Piper's Baptism!

 In April Piper turned 8, which means she can be baptized!

She was so excited!

Just as Haley and Morgan did, Piper wore the same dress that I was baptized in when I was 8 years old.  This dress is pretty special because my mom made it all those years ago!

 Since her baptism fell on Cinco de Mayo, we couldn't help ourselves...we just had to wear our Mexican dresses.

Happy Birthday to our Piper!

We sure do love you!

Rory turns SIX!

On December 1st we celebrated Rory's sixth birthday!

It was a simple affair, but full of fun.

Our neighbors and cousins joined us.

Her dinner of choice: chicken flautas (straight from the fridge aisle at Costco).  I decided to add a big Mexican salad, sweet rice and chips with salsa...but the girl would have been happy as a clam with just the flautas!  And, an oreo cake...also her request.

Funny story:

When Rory came down the stairs on the morning of her birthday that stuffed whale that she's holding in the picture was waiting for her...she had been wanting that stuffed whale forever!  She was so excited and it pretty much went with her EVERYWHERE.  (Sidenote:  Piper has a whale exactly like it that she got for her birthday earlier in the year.  They would joke and say their two whales were husband and wife).  

Well, about fours days after her birthday we were putting her to bed and she realized she couldn't find her whale anywhere!  We looked and looked for it!  Finally we decided she must have left it at church earlier in the day.  We texted some people (her teacher, the bishop) to see if they happened to fun across a whale there.  No luck.  Rory was so upset, and her sleep suffered because of it...as did Ryan and mine!  She would come into our room throughout the night and eventually ended up in our bed.  Well, after three nights of that, and still NO whale, we decided to just buy another one exactly like it.  She came home from school and there was her whale waiting for her...oh the joy!  Problem solved.

Well, a couple of days later I was picking up the living room and realized that Rory forgot to bring her whale upstairs with her to bed, so I bring it up and give it to her only to see that she has her whale tucked in with her already.  So, thinking it was Piper's I hand to her, but again, Piper has her whale also tucked in with her.  The girls are now super confused as to where did this mysterious third whale come from?!!  I didn't want to blow my cover, because Rory truly thought I gave her the original whale!  So, I told them, "Wow, your whales must have had a baby!"  (It was the first thing that popped in my head.)  I thought they would think it was super cool and just go to bed...wrong.  They were completely freaked out...and there was NO WAY these two kids were going to go to sleep after hearing that two stuffed whales just reproduced a baby. Piper even got scared and started crying.

So, I caved...I told them the entire REAL story of what had happened.

We all had a good laugh.  

And Rory is super happy to be the owner of TWO whales now.

The end.

Happy Birthday Rory!

We sure do love you!

Celebrating 13!

Ryan was out of town for work the week of Haley's birthday, so we didn't have her birthday dinner and cake until the weekend when Ryan got back.  But for the actual day of her birthday she chose to go to an early movie (Wonder Woman) and then walk over to the mall right after. 

Haley and Morgan spent the morning getting ready for their girly outing.

Haley even curled Morgan's hair!

So cute!

 Haley showing off some of the things she bought at the mall: cat ears and false eyelashes.

What a great age to be...when you can wear flower cat ears and HUGE false eyelashes and look cute as a button.

 After dinner my parents and I took the kids to Riverwoods for a Dole Whip.

And of course it didn't take long for the kids to getting soaking wet in the splash pad.

We had a family dinner later that week with my parents and my brother's family.

Haley requested a pasta bar and that everything is pink!

 Even the drinks.

 I found this picture on my phone that Haley must have taken showing her birthday gifts: new pretty (pink) pajamas, pink purse, pink donut headphones, pink lip glosses and a HUGE poster of Audrey Hepburn that she has been dying to have.

Haley is the girliest girl I know.  

She loves all things pink!  She loves makeup, clothes, and accessorizing.  She adores animals...before she turned 12 she made a commitment to be a vegetarian and hasn't looked back since.  She's strong, determined and very independent!  She loves art, singing and dance and I admire her bravery when it comes to performing on a stage.

She is growing up so fast!

We love our Haley Girl!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday!!

We officially have a teenager in this house!

Happy 13th Birthday to our Haley girl!!

We love you!

Morgan turns 11!

 This year Morgan chose to celebrate her birthday at Color Me Mine.  She brought her bestie Campbelle and grandma and grandpa joined us as well.  She had been looking forward to this outing for months!

