2014 Catch Up!

I have SO MANY PICTURES!!  Instagram is a much faster way to record our little lives' events so here is a quick summary of some things we were up to in 2014.  

 Quick summary:  My mom, Trevor, Erin and Ashley came to visit us!  We went to visit the Marstons and  hit up Disneyland while we were at it.  We got together with the Van Works and Stories for a cabin vacation. We had a ton of fun family time going to the beach, playing baseball games, hanging out with family, and roasting marshmallows with friends.  Liz started soccer and played a little basketball and Julie started ballet.  It really was a great year!

Lizzie's 6th Birthday

Lizzie turned 6 years old!  We started the party by having Grandma jump out of box. That was the best surprise birthday present of all! Woo hoo!

The girls were so shocked- it was hilarious.  We just kept right on with the party events and Grandma jumped in to help.

Liz asked for Rainbow cupcakes so we hopped on Pinterest together and she picked these.  All her favorite things: Rainbows, suckers, and frosting!

 This was a Halloween Birthday party so ll it was a double sugar fest.  We got all those kids even more sugared up after decorating sugar cookies.

 We played a bunch of games like pin the nose on the Jack-o-lantern, mummy bowl, and monster ring toss.

 Penny and Wade a little side party of their own! cuties!

 Liz was so excited to have all these friends over.

 She got way too many presents for one little girl!

 She blew out her candles like a champ.  I wonder what she wished for?  Maybe a whole bunch of candy?  And look it came true.  At the very end they busted the spider pinata open!

Lizzie is one amazing 6 year old for sure!  She does so well in school, loves her teacher, is an excellent reader, and a sweet sister and helping daughter at home.  She is my go to gal for sure.  She loves "babysitting" Penny and helping with the cooking and cleaning at home.  She is so close to Julie- they are constantly playing together.  They are pretty obsessed about playing with their stuffed animals: Rainbow, Pearson, Mittens, Alex, and Leprechaun.  It is never ending games of imagination around our house.  Liz loves reading the scriptures and prays almost every day that her lil sis Penny will learn to read the scriptures too. This girl is pretty darn special and I'm lucky she is mine!  :-)Love her tons.

Halloween

This year Grandma came to visit for Halloween!  We carved and decorated pumpkins...

 We also had school parties!  Grandma went to Kindergarten to help with the party.

Lizzie adores her teacher, Mr. A!

You can't beat trick or treating with Ann, Elsa, Olaf, Grandma, and Dave!  It was a great Halloween!

Julie's Special Day in Preschool

Julie has been loving preschool this year.  The best part of it all is her loving teachers.  They are so sweet and good with the kids.  On Julie's special day she was SO excited to bring her lovey, Mimi to show everyone.  

 Other special day privileges include being line leader, giving the five minute warning, and getting to beat the drum!

 Circle time is so sweet.  They are sit in a circle and each child takes a turn saying what they like about Julie.  She got so many cute comments like, "Julie is a good artist, she has pretty hair, and she has a kind heart."  All true!

An extra bonus to this special day is that Lizzie got to come be a part of it!  She joined in the fun and got to have snacks, color, and hang out at her old school as an alum!