look what he has turned them into.........

This was yesterday. I walked out of the kitchen and ALL of my children had an electronic device in their hands. (all Mac products of course -- Sam will have nothing else!!) Sam loves it -- I think it's sad. :)

Addie in Wonderland

For Addie's birthday party this year she wanted her theme to be Alice in Wonderland. She's been asking for that for almost a year -- ever since she saw the new Alice in Wonderland in the theatre -- it's her very favorite movie. So that's what I did -- and it was lot of fun. I wish I had taken more pictures so you could see everything - but of course I didn't. Most of the ones below are from other families cameras. Since the theme was Alice in Wonderland - I decorated with big over sized playing cards for the Queen of Hearts. I put up little signs that said Eat Me and Drink Me on the food. My sister Misty made mini cupcakes that said Eat Me on them too. They were really cute. We had a couple of stations for the kids to do some crafts at. One was Painting the Roses Red - where I just printed off coloring pages of roses and put out some red paint and paint brushes and they painted the roses red. There was also a Mad Hatter station where they could design and make their own hats. I just gave them tons of pipe cleaners and they made them out of that. It was cute to see what they came up with. It was a fun party. We waited to have her party until her baptism day so all of the family from out of town could be there too -- she was very patient - but it was worth the wait - we had lots of fun!

Our Alice -- I made Addie a big blue tutu and Sam's mom helped us put the whole outfit together it turned out really cute - I'm going to try to get her to wear it for halloween next year

her cake -- she always requests for me to make the gooey chocolate cake.........
The adults drinks.......................
the kids drinks (notice they ALL have little drink me signs on them - lots of work :) ........


one of the mini cupcakes Misty make............
the kids watching her open presents -- so exciting!!! :) .............
Addie has been begging me for years for a violin. This year I felt she was old enough to get one and start lessons. We are lucky enough to have Kelly in our family now who plays so beautifully and is willing to teach her. I think I am just as excited about this as she is -- I LOVE the violin. I'm hoping to pick up some skills of my own. :)
Happy Birthday my Addie May!!

Addie's Baptism

Addie's baptism was wonderful!!! Such a special day. She was beaming all day long! Everything went smoothly, the speakers were wonderful and there was such a sweet spirit about the whole thing. Her sweet cousin Ella also sang a song for her special day. She did an excellent job and it just made it more special since Ella is so special to Addie.

We are so blessed to have such an amazing little lady. We are so proud of the great person she has grown to be (and has always been actually).

We are also so grateful for all our dear family and friends who came to show their support and love to Addie. She really felt loved -- and that makes me extremely happy. She is the oldest in our family, the oldest cousin on my side and she's had a hard time watching the younger ones gets lots of attention because they are "little and cute". So for her to be celebrated for being the older one was great for her. It was her special time to shine. And she did!! She literally could not stop smiling all day. It was infectious. :)

Addie's confirmation circle of family....
some of the crowd to come watch (lots of cute cousins) -- all of the seats were taken when it started
Us with Addie and Sam's parents and my parents...........
Sam's side of the family - his parents up from California, his brother Rich and his family and his sister Raeleen and her family - down from Washington.
I wish I had got a picture of my side of the family too. All of my family was there -- Amber and her family came up from California -- it was great having everyone together.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Sam and I have had the same mattress for almost 10 years and it was finally time to get a new one. Costco was having a sale on one of those Novaform ones - so I bought that one. I LOVE it!!! That along with my fleece sheets - fitted and top sheet (also from Costco) -- my bed is the most cozy place there is!!

Here is Jackson and Pete enjoying it before I put in on our bed -- it had to air out and take shape before we could use it.

Money well spent!!

Halloween Highlights