Ducati's Birthday Party

Our Ducati turned 6 years old..... 5 months ago. 

But with her birthday being right in the mix of Christmas she's never had a friend party since 90% of the time people are unavailable. So we gave her a belated birthday party. 

To make this easy for her.... and me; Mike and I gave her a budget of $50. We would supply the cake, ice cream, hot dogs, and drinks but anything else would be out of her budget. So she took to looking around our house to see what she could make, reuse, or borrow to keep her cost down. It was so adorable hearing her talk about budgets. 

She wanted a water party. So she spent $10 on a water sprinkler, $15 on a pinata, $12 on candy for the pinata, and $6 on decorations. So she was well under her budget so yeah for her AND me!

But on her party day the weather decided to change so we had to make a PLAN B. So instead of princess water games she made princess crafting games. So I made this Princess Ducati game for her to tape crowns to her head. She loved it! 

She crowned her castle :)

She decorated princess wands! Thankfully Dollar Tree sells glitter glue, stickers, and foam wands. So her new total was an extra $6 but still well under budget. 

Everyone loved decorating their wands with their own dazzle and flare. 

Her little cousin loved his Prince wand Mike helped him make. 

After this the weather cleared up some so Ducati wanted her Pinata outside. She filled this thing up to the top with candy. The recommended weight is 5lbs. She went WAY more than that. 

All the kids had a chance to give this thing a wack!

Her cousin's little hits didn't even wrinkle the paper. 

 Lily on the other hand was ruthless. She want full force on this pinata like it was a zombie invasion.

 After everyone had a turn with the blindfold Mike let everyone have another turn without the blindfold in hopes it will burst faster. NOPE! This thing was built strong!

 CANDY TIME!!

After everyone trades pieces we ate hot dog lunches. Enjoyed strawberry cake and strawberry ice cream.

 The birthday girl was too focused on cake and ice cream that she didn't look up when I was snapping the photo.

Then it was present time. Haha! Messy table is evidence of a good time. After presents were open the kids just ran outside to open up everything. Soon jumping on the tramp was happening. 

Doorway decorations are always fun!

Some kids had to leave so this left a few who found themselves playing on the swing set.

 Yes! My man is one of those kids who enjoyed himself during the party.

 Ducati had such a great time. She was so happy that she finally had a party for her birthday.
Happy Belated Birthday!

It's My Birthday!!

Yes I made it to another birthday. I'm now 32 year old. It doesn't feel much different than 31. I'll give it a year and see if it grows on me. haha....joke!

For my birthday things really changed. Instead of going out and having tons of fun things were kept simple. So simple that I hardly did anything in hopes to not jeopardize my healing.

I woke up to birthday treats galore.

I gawked and drooled a little bit but all these things needs to be put on hold so we can head to the Provo City Center Temple open house.

I really wanted to attend the open house and with Mike having the day off this seem perfect.

The history of this new temple is that it use to be a tabernacle. But caught fire several years ago. Utah communities were so sad to see it go since it held such rich history. That the following General Conferenance President Monson announces that he was going to rebuild the tabernacle and turn it into a temple. So now there are 2 temples in the small town of Provo. But everyone knows they needed it with the MTC and BYU in the same city. 

At the open house there were areas outside showing the before and after photos of things tabernacle that are now turned into things new for the temple. Like this staircase post. The one on the left is the new one. And the one on the right was from the tabernacle. You can still see the charred pieces from the fire on it. There was other examples too but this one really caught my eye. They are exactly the same. 

Anyways the inside was beautiful. Photography is not allow so I'm just going to describe it best I can. 

There was so much wood. Dark rich wood everywhere. 

Flower printed wall paper. Flower embellishments on wood banisters, door hinges, windows, etc.

There is a spiral staircase that is a tight squeeze but so beautiful. The sun was shining through the windows so the stain glass shined such beautiful colors onto the carpet.

There was a fire exit right in the chapel. Probably where it was located before so my guess is it stays locked so no one enters accidentally. 

The walls and ceilings are painted with such beautiful nature scenes.

There was a grand staircase that was so beautiful that I wanted to slide down the rail. Of course I didn't.

There are a lot of stairs. From the outside it doesn't look that way. But once inside this was the first thing I noticed. I opted out taking the elevators since I would have missed all those tiny details that made this trip amazing. 

Our kids loved seeing the wedding rooms. Each one had a different chandelier inside.

One of the "wedding"/ sealing rooms was so small that it looked like it was a janitors closet before. It maybe fit 4 chairs. We told our kids that even though it's small that big and amazing things will happen in this room.

I was so happy to walk through this new temple. It made me appreciate the gifts that God gives me even more. The gift of recognizing his love. The gift of my forever family. The gift of eternal life. The gift of repentance. And so many more gifts that I left here feeling so much better that I forgot all about my pain. At least for a little while.

At the visitors center area the sister missionaries were taking pictures for those visitors wanting to commemorate their visit. So we got one and of course I'm rocking my brace in it.

