Look Whoooo's One!

I wanted to have a nice little party for Addy; Casual and fun surrounded by good family and friends and not pressured. That's exactly what we had. It was a lovely afternoon and Addy seemed to enjoy herself, even though she was just recovering from a yucky bout of croup.

I'd been planning her party for quite a while, simply because I have so much fun planning parties for my children. I knew I wanted to continue the owl theme to her party, just because they are soo cute and I love them. :D Her grandma made her this adorable owl skirt for her to wear to her party. I loved her cute little party outfit. What a beautiful one year old!








I made little owls similar to Liam's monsters. They were so cute and look great in her room now.




Wes and I teamed up to make Addy's owl smash cake. I'm so pleased how it turned out and was shocked to learn that the photo I patterned it after was exactly similar to her party plates, balloons and napkins. So fun!






Party Time!





And here are just some of our lovely guests.
















I'll be back with more pictures of dinner, cake and presents!

Harvest Carnival

Liam's school puts on a harvest carnival every year as a fundraiser. Because the kids can't wear their costumes to school, this also gives them an opportunity to wear their costumes at the event.  This year, the carnival landed on Addy's birthday.  Grandpa Stephenson and Uncle Beannie had just come in to celebrate Addy's birthday, so they joined us for the fun.

First, the costumes. Wes's mom did an amazing job, as always, with the costumes. One day Liam was watching "The Santa Claus 3" and decided he wanted to be Jack Frost. He called up Grandma to tell her and she made him the perfect three-piece suit for the costume. She also made Addy's owl jacket with was soo adorable.


Ms. Owl, taking flight:

Jack, trying to freeze me:

Daddy giving him frosted hair:


I was pretty shocked but about 90% of the people knew immediately who Liam was. He was a pretty darn good Jack Frost!

At the carnival they have games set up in all of the classrooms and you win little prizes. Here are a few photos of the event.






It was a very fun fall evening and the perfect end to Addy's first birthday.

First Taste of Germany

I just found these photos and wanted to post them. Wes made a delicious sauerbraten and Addy had her first taste. She *loved* it.  She's a German at heart.






Here are a couple of others I just found as well. Addy *loves* to bang on the screen door and yell for people. She thinks she's just hilarious.

Happy Birthday, Adelyn!

On October 21, our sweet little angel turned ONE! Happy Birthday, Adelyn. Here is our final month shot.

At one year, Addy:
-weighs 17lbs 4oz(5th percentile), is 27.5 inches long (30th percentile) and her head is in the 80th percentile, but I can't remember the exact measurement.
-She has taken one or two steps, but she much prefers to crawl. I think she feels safer and is just content to do what she is good at. I know she *could* walk but she doesn't want to. She'll do it when she's ready. :D
-She loves bread, baby Mum Mums, meat, and her baby food. She's not a huge fan of her alimentum formula and I don't blame her. It smells terrible.
-She loves to laugh and 'talk' and play chase.
-She can say 'please' (in sign), "ONE!" (by holding her finger up), clap, and blow kisses.
-She just finished cutting her ninth and tenth teeth. Whew! 10 teeth at one year. Nuts!

Here she is being silly on the railing on her birthday. :)

And on her birthday I let her do her very favorite thing: play with the shoes. She was in HEAVEN.


Happy birthday, sweet girl. We love you so!

Primary Program

Liam had his second Primary Program last week. He was *so* excited and had been constantly practicing his part. His part was "I can listen to President Monson during General Conference. I can read his words in the Friend Magazine." The day before (is this becoming a trend?) Liam got pretty sick with a horrible cough and cold, but he wanted so badly to be a part of his program. Luckily he felt a bit better on Sunday and was able to attend. He was also very excited to have Nana come and watch him! He was soo happy she was able to be there. As per tradition, we took some photos before the program. My kids are just the cutest aren't they?

Yellow Belt

As previously stated, Liam has been doing Karate for about 6 months now. We knew he'd be testing for a new belt in October-- the yellow belt! He was *very* excited, but he knew he had to work really hard in order to pass the test. The kata that he had to learn was very difficult for him and didn't come easily. He practiced with videos, etc, but it wasn't clicking. 2 days before his test, we filmed the teacher and he and Wes practiced for HOURS until he got it. I'm sooo proud of his hard work! He wanted it so badly and he put in the hard work to do it. Here are the videos of him testing (first) and then receiving his new belt (second). You can pause the music at the bottom of the page.





And here he is-- a new yellow belt-- with Sensei:


Afterward, we went to Dairy Queen for a treat. Liam wanted a banana split.


Great job, Buddy. We're sooo proud of you!

Liam's First Talk

A couple of weeks ago, Liam gave his first talk in Primary. He chose a story from the Friend that he really liked and talked about its importance. He told me exactly what he wanted to say. He did an awesome job and learned about the importance of gaining a testimony. He also did a great job giving the talk. Awesome job, Liam. We're so proud of you!