Happy Birthday Noah

"I'm six!"

 In the background, Olivia is wishing that she was five so that she could do all the fun things that she saw Noah do.  It's a pretty fun age. Noah decided that he wanted a dinosaur cake, and that he wanted to help decorate.

It being the first fall that we have not moved in several years, this is the first birthday for Noah since he was 2 that he has actually known people in the area.  We thought about throwing a party and inviting over friends, but he chose another way. We gave him the option of having a friend party or having some extra cash.  "Money!"  I was a bit taken back, but he really knew what he wanted.  He wanted to buy more Legos. (We originally used this as an option with Harrison and Noah overheard and was really excited by the idea.)

One of the winner presents this year was a baseball and bat.  We had gotten a mitt for our southpaw a few days before at the neighborhood garage sale.  We guessed right that he might be ready and excited for baseball.

We finished it off with a Lego Harry Potter set, the movie Rio, and some popcorn for the nights viewing celebration!  We love Noah. Happy Birthday

New Bike

Last weekend Mollie got Olivia a new bike at a garage sale ($1 special!).  When she got home, Olivia immediately fell in love.  We got some training wheels put on (borrowed from one of the boy's bikes) and she spent all day on the bike.  On Sunday she woke up and wanted to ride the bike.

 I figured that by leaving the garage door shut she would be sufficiently deterred.  I guess not.

Our luck continues

I wrote last summer about Harrison finding a four-leaf clover.  He found two more in our yard in Maryland.  Our yard here in Washington has a healthy clover patch too. And yesterday Noah found a five-leaf clover.  This I have never heard of before, but biology is pretty crazy sometimes.

The Cabin - August Trip

This year we were lucky enough to get to take two trips to the Cabin. Well, we were lucky enough to get two brothers married in summer in Utah.  This month it was John getting married to JaNae.

Mollie couldn't make it again.  This time she was flat on her back recovering from the wonderful wedding festivities, trying to recoup before the long car trip back to WA.  She was sad to miss it, but glad her parents had lots of floor space where she could lie around applying ice.

We did the same kind of awesome stuff we always do at the cabin, walk around the woods, play games, hang out on the porch.  And of course visit the river.  The river had recovered and was at normal levels compared to the June trip where it was full and overflowing. It being safe, we did the traditional rock throwing and splashing.  Pictures below.

With all of the help from two families of cousins, we made a rather large wading pool. We put big rocks out on the edge and even had some gaps in the wall for better circulation. No one had a swim suit.

As usual, Dad wades in wearing jeans.

Final view of the pool.  One of our best.  I like the pool idea as much as I like the dam efforts to totally stop the river.  

When we were kids we would try and get the dam as far out as the big rock in the center of the stream.  Big spring flooding moved that rock quite a bit. Although I don't have a picture, Dan tried to wade out to the rock and sit on it.  That's when we realized that it was not in its usual place, and he was stuck chest deep in the stream looking for a refuge.  I love the cabin.  I wish I could buy the whole canyon to make sure that it stays just like it is.

John Gets Married

My brother John got married this August and we had a blast on our vacation to see him and the traditional Utah sites.  John's bride, JaNae, is from Nephi Utah, so the wedding was in the Salt Lake Temple. John completed the tradition of Payne men marrying up.

Mollie's parents now live in Fruit Heights, just north of Salt Lake.  So we loaded up the van, drove down and stayed with them. We were sad to miss the festivities in Nephi the night before, but we knew that piling the kids right back into the car for another several hour drive to and from Nephi the day before the wedding would ensure a miserable wedding day.  And Mollie had hurt her back pretty badly the week before, and was about 6 weeks pregnant, and a 10 hour drive down to Utah was about all she could take. She almost didn't make the trip at all, but was so glad she could be there.

The wedding day started out with a brunch in south SLC at Kneaders attended by all the extended family.

People got a variety of breakfast treats like puffed french toast, waffles, orange rolls, cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, french toast, OJ, etc. It was delicious.  It was also a great chance to enjoy all the cousins Aunts and uncles before the big event.

Being a good hour from Fruit Heights, we knew that we would not have time to go back to the Madsen's house before the wedding, so Mollie and I were dressed for the wedding. JaNae brought the wedding cake inside with us, to prevent it from melting in the car, I guess.  That made me nervous. I was constantly worried that the kids would accidentally knock it over, or Olivia would sneak a taste.

After the brunch, we went over to Ikea because it was so close (and we don't have one in Kennewick).  Then we stopped by the Anderson house in Draper to rest a bit before the ceremony.  Of course the kids did not rest.  They played with cousins.  I'm glad that our kids have cousins that are their ages.  The Andersons are a great bunch to play with.

