Birthdays, Baptisms, and More

The first part of the year is an exciting time for our girls because they both have birthdays to celebrate.  First up is Sarah, who turned 4 this year.  She was born right before Valentine's Day, so it seemed fitting to throw a very pink, girly, Valentine's Day themed party....with a bunch of boys.  I invited a couple of girls as well, but neither of them could come, and the rest of Sarah's friends are boys.  But they seemed to have fun anyway.

Each game was a classic with a twist.  This was "Duck, Duck, Goose" renamed "Heart, Heart, Cupid"

 

This game was "Hot Potato" or "Pass the Potato" which didn't actually get renamed, but we used a plush heart toy

Bill had the brilliant idea to blow up a bunch of balloons, which kept kids occupied and happy on a couple of different occasions throughout the party

Sarah wanted a pinata, and thankfully her aunt Susan had made a princess one a few years ago for her daughter that she gladly let us take off her hands :-)

Sarah is our girly girl and loves the color pink.  So she got a very pink cake with strawberries and colorful sprinkles.

Next up was Kayla's 8th birthday in March.  She decided to do the same thing that Will did for his birthday, so she invited a few friends over for pizza and a movie.  Having a bunch of 8-10 year old girls was a bit crazy, but everyone seemed to have fun in the end.  Unfortunately I only got a couple of pictures cause we were banned from the movie room.

Opening presents

Kayla said she wanted a rainbow cake, and I loved how this turned out

 

A few days after her birthday Kayla and I went on our next Mommy/daughter date.  We were both so excited to see the live action Beauty and the Beast movie.  The original movie came out when I was not much older than Kayla is now, so it was so neat to share this experience with her.  It was a very fun movie and we both had a great time.

 

In addition to having a fun birthday party, Kayla had a second celebration about a month later.  In our church a child can be baptized when they turn 8 years old, and we are proud of Kayla for making that decision.  It was a wonderful weekend with friends, family, food and lots of fun.  Bill's parents drove from Idaho to be with us, and one of my best friends drove over from Indiana to spend the day with us as well.  It was a busy, full, special day, and we all enjoyed it.