So after our amazing tour we headed home and about 15 minutes away from home that's when my pain/discomfort hit. So Mike took my home so I can lay down. This seems to be the only thing that can calm my back's throbbing pain. He took Mason and Hailey to meet their other dad. Lily and Cati waited for the pizza delivery man. And I just ended my day watching Netflix.

My sister-in-law asked me if I was going to celebrate my birthday by doing anything. It sucked saying no. But Mike and I have decided that we're going to re-do our birthday later this summer. Sort of like a 1/2 Birthday Celebration. Mine since I'm stuck in a back brace and Mike's since I was in the ER on his bday. I really know how to celebrate birthdays! :)

Haileys birthday

So before I caught my big break (get it...play on words) our families schedules were pretty full.

Hailey turned 10! For her birthday we did  something  small since our budget was teeny tiny from California. She woke up to a decorated living room, we did a few homeschool worksheets, everyone played outside until mike came home, then we had cake/ice cream/presents/ and a movie night. 

She didn't tell me what she wished for. I'm guilty of being too busy to ask her. (Man I was really missing opporthnites being her mom) 

A few facts about Hailey:

She wants to be a chef/baker when she grows up. 

She wants 10 kids. 

To be married in a temple near an ocean. 

Plans to babysit to earn money for her mission & college. 

She likes to shop for statement wild pieces and isn't afraid to pair a cheetah print dress with cowgirl boots.( it actually looks really cute)

She loves to watch cooking shows like cupcake wars or anything on the food network. 

She's more patient that she likes to admit. 

She loves to read and collect books.

She enjoys being outdoors but she will say she's more of a warm weather person. (We all are)

She loves the ocean. 

The movie Lilo and Stitch since it talks about families.

 She's an animal lover of all creatures. 

She struggles at times having two seperate families but we try to help soften that blow but encouraging open communication. 

She's a very loyal friend. 

She loves her cousins. She loves being girlie with S and K. She loves playing or watching mason and A goof off. She loves how tiny and cuddly A.S. But she especially loves D. Since the day he was born she's taken a special lovin' to him. 

She's loves her family. Like really loves them. She talks about how she loves coming from a big family. 

She Laughs so loud that I can hear her downstairs. 

She copies my attitude to the tee so this puts me in check a lot. 

She will yell at anyone making fun of her siblings. She's very protective. 

She is the sibling that each kid goes to asking questions or wanting to talk to when they don't want to come to mike and I. 

Spelling is her weakness. Charity is her strength. 

She doesn't play with toys anymore but she does have a few stuffed animals she keeps with her. Sasha the dog. Stitch from disneyland. And big john, the bear I had as a kid. 

She's very sentimental 

I can go on and on about her. She's so amazing. I tell her often that God has a great plan for her. All she needs to do is trust him and she does.

I love her so very much. She has taught me so much about myself and the person I want to become that I'm grateful God put her as my teacher. 

D-Man's 1st Birthday

I love being an aunt!

On a more personal note I did not have aunt's growing up. Living in Utah I did not have an extended family so being an aunt is foreign to me. I literally have asked Mike and my sister-in-laws what sort of role do aunts play. They smiled then realized I wasn't joking. So after giving me a quick tutorial I embraced my version of what sort of aunt I want to be.

I am going to be the aunt that goes to everything I'm invited too.(Or within reason at least)

I am going to encourage my kids to love and grow their relationships with their cousins.

 Hailey has been attached to D-man since he was a baby. Every time she sees him she's wanting to hold him.

Mason chasing his little cousin. I'm not sure what he's playing but all I know is she loves playing chase with him. This warms my heart seeing my 13 year old playing with his 3 year old cousin.

I love seeing my kids playing with their "2nd cousins"???

Mike's sisters' husbands' sister's kids. Make sense. I don't know how family trees work; all I care about is that we're related and we're all cousins. 

So for my nephew's first birthday his momma and dad planned his party at the local splash pad/park. Great setting since there were tons of kids.

 My kids loved it here!

 So much that we are planning on going back really soon.

  Mason is such a great brother. Lily and Ducati were playing "Dinosaur Chase" with him. So basically Mason is a dinosaur and he chases them to try to eat them. Anyways 2 little girls seen how much fun my girls were having and asked if their big brother can chase them too. So Mason had his hands full trying to eat 4 little girls.

 Hailey enjoyed this twirling thingy before she went back to her little cousin.

Like I said.... she absolutely loves him.

Once everyone was needing a break the little birthday man his his smash cake. At first he had no idea what he was suppose to do.

But once he got a lick of frosting he knew exactly what to do and loved the fact that this cake was all for him.

But that didn't stop him. There was a plate next to his chair that had a small piece of cake on it. So instead of just being satisifed with his huge cake he had to have it all. So he stretched his little arm with his fork and grabbed that small piece and ate it!

My lovely sister in law apologized to me afterwards that I stood up and only got a small nap in before work.
Please!!
I would have stood up all day and the next to see his little guy have the time of his little life.
Like I said I love being an aunt!

PS I love this picture of Daina and her boy. There's nothing she wouldn't do to ensure his happiness. Even if that means enduring fingers in the mouth just to hear him giggle.