This is where mom is telling me to buy light bulbs for Jeanne while I was at Ikea.  Light bulbs that did not exist...

Then off to the temple.  The ceremony was beautiful.  John and JaNae both looked great.  The sealer gave some nice words of advice.  I always love attending other people's sealing.  It gives me a chance to think back  on my own. Afterward there was the requisite picture taking on the temple grounds.

The whole gang.

The beautiful bride and groom.

The Paynes.  We really are getting to be quite a big group!

The sibs.  Everyone now has a companion.  Hurray!

Great shot of John and JaNae with Mom and Dad.

Another great shot of the beautiful couple.  It was a gorgeous (although a bit warm) summer day.

Love this shot of the cousins.  Nothing like busting a move (Noah) and picking your nose (Olivia) to give a picture just a little something extra.

Again, we got another family photo, but I think this time the heat added to their distaste for getting the picture taken.

The poor photographer tried everything to get my kids to stand up, look at the camera, and smile.  But it just wasn't happening.

So we just gave up, and went ultra goofy.

They managed to do a little better for the whole family shot.

The Salt Lake Temple is beautiful; and I really like the gardens that they put in on what used to be Main Street. Buying that piece of property was a very interesting move by the church, but it really adds to Temple Square. The reception dinner was next door in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and was a wonderful and fancy feast.

 Sara was thoughtful and prepared a coloring book for kids that would help keep them occupied while others ate and socialized.

Apparently, I also found it useful.

Cutting the cake!

The day ended gracefully, and we drove back to the Madsens with the kids thoroughly worn out.

Olivia is 3!

Olivia turned 3 on Thursday, and we had a great time celebrating!  She woke up nice and early, and was super excited that it was her birthday.  I think turning 3 is one of the best ages, because they really get what a birthday is for the first time, and love everything about it.

We put up a birthday banner and blew up balloons and had streamers out for when she woke up.  Her party wasn't until the next day, but she started asking right away when her friends were going to come, and when she could have some cake!  She had to wait for that, but we did let her open some family gifts.  She loves being a little mama, so she got some dolls and doll accessories, including a doll bed that Sam built for her.

She was really excited about getting a dress for her dolls.  She loves wearing dresses, and insisted on putting the doll's dress onto her doll right away.  

That night we celebrated with pizza and ice cream, complete with blowing out candles.  You have to do it on your actual birthday, right?  I just didn't feel like making 2 cakes (I'm not much of a cake fan) so we just put some candles in her ice cream.  

The next day was her party.  I'm glad I did it in the morning, or I think we'd have all gone crazy from the "When is my party?" question.  We went with the Hello Kitty theme again, mostly because I had snagged a bunch of cute Hello Kitty items from Target back last fall.  We kept it to just a small group of girls.  It was so interesting to me to have only girls in the house - Harrison and Noah were over at a neighbor's house.  It was really so calm.

We decorated (and ate!) cupcakes,

played outside,

played pin the bow on Hello Kitty,

opened presents,

sang Happy Birthday,







had some cake pops,

and just had a great time!

This is actually the first friend party that I have put on for any of my kids.  The past 3 years have been a bit crazy moving each time right around all of their birthdays (Olivia's birthday just before each move, and the boys birthdays just after), so this year I decided it was time to put on a real party.  It was a lot of fun, and not as overwhelming as I thought it would be - I think that keeping it small (6 friends) and short (just an hour and a half) were key.

We are so grateful to have Olivia as part of our family - she is such an inquisitive, loving, energetic little girl, and I love the added sweetness she brings to everything.  She sure is a ball of energy, and keeps me on my toes, asking "Why?" to anything and everything that comes up. She is like a fish in the water, and would be happy if I took her swimming everyday.  She's got a little swim-vest, and can motor herself around the whole pool. She loves jumping in, and now requests that I don't even touch her once she's in the water, she just turns back around to swim to the edge so she can jump again!  She loves giving and receiving hugs and kisses, and is a master at prolonging her night time routine with any excuse to keep mom and dad in the room.  Which includes grabbing us tightly around the neck and insisting that she wants to "cuddle" for a while. She is also very into clothes, and has opinions about everything.

We love you Olivia!  Happy Birthday!

Gladiolus!

Our front lawn has a flower bed where we put in a bunch of bulbs. One of my favorite are gladiolus. We planted these in our San Diego garden, and has loved them ever since. Besides being beautiful out in front of the house, we love having fresh flowers inside on the table.