Cami is TWO!!!

This couple of years flew by fast!  Cami has brought so much joy to her brothers and parents. We're so grateful to have her in our family.  Just the other day she was pointing at a picture of Evan again, saying, "That's Evan."  Only this time she added, "That's Evan's body."  I wonder how much she knows or knew before she could talk.  How I would love to learn!
Anyway, here's a few pics of her birthday and a few before.  My camera quit working, so I had to use Jared's hunting camera.  Yes - he has a hunting camera!!

...Getting in the pink and preparing for the big day - painting butterflies and flowers to decorate her room!

On Dad's birthday, practicing before her big day, how to eat large quantities of sugar

Want a handful of icecream?
Without being asked, Cami automatically says "cheese" when she sees a camera.  I don't know where she picked that up.

Cake anyone?

Happy Birthday, Dear Cami!

The boys decorated their cupcakes with princess shoes, crowns, pearls, and apples.  Jace swallowed his in one bite, I think.

 



Dad made it just in time for cake.



She ate the icecream and just looked at the cake.  Perhaps she thought it was too pretty to eat.  I finally cut her a slice and she ate it like a princess :)



She had so much fun opening her presents!  She giggled and got so excited when she saw what was inside.  Raincoat from Jared's sister and cute cute outfits with matching hair bows.  She absolutely loved them!  She had to put the raincoat on right away and ran to her closet to get her pink boots to match.  Jared's parents got her a pink flamingo necklace that she wore to church and was a pretty pretty princess.  The gloves were from my family...

My sister found this baby doll, perfect for Cami.  You can never have too many babydolls! Cami loves that she can take the shoes on and off and change her diaper.  She's even potty-training her baby on her little pink toilet.
We gave her a baby doll-size port-a-crib to put all her dolls in, and Lance picked out a purple dinnerware set with Tinkerbell on it.  (the pink one had The Little Mermaid on it.  She only knows who Tinkerbell is)  When we put her bowl and spoon out for her, she exclaims, "It's Tinkerbell!"
Cami is such a delight and we're so blessed to have her!

Lance's Birthday

Birthday Morning before school: Lance is wearing the shirt he really wanted me to make for him with Sharpie markers to match one of Kyle's, also marker-made. Jace is being like mom, too busy worrying about their masks to put his own on. I've done that with sunblock too many times. Lance's Birthday turned out to be "a Super, Duper, Plooper Day". As he wrote in his Kindergartin class's Birthday journal:

("I had a batman party. We played batman, ran around my house, ate cake, opened presents, had soccer practice. It was a SUPER DUPER PLOOPER DAY. By, Lance")

When they got here, his friends climbed through the "bat cave", got their capes and decorated masks on, and after running around like wild batmen, they played a few games like "Mr. Freeze" - when the music stops. I didn't even know there was a Mr. Freeze in Batman, but then, the last time I watched Batman was in '89. Hey, I'm one up on Lance, who hasn't seen any of them! He just wanted this party because his friend and our neighbors had one that was really fun back in Utah. That was almost a year ago. Ah, good memories...

Speaking of which, when I was finding batman music on the internet, I remembered the "Batdance" music by Prince. Do you remember that? I would have used it for Lance's party if it didn't have inappropriate stuff in it. I was so bummed. Such a catchy beat. Made me want to start dancing at 1 am when I was finding it.

Anyway, thanks to my sister, Jamie, I was able to find some appropriate batman music from the 60's. It was great. Thanks, Jamie :)

Anyways, playing "Follow the Joker"Waiting in line to-Pin the Bat on BatmanKyle was smallest, so he got first hit at the pinata. Turned out that he got the only hit while it was still in the air. So each kid got a turn beating Batman while he lay on the ground. Whoever thought of making the hero of the party a beating target? Seems like it should be the bad guy, but then that doesn't encourage good or praiseworthy feelings, either. I told Jared that maybe next time we'll go back to beating homemade soccer ball pinatas (his BD last year). At least they would last longer.

(Lance's birthday last year with his cousins, at the cabin - miss those times!)

Later, I found the label on Lance's shelf that got taken off the pinata when filling it. It said: "Pull-String Pinata: A safe, fun party activity! Ask each child to take a turn and stand under the pinata, select a ribbon, and pull it. Only one ribbon opens the hidden door and releases the goodies."

I still think the kids had more fun beating the dude on the ground.

Partyin' friendsMommy and Batgirl

Happy Birthday, my super duper 6 year old!

One Incredible Woman

This smile comes from a woman that gains her happiness and joy through serving others. This is Jared's mom. Her life is devoted to her family's well-being, as well as her friends. She is an incredibly talented nurturer, cleaner, and organizer.
The day after we had our first child, Jared had to go to a business conference out of town. She took me into her home, gave me her bed and room while she slept on a mattress in her living room, fed me delicious food, and gave me advice that I'd never heard or even imagined that I would need after giving birth to a child. Needless to say, she took care of and showed me how to care for my newborn baby as well.
She put up with our whole family living in her basement for several weeks while our first home was being refinished. Each time I had a baby, she came in and helped with whatever needed done, usually tons of laundry and house cleaning.
When Evan got sick, she quit her job and spent countless hours, days, weeks helping us, whether it be in the hospital, especially while I was in the other hospital having my 3rd child, or at our home, where she kept it and the laundry under control during that entire difficult year.
On Match Day, when we found out that we would be moving to Missouri, she was in the hospital after having a hip replacement the day before, and when we called to tell her, she cried because she was hoping so much that we would get to stay in Utah, but she quickly added that she would ride up with me in the van to help with the kids on the trip. She helped us survive the long 3 day journey up here, and then stayed for a week to help us unpack and get organized, especially the kitchen, which she unpacked and put away completely, making it convenient for me to finally use all of my things, including the china that we stored for years!
Her health hasn't been the best, but she tries to ignore her aches and pains and continues to serve others.
I have learned so much from her Christlike example, and I think I've become a little better of a person because of her.

We love you Gramma Judy!

Happy Birthday!

Jace Farewell/Early Birthday party

We had planned to move the day after Jace's last day of school, June 9th. Jared begins residency on June 21st. After looking at the calendar, I realized that, if I took Jace out of school for his last two days, we could be at our new house a WHOLE week earlier. Then we could have DAD home with us an EXTRA WEEK before we never see him. When I approached Jace about this idea, he wasn't big on it. Who wants to miss the last day of 4th grade and all the fun and parties? So we made a deal. It worked out great for both of us.

What a Party!!!

Great Food,Great Friends,

Great Games,

(Just a closer look at that nose that seems to be looking better)
Voting for Bowling Championships (Most Valuable Bowler, etc)

The bowling alley here at the U of U let me buy a used bowling pin for a buck. The kids signed the pin, the basketball (a gift from his good friend that played on his Junior Jazz team a few years in a row), the Atlas book(another gift from a friend), and the autograph book that Mom made (Hey, I thought it might be a good idea!)

It was so fun to watch Jace and his friends that he knew, many of them, since the first grade, when we moved here. We will miss Utah and the great friends we have made!

Happy Birthday to Me and Cami :)

Today marks my 31st birthday and Camille's 11th week. How 'bout that?


This is me with my party hat. (Protecting my IV- I had tons of blood transfusions) I guess you could say I partied from the start!

But what a great day! Mandy upstairs threw me a party and I was surrounded with wonderful friends and my mom, who brought a delicious lunch along with baby pictures of me!

(Photo compliments of Lance)
Check out this apron! Jeni made it - It matches Cami's Camo booties (that she also made). Can you see them? Or are they too well hidden?

What a blast! I'm so grateful for friends and family that made today so much fun!