Zachary's 3rd Birthday Luau!

The tiki bar is open... we made yummy Pina Coladas!

Chris working his magic at the grill, sweet and sour shrimp skewers and Tropical Chicken skewers with grilled pineapple.... mmm...
Cute Abby coming back for more Pina Colada, the girls wanted fancy glasses too, and had fun dressing up for the party.
Nicole and Caleb...
Patty with her cute wrap from Hawaii...
Claire, Caitlyn and Nico with their plates full of yummy food!
It's my party and I'll pout if I want to... someday I'm going to teach this kid how to cooperate with the camera...
The three second graders having some fun... Hannah, Fayth, and Abigail...
Isabelle was all decked out and ready to party... she wanted to wear the flower bra by itself, but Mom was mean and I think she looks adorable anyway.
What would a luau be without fun fruity smoothies complete with pineapple wedges, maraschino cherries, and little umbrellas?? Not at my party.

For the last month, Zach has been telling anyone who will listen, "my birthday's coming up!"Zach got spoiled as usual... thanks everyone!
Abby the overseer, we had to keep reminding her to let him open his own presents, big shock!

When we went to try on his new Spider Man costume from Chris... this was way too funny and cute not to share. Silly boy...

Shake your coconuts!


I think everyone had a good time... good food, good company, good fun!
Ivana ALWAYS tries to get out of pics, so Chris actually took this one holding the camera upside down in his hand walking by... too funny!
Patty had more patience trying to get all the right fingers in the right places in his glove.
This is to prove to Nicole that I did actually sit down at one point and even enjoyed myself too!

Spider Man, Spider Man, does whatever a Spider Can! Spins a web... blah blah blah... sorry, don't remember the rest, you'll have to ask Zach. He still LOVES Spider Man!

TJ, TJ, TJ...
My baby is getting SO big, and fun, and cute, and smart, and....
Happy Birthday Zachary, you are such a cute little man!

Claire Starts Kindergarten!

Wednesday was Claire's first day of Kindergarten! She has been ready and waiting for about two years now... she was so excited! She got the same fabulous teacher that Abby had, so she could hardly wait.
My little girl is growing up so fast! Zachary LOVES his big sister, he can't wait for her to get home everyday to play now. He looks up to her too!
She bought this dress herself and it looked really cute with her little black boots too!Bye Claire, she had a great first day at school, big girl!! She'll do great, she's not just a pretty face you know, she's so smart, and she actually knows how to listen and learns quickly! Have fun Claire!

For Anyone Who Missed It...

For the few of you who didn't hear... we just did our fun family photo session with Denise and Bella Blu Photography... she posted a sneak peek of some of the pics on her blog. If you want to check them out, Check out her Bella Blu Blog!!

Getting Cousin Todd to the MTC

On Monday I picked up my cousin, Todd Hendrickson, from the SLC Airport. He came into town because today, he went into the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo to prepare for his mission to the North Santiago, Chile mission. He was a funny, nervous missionary but I tried to keep him somewhat entertained, fed, and just distracted enough from getting too nervous. I took some pictures to show his Mom and Dad that I took care of him and sent him off happy and safely!
Todd had never been to Utah before so naturally we had to take him to Temple Square! He was surprised by how big the Salt Lake Temple was...

Todd is from Texas where they only have "epic hills" so we had to take him up the canyon close by our house for a little mountain hiking... I think he really enjoyed that.
Todd was being cute with Claire, holding hands and twirling her, and going ahead when she wanted to go faster than Zach could...

I love this picture!! This was Zachary's birthday too... he turned a big boy three!


This was Todd waiting outside Tucano's for Nicole and TJ to join us, he was getting very nervousWe took Todd to Tucano's for his last supper, they feed the missionsaries for free before they go into the MTC, and now I know why, they bring family with them, and they are so nervous, they don't eat very much ;) but I think he enjoyed it anyway!
We took some pics before he kicking him to the curb ;) this is the Provo Temple.
One arm shot... with Todd and the "Big Tall Girl!" (he gave me that nickname when he was about 2, and it has stuck ever since... I told him I should be the Short Small Girl now that he's grown a little, but he says I'll always be the Big Tall Girl!
Here he is finally at the MTC... I think most of his nerves went away when he saw all the other Missionaries and knew he wasn't the only one, and saw where he was going, etc. and just got more excited.

The MTC just changed their drop off policy, no more family orientation, you just drop the Missionary at the curb and wave goodbye... part of the reason I dropped him off, and not Steve and Darla, I'm sure it was easier for me to say goodbye at the curb... Here he is going off with the Elder that said he would help him through his first day... Bye, Todd! See you in a couple years!