Toystory Ride. What's better than a competitive interactive arcade game put into a ride? It was so fun we rode it three times. Besides being with her friends, Jena's favorite part was the parade. There were all sorts of characters and songs... She was so excited that at one point she got out of the stroller, went over to her friend and shook him exclaiming that Buzz Lightyear was coming. It was the funniest thing ever!

The girls loved seeing the characters. Here they are posing with Mater and Lightning McQueen.

Our little man hanging out.

Daddy and Jena in the bumper bugs.

The kids were really good and loved spending the whole entire day together. It definitely made waiting in line go by much more quickly, plus we were actually able to go on some grown up rides. It was really an amazing day!

Thanks R&G again for the invite!

Easter Excitement...

We love celebrating Easter. Not only is it a time to remember the Resurrection of Christ, but also the excitement of Spring. The hills around our home are turning green. The flowers are blooming and it is just warm enough to want to spend as much time as possible outside. The girls went crazy as they pulled out every egg from my bin of decorations. Taylor shook a few wondering if there were already treats inside. After a few weeks of pretend egg hunts we finally attended our first official one of the season. Janelle invited us to her ward's Easter Egg hunt while we were in Las Vegas. Our second was our own ward's Easter party and then, of course, the Easter Bunny showed up at our house Easter morning. The girls were so thrilled. A few days after Easter I was finally over the millions of eggs on the floor and decided to hide them until next year.

Here is Jena hiding the eggs for Taylor to find.

Another thing we love about the Easter season is decorating egg or bunny shaped cookies. At our Easter park day the girls meticulously decorated their cookies. Jena puts on as much as she can... even if it is no longer sticking to the frosting. Every part needs to be covered and with as many different decorations as possible. Taylor found some sprinkles that made the greatest sound when she shook the bottle. Finally when more sprinkles were on her plate than on her cookie, I convinced her it looked perfect and was time to eat her creation.

This year my mom picked out (and dad paid for :D ) the kids Easter outfits. My sister and I bravely tried to take pictures of them together. Cody was not really convinced, but after making every funny noise or face that the two of us could come up with... here were some of the favorites...

Our three little babies!

I am so grateful for all that my Heavenly Father gives me. Especially his Son, Jesus Christ and my wonderful Family and Friends. What a special time of year to celebrate Easter!