Jackson's Seventh Birthday

On Christmas Eve, Jackson turned seven years old. I don't know why but Jackson's turning seven has been a bitter-sweet moment for me. He's at that point where is definitely not a little boy anymore and he's growing up so fast. Bryce looks a lot like what Jackson did at his age and this picture below just shows how fast he is growing up. It wasn't too long ago that he was that kid in the orange coat.

Jackson in his Tiger Cub uniform

Jackson at age 2

Jackson has an absolute love for sports especially BYU. Not on purpose but this birthday sort of turned into the BYU birthday. He wanted a BYU football helmet and jersey, and at one point he wanted a BYU blanket. He didn't know that was getting any of these things,  so when he asked for a cougar cake I sort of chuckled to myself. So he got a BYU birthday.

He requested breakfast in bed on the morning of his birthday but I forgot to take a photo of that. After breakfast we opened up presents. We gave him a basketball (he wanted to be able to take it school to play at recess) a fleece BYU blanket and a BYU helmet and uniform.

His adoring fans

The helmet

Decked out in full uniform. The jersey came with numbers you could iron-on. He choose number 13 because that is his favorite number and the current BYU quarterback Riley Nelson's number. He is just a little obsessed with BYU football but I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. He is not the only BYU fanatic in the house.

That night we had some people over for Christmas Eve. We sang Happy Birthday and then ate the cougar head. I really had no plan as to what I was going to do for a cougar cake. John-David found a picture of the baby cougar and I just started frosting. Jackson loved it and that's all that mattered.

Happy Birthday to our Jackson!

Our Little Lady Turns 4

Kelsey turned 4 on November 20Th. She has become so big. I think she was inspired by her Halloween costume so she choose a ladybug birthday theme. Kelsey lucked out by having a birthday party two years in a row but after this she is going to have to wait until she is 6. I have decide to just to birthday parties with friends on the even numbers. Having 3 birthday's really close together is a little too much for mom.

The day before was busy with the party preparations and making these little cuties. I have to admit they were a lot of work but they turned out so adorably.

A close up of the pretzel ladybug

I was trying to keep down the cost of the party and I happened to run across these on clearance for 20 cents a piece. We turned the shovels into ladybugs and this is what she gave her friends as a little take home present. I didn't post a picture of it but as a craft I had the girls decorate leaves

(a green frisbee) with glittery foam ladybugs. These also cost 20 cents.

When I saw this shirt I knew Kelsey needed it. We had Bryce give it to her the morning of the party. I think Kelsey's favorite phrase is "Bryce quit bothering me!"

I am all about the presentation of things.

Her darling party friends. I think is such a fun age to have birthday parties! Everything you do is so exciting. We played pin the dot on the lady bug, lady bug toss, dot relay and find the lady bug. While I got the food ready, (which I really just had to lay out) Dad read ladybug girl.

The party table.

Lady bug pizzas

The Ladybug cake

Kelsey looks a little pained right now but she

was really having a fun time.

The 4 year old making a wish.

The next day on her actual birthday, we gave out her presents.

We are so glad to have this little girl in our family!

She is quite the entertainer and adds

some real spunk. We love you Kelsey!

Halloween 2011

Halloween was a weekend long fun filled event with scout(both girl and boy) parties, school parties, trick-or-treating, church party and actual Halloween. I think we were a little costumes out by the end. Here are some pictures of some of our festivities.

Storm Trooper, butterfly, lady bug, and Yoda (he wasn't cooperating).

Bryce originally was going to be a monkey, but he was too

tall for the costume.

We had to get all the different posses.

Jocelyn's kindergarten party

Kelsey joining the class

The costume parade

Jackson's class party

Trick or Treating

Our favorite house:

The book lady!

Bryce thought this whole knocking on doors and

getting candy was pretty awesome.

Bryce also enjoyed passing out the candy. 

Bluebirds Soccer 2011

Jackson and Jocelyn had the privilege of being on the same soccer team this year. Their darling team made up of three first graders and four kindergartners, was called the Bluebirds. Their team name was inspired from the lovely blue shirt they wore. They had a great team and an awesome coach who coached truly because he just loves the game. It was really fun watching them this season!

Jackson wouldn't be Jackson if he wasn't intense about the whole thing. He really improved from last year and made a lot of goals. I think the best part of it was for me is seeing Jackson be kind to his sister. In one game Jackson had already made like five goals. The coach told Jackson to concentrating on passing the ball to other team members. When Jackson had the ball and Jocelyn was on the field, he made sure he passed the ball to her even if it meant stopping and passing the ball behind him. It was so sweet.

Jocelyn started the season a little on the shy side and was rather timid of the ball. I was afraid we were going to have a t-ball repeat season. I think what made the difference is that her coach really made things fun. Once Jocelyn realized that it was pretty fun and she was actually good if she got in there and played, she loved it. I think the thing that really sealed the deal for her was their very last game. Jocelyn played so hard the entire game and really was doing good. She tried to score a few times but missed. In the very last seconds of the game Jocelyn had the ball and was running down the field. The whistle blew and she kicked the ball, which went in. It was so exciting. She was so pleased with herself and it made her very excited for next season. It was also so nice to see Jackson so happy for her and wanted us to celebrate it, even though he had made 4 or 5 goals during the game. It was a proud parenting moment.

Warming up for one of their 6 games.

Two got cancelled due to weather.

Jocelyn at the beginning of the season chewing on her fingers.

I wish I had a fancy camera to be able to capture her running by the end of the season.

Some of their adoring fans.

Some hillbilly we found on the street.

Still enjoying those fingers.

Team huddle. Jackson is the pair of green socks on the right.

My favorite Bluebirds.

Jackson has an aversion to fruit however we told him last year that

soccer players eat oranges because it makes them better players.

He now eats oranges during soccer season.

Jocelyn loved half time with all the fruit.

This was the Bluebird's coach Scott.

He was a great coach and I liked that his main goal

was for kids to just go out and have a fun time.

I hope he coaches again next year.