Catching up….Halle's Birthday

I figured I should catch up on our fall activities before I get really behind for December!

On October 12, we celebrated Halle's 7th birthday!

She was so excited and had looked forward to her day for months…

We stayed at the Marriott on the Magnificent Mile for a girls' night.

(Paul and Matt were on the ward youth trip)

Halle opened her presents on the bed after we had room-service breakfast!

We walked around downtown Chicago and Uncle Troy joined us at Chick Fil A for lunch.

Finally, it was off to the American Girl Store for dinner and shopping!

Halle has been eyeing Saige for 10 months now!

She loved having the waiters sing to her!

It was a super girly, super fun weekend!

And Halle got one more cake so Dad and Matt could help celebrate too!

Halle is such a fun, spunky, creative, silly, energetic girl-

What a fun way to celebrate her 7 years!

Bragging about my awesome husband on his Birthday!

I have been a blog slacker (as my family kindly reminds me)

but I wanted to make sure everyone knows what a wonderful husband I have-

and today is his birthday.

There's not much in the gift department that he wants, 

so I'm publicly giving him the recognition he deserves!

 He is constantly thinking about other people.

There is not a selfish bone in this guy!

He is a hard worker and is excellent at what he does-

people like working for him and he consistently delivers results.

(which also benefits me in terms of work incentive trips!)

Paul is a faithful priesthood holder and constantly magnifies his callings.

He is serving as Bishop right now and sincerely loves the people he serves.

(there is his, bishopping in the background)

He is an awesome, fun dad.  The kids love him and they love to be with him.

Paul recognizes the influence he can have with them and strives to be a great role model and example for them.  Even though his time is precious, he makes sure they know how much he loves them!

And Paul is fun!  I love to be with him. And so does everyone else!

(yep--Chad too!)

I feel so incredibly blessed to have Paul has my husband and best friend.  

He is a caring, devoted husband who always puts me first.  

 Happy Birthday!

Afton's 10th Birthday!

We spread the birthday celebrations for Afton over an entire week!

There was so much going on, that we couldn't fit us all in together for one night.

For her actual birthday breakfast, Afton ordered breakfast burritos...

We let her open her presents, since she would be busy that night.

In between dance and activity days, Afton picked Panda Express for dinner

and then took cupcakes to Activity Days to celebrate with friends.

Two days later, she got an official birthday cake and singing!

The next day she got her ears pierced and went shopping and got pedicures with Mom!

We love our sweet, helpful girl.

She is so bright and talented and brings so much to our family!

Matthew Turns 12!

Who told this little guy that he could grow up?

 And I have a feeling this big guy will still keep growing!

I've had all sorts of feelings run through me as Matt's birthday came and went.

First, he was twelve and old enough to officially babysit for us!  Yay!

Then, Holy Cow?  Our kid is twelve already? How did that happen?

And finally, I kept getting weepy.

Over the weekend, Matthew was ordained to the office of a Deacon and received the priesthood.  

I sat in there with the Deacons' Quorum as Paul and the other great Priesthood leaders put their hands on Matthew's head and gave him the authority to act for God on this earth.

Matt took this all very seriously and I was so proud of him.

Last night we went to the temple do do baptisms for the dead as a ward youth group.

Matt just squeaked in there with his birthday and it was such a wonderful experience!

It will be so fun to watch Matthew continue to grow--he has so much to look forward to and his future is full of possibilities!

Nora's 4th Birthday!

I figured I should post about her birthday before the month is up!

I can't believe our baby girl is 4!

She is such a sweet, fun, spunky, clever, entertaining addition to our family.

We don't know what we'd do without her.

I took Nora to American Girl Place for lunch and to pick out her very own American Girl Doll

She's been wanting one that looks like her...

Here she is with her new doll, "Nora"

(I mean, what else would you name a doll that looks like you)

Nora (and Nora) loves to pose for pictures

"reading" the menu

Enjoying our fancy lunch together!

I probably had more fun watching Nora-

she wanted to be so grown up and she sat up at the table while we had our "conversation"

But when a fun song came on, she had to get up and dance!

Nora loves her treats, so we had lots of treat that week...

Some yummy Minnie Mouse red velvet cupcakes

which we had on her actual birthday--

 and opened lots of fun presents ...

When Dad got back in town, we had a strawberry cake

(it didn't turn out so well looks-wise, but Nora thought it was great)

and she got birthday money and gift cards to spend on more Minnie Mouse stuff!

Happy Birthday to our Nora!

Halle's American Girl Baking Party

Halle's big present was her American Girl of the Year doll--McKenna...

It was the big item on her list, so she wanted to have an American Girl birthday party AND a baking party!

The girls were so cute as we dipped pretzels, made fruit tarts, assembled hershey kiss pies and decorated cupcakes.

Then Afton helped the girls play some games while I cleaned up and laid out the bake-shop treats and birthday cupcakes

The girls all had fun and Halle loved celebrating her birthday with her friends!

Halle is 6 Today!

We love our cute, fun, spunky little red-head!

Here are 6 great things about Halle on her 6th birthday!

1.  She makes us laugh!

2.  She is very popular--I had parents coming up to me at curriculum night telling me that their child talks about Halle all the time at home.  Halle has tons of play dates and birthday party invites!

3.  She is an awesome sleeper--more than any of the other kids, this girl loves her shut-eye!

4.  Halle loves her dad--they share a special bond because of that red hair!

5.  Halle cartwheels everywhere--she'd rather flip than walk!

6.  She has a big heart--Halle is a great friend and always wants to include others.

We love you Halle-girl!  Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Paul!

Happy Birthday to the best husband and dad out there!

He works hard to make sure we have a great life

He's been especially busy the past year, but makes sure we're his number one priority.

We love you!