Happy Birthday Austin!

Happy Birthday Austin!

6 years old

You can get away with blowing bubbles in your chocolate milk on your birthday!

Austin chose to have german pancakes for breakfast, yum!

As soon as school was over, we invited Austin's friends over for his birthday party.  

He could hardly wait.

The kids had fun making candy necklaces.

We had some relay races.

A piñata always makes things exciting!

All of the kids took turns hitting it, and then Hunter took a few swings but let Austin finish it off.

Austin loved having his friends over, he loved the games and treats, and he loved all of his gifts.  It was all so perfect!

A new bike was our gift to Austin.

Linsey made Austin his birthday cake and our neighbor let us borrow her cake stand again, the one that turns and sings happy birthday.  We think it's pretty cool!

The next day we drove out to Kennewick to celebrate with Grandpa.  

Grandpa Butler and Austin share the same birthday!

We love Austin and his sweet personality.  Our family has a tradition where we go around and say something that we love about the birthday person during their birthday dinner.  When it was my turn, I said, "There are so many things I love about Austin, it's hard to choose just one..."  Austin interrupted and said, "Just say them all."  It was so cute, we laughed and laughed.

Here are a few of Austin's Favorites.

Favorite hobbies:  basketball, soccer, football, bike riding, running races

Favorite colors:  blue and green (Seahawks colors)  and yellow, 

and white, and black, and gray…

Favorite treats:  chocolate, tootsie rolls, suckers,

Favorite movie:  Cars 2

Favorite thing to wear:  clothes

Favorite activity:  projects

Favorite dinner:  homemade macaroni and cheese, bacon, and watermelon, and lasagna

When I grow up I want to be:  a veterinarian

I wish...  I could be a unicorn

I dream...  about soccer and winning!

Favorite vacation...  bike riding in a tunnel.

Favorite day...  going on a field trip to Seattle to see a play. 

Happy Birthday Emma!

Happy Birthday Emma!

10 years old

Emma chose to do something extra special with a small group of friends.  Having a large group for a more traditional party is fun, but this turned out to be perfect for Emma.  She had a great time, and so did I.  These girls are such great friends for Emma.  I adore them both.

We've been to visit the Space Needle many times, but this was our first time going to the top!

While we waited for our turn, we took some pictures.

We ate dinner at the restaurant at the top of the space needle.  The view was spectacular.  The restaurant slowly rotates around so you get a 360 view of Seattle, it was absolutely breathtaking!

Fancy goblets and all, these girls had so much fun giggling and being silly.  They loved putting notes on the window and thought it was really cool to see that when we came back around, they were still there.  (You can see one on the window behind the girls.)

Isn't this dessert amazing?!  It was the perfect ending to a fabulous experience in that restaurant!

We checked out the observation deck which was cool, but decided that the restaurant was a lot more exciting.

We came back to our house for more fun.  Linsey planned a treasure hunt for the girls, they LOVED it!  We made fruit pizzas and the girls played and watched a movie.   It really was a great night!

The following Sunday was Emma's actual birthday. We celebrated by having her favorite dinner.  My neighbor brought over this fun cake stand for Emma to use.  It rotates and sings Happy Birthday!  I love the look on her face.  

We sure love Emma.  She is such a blessing and a joy in our family.  Here are a few of her latest favorites.

Favorite hobbies:  running, eating, and dancing

Favorite colors: red and lime green

Favorite treat:  chocolate

Favorite movie:  I like them all!

Favorite thing to wear:  yoga pants or running clothes

Favorite activity:  running

Favorite dinner:  homemade pizza rolls

When I grow up I want to be...  a PE teacher

I wish...  I had a thousand wishes!

I dream...  of an awesome world.

Favorite vacation...   our cruise 

Favorite day....   getting Milo

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas 2015

And the tradition carries on... Santa always sets up a barricade so the kids can't sneak out to peak.

We all got some fun stuff, Christmas morning is always lots of fun! 

Our super nice neighbor gave all the kids very thoughtful gifts.

She doesn't have grandkids and feels lucky to be able to treat my kids like grandkids.  WE feel like the lucky ones here.

 Here is Austin trying on all of his Christmas gifts at once.

These bumper cars were a HUGE hit!

Can't forget the dog.  Milo got a new bed and a bone.

Later Christmas day, good friends came over to visit and play.  Love these girls!

 Papa and Grandma Jeanne came to visit and stayed to enjoy Christmas dinner with us.  

Two days after Christmas, my family came for a visit. 

We played games, watched movies, ate delicious food and laughed a ton!

Gavin brought ping pong paddles and balls so he and Emma could play together, just like they did on our cruise.  It was such a fun idea.

 It's a crazy bunch - that's for sure.  

We had a TALENT SHOW!

 Austin showed off his break dancing skills.

Emma played the piano.

Gavin showed us how many times he could bounce that ping pong ball.  I think he stopped at 100, but could have gone higher.  

 Zach and Hunter did this...

Linsey played the piano.

Braydon made some strange duck like noises, I still can't figure out how.

Anthony showed off his juggling skills.

Our white elephant gift exchange was hilarious!

Anthony got Austin's white elephant gift (notice how Austin wrapped it with a picture of a white elephant - that was all his idea).  I'm glad Anthony ended up with this gift because when Austin picked it out, he had really hoped that Anthony would get it.  He kept talking about how funny it would be to see Anthony wearing it.

He resisted at first, but his wife wasn't about to let him get out of this.

Yeah, he's a good sport.

We said goodbye to all the Butlers and then hosted a New Years Eve party for the McInellys.  Talk about fun!

We started off NewYears Day by running a family friendly 5K.  That was a fun way to start off the new year and left us feeling guilt free to lay on the couch and watch football all day.

And now we are off to 2015!  Happy New Year!