Monday, February 2, 2015

A Very Cool Party

We decided to go ahead and do Addy and Finn's birthday party combined again this year. At this point, they have a lot of the same friends and it's still super fun for them to have a combine party- and less stress for me. So win-win.  The theme was easy to decide. Finn has been pretty much obsessed with Frozen since this summer, and of course, like any four year old girl, Addy was in love with it as well.

Back in April, I had been trying to find an Elsa dress for Addy.  She was very specific that she wanted the ice blue Elsa dress. Well, at that point, so did every single child on the planet. You couldn't find anElsa dress anywhere.  I enlisted Uncle Beannie's help thinking he may be able to find one at Disneyland. No luck. A few weeks later he called me and told me that a friend of his who worked at a Disney store said they were getting shipment of Elsa dresses.  He went down and was entered into a raffle to win the OPPORTUNITY to purchase an Elsa dress. I'm telling you! He was the last name who got drawn and he was able to get one for Addy!  I decided because it was such a special treat, to wait until her birthday to give it to her. Her reaction did not disappoint. She was thrilled to pieces with it!  My friend Natalie even did her hair in a special Elsa braid to complete her birthday party look.

The cakes were more simple this year, but I still love how they turned out. I tried to recreate the scene from the movie where they finally make it to the ice castle. All of the kids loved the cakes. I'll never get tired of my kids being so excited over their birthday cakes.

We had lots offriends and family join us for their party. We played old fashioned party games ( ie, the clothespin and cotton ball games from my childhood).  The kids had a blast playing together and enjoying each other's company. It was fun for me to have so many little princesses join the party as well!  Finn loved running around like a crazy man and especially loved the balloons and his new car from Nana and Papa.

 photo DSC_0684_zps3151d886.jpg

 photo DSC_0688_zps93fface4.jpg

 photo DSC_0696_zps2a1e8430.jpg

 photo DSC_0681_zps3ef743ea.jpg

 photo DSC_0715_zps90f3799a.jpg

 photo DSC_0716_zps16bc88ed.jpg

 photo DSC_0718_zpsecf26f80.jpg

 photo DSC_0729_zps31142704.jpg

 photo DSC_0741_zps0087c534.jpg

 photo DSC_0739_zps1668e562.jpg

 photo DSC_0753_zps6ce58f0b.jpg

 photo DSC_0747_zps174041eb.jpg

 photo DSC_0755_zps5c5f9e17.jpg

 photo DSC_0759_zps8ee26340.jpg
 photo DSC_0763_zpsbaf8cf46.jpg

 photo DSC_0770_zpsd56fa30e.jpg

 photo DSC_0779_zps5c013c44.jpg

 photo DSC_0778_zps4b36b925.jpg

 photo DSC_0774_zpsa86e613b.jpg

 photo DSC_0782_zps95d1c431.jpg

 photo DSC_0787_zps0a816fae.jpg

 photo DSC_0793_zps93583f19.jpg

 photo DSC_0796_zps6a20883f.jpg

 photo DSC_0798_zps43c2637e.jpg

 photo DSC_0804_zpsdab76fed.jpg

 photo DSC_0801_zps816c0669.jpg

 photo DSC_0806_zps6c21e582.jpg

 photo DSC_0811_zpsdad22379.jpg

 photo DSC_0814_zpsced98ac5.jpg

 photo DSC_0817_zpsc77dd019.jpg

 photo DSC_0818_zps1fe24b08.jpg

 photo DSC_0823_zpsb8bc44b9.jpg

 photo DSC_0826_zps3d71c4f3.jpg

 photo DSC_0829_zps5486eb12.jpg

Saturday, January 3, 2015

2014 Jesse Tree Party

Last year's Jesse Tree party was such a hit that we decided to do it again. I decided that I'd like to have several sets so that I can give each kid a set when they leave home.  Natalie and I put together the party again this year and I hosted. This year we had people from all over the west coast participate which was really fun. I made the Noah's ark ornament and helped my mom make the King David ornament this year. Both were really fun and I was so happy with how they turned out. HEre's a few photos from our evening and a few photos of our ornaments. Addy wanted to be able to participate in the party. It was fun having a girly evening with her.

 photo DSC_0617_zpscbf8c1d5.jpg

 photo DSC_0640_zpsce55a996.jpg

 photo DSC_0642_zps005d0383.jpg

 photo DSC_0580_zpsd2dd10c2.jpg

 photo DSC_0585_zps653c60de.jpg
 photo DSC_0609_zps1018d896.jpg


 photo DSC_0607_zpsee3bf893.jpg

 photo DSC_0643_zps297fdbda.jpg

Pumpkins!

One of our favorite traditions is growing pumpkins! This year our pumpkins turned out a little small, but we still got a little harvest. The kids decided they wants to paint instead of carve this year, so we had a lot of fun doing that.

 photo DSC_0522_zps342f6ff7.jpg

 photo DSC_0520_zps0542213c.jpg

 photo DSC_0555_zps42f3893e.jpg

 photo DSC_0526_zps1ca2eeda.jpg

 photo DSC_0537_zpsa57bc4c6.jpg

 photo DSC_0525_zps308b85bf.jpg

 photo DSC_0564_zps44ca4a0d.jpg
Wes grew this awesome indian corn this year.

 photo DSC_0569_zps2b8daa0a.jpg

 photo DSC_0572_zpsc79f2342.jpg