After we painted our pottery we headed back to the house to celebrate with a BBQ!

This year her gifts included a Ranger vest, her very first pocket knife, a book "The Outdoorsman Manual", and a little bike computer.

  

She picked out her cake and it had to have her name written all in caps, with green frosting (her favorite color) and with an exclamation point.  Love it!

What a fun day!!

Morgan loves the outdoors, camping, hunting and fishing...her favorite shows are Mountain Men and Meat Eater.  She also loves watching any animal show or reading animal books and is full of little facts.  She also loves graphic novels.  She is a fantastic shopping companion...she never complains and she is happy as a clam in any store whether it's Costco, a department store, Cabella's or Ikea.  She is full of life and super active...she's a night owl and loves to sleep in.  She's also my cuddler.  She loves to ride bikes in the summer and ski in the winter...and she's got a bit of a competitive streak as well.  

She brings so much joy to this family and we sure do love her!!

Happy Birthday Morgan!!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Morgan!!

Today your are 11!!

We love you bunches!

Ryan's 40th!!

 Last Saturday Ryan turned the big 4-0!

He scheduled his big birthday ride, "The Gauntlet" for that morning.  The Gauntlet hits all 5 climbs that branch off the Alpine Loop: Tibble Fork, Alpine Summit, Cascade, South Fork, and Squaw Peak.  It's close to 90 miles and crap ton of elevation gains (I can't remember how much, but it's a lot!).  Anyway, he got quite the crowd of cyclists that joined in (maybe around 30 people) that came out and do the ride too.  This is the third year doing it and I think it's become a tradition around here!  Ryan's Birthday Gauntlet Ride!

 So he left first thing...well, after his birthday breakfast of course!

We met up with him after he finished for Burritos at Bajio.

It was such a beautiful day so we ate out on the patio as finishers from the ride trickled in.

Later that evening we celebrated some more with cake.

 My brother and his fiance and our neighbors joined in on the fun!

It turned out to be such a fun day!

Happy Birthday Ryan, we love you!!

Piper turns 7!

Piper's birthday was pretty low key...I hope she wasn't too disappointed.

I know that she wanted to have a big friend birthday party, but I just wasn't up for it with my knee still the way it is.  I'm just very slow at everything I do and I walk with total concentration so I don't over extend it (something I'm very fearful of doing).  So hopefully she understands. 

 Her birthday landed on a Sunday.

We woke her up with her birthday breakfast and then headed off to church.  We enjoyed a very relaxing afternoon and then celebrated her birthday with hot dogs, strawberries, and sprite (her request).  We even found some pretty good meat free hot dogs for Ryan and Haley, and I must say, they were pretty good!

Morgan made her cake! 

(I helped with the frosting of it.)

 And then presents!

I was so proud of Morgan...she used her own money to buy Piper this doll she had been wanting and she was so excited for Piper to open it.  Piper was thrilled!

 I gave Rory some money to pick something out for Piper and Legos it was.  It's funny because my kids love the bigger Duplo Legos (even though they are geared for younger children).  And to be honest, I prefer them as well...you can't lose the pieces into the carpet (to be stepped on!) and it's easier clean up.

Oh how we love our Piper Cub!

Happy 7th!

We love you!

Happy Birthday!!

Yesterday was Rory's 5th birthday!!  I can't believe my youngest is already five!

My parents had been in town but had to leave a couple of days before her birthday, so we threw an impromptu party the night before they headed back home.

This girl had been taking about having a pinata for her birthday since summer, but the days leading up to her birthday she never mentioned it, and I didn't either to be honest.  I figured a pinata in the winter wouldn't work.  But, when we were walking through Target and she saw this Olaf, she was in love!  How could I deny her?!  But it was a win because this was the type of pinata that you pull the strings at the bottom...no beating required...perfect for indoors!

My brother texted me later in the evening, saying he was bringing over a surprise for Rory.

What do you know, he brought a pinata!! He knows my kids too well!   Except this one you beat...and with frigid temperatures outside and snow on the ground, doing it out doors wasn't going to work.

We improvised!

We all took turns whaling on it...and I'm proud to say, nothing was broken in the process and no one got whacked.

Success!

And since her actual birthday was two days later we got to celebrate again with just our little family.

We went out for burgers and ate more cake!

And the day also marked our first fire of the season!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Rory!!

Love you bunches!