Preston's Birthday Bash

Happy 6th Birthday Preston!

We celebrated on Sunday after both conference sessions. Melanie and her kids came out as well as Dee Ann. It was fun to have everyone there to celebrate with him. He was excited to have his cousins there. I did a Lego party for him since he loves Legos. I got lots of ideas off Pinterest and online. It's great to have those resources. 

Sara and Aubree helped me draw on the faces on the plates to make Lego Head plates. We made funny ones for the dessert plates. We had the kids guess how many Legos were in that vase and the winner got a box of Lemon Heads (or as I called them, Lego Heads).

The Lego cake. I was showing Preston ideas for his birthday cake and he was picking pretty extravagant one's. I finally showed him a couple I knew I could make and then we went from there. haha. I found this one off of the Betty Crocker's website. You make a 9x13 cake, cut it into thirds then one of the thirds into half to get the 2 squares. Then you cut marshmallows in half and dip in slightly melted frosting and stick on top.

"I spy a Lego Head"

I hid 70 of these around the room and the kids had to find them. We couldn't find 5 of them. My Mom called a couple days later saying she found a couple while cleaning. Funny.

Lego Memory

I printed off various Lego pictures and glued them to the back of circles. The kids really had fun with this and it was even better that it was girls against boys. The boys were winning big time at the beginning, but the girls came back and WON! It was a great game. 

L-R: Nathan, Dane, Carter, Kate, Lindsey (in way back), Kathryn, Aubree, Preston, Reed and Paige in front in blue. Most of the cousins, missing Hailey, Owen and Chelsea.

Owen and Chelsea were playing outside while the other kids were doing a relay race.

Lego Relay Race

Kids had a cup of Legos and they had to carry the Legos one by one on a spoon to the other cup (a little bit away from them) and the girls won at this too!

Who can build the tallest tower in 2 minutes? Go!

Preston trying to build one fast...It was supposed to boys against girls on this too, but he decided to make his own.

And Preston won! He might have had some help from Jeni and Derek. haha. The other kids were good sports about it too. :)

Opening gifts from us. He got magna tiles. These are spendy so he actually got them from us and Dee Ann. Our friend Allegra had them and my kids loved them whenever we went to her house. Then another friend, Kati got them too. They were fun to play with so I knew I wanted them. I actually ordered Magformers first from Amazon, but sent them back and just bit the bullet and bought the magna tiles. So far the kids have loved playing with them. They are worth it. And get the 100 piece set. You'll want all those tiles.

My Mom gave him a Star Wars Lego set and a pair of Star Wars pajama bottoms she made. He was pretty excited. 

He was excited for everyone to sing to him. He kept asking if it was time for us to sing to him. haha!

Happy Birthday Buddy! 

You are smart and funny and we are glad you're in our family.

Birthday Extravaganza

My Grandma Joyce's funeral was Thursday October 3rd. I'll post about that later. That weekend was also General Conference, Zane's birthday on Friday, Sara's birthday on Saturday and Preston's birthday on Sunday. Whew! It was a fun family filled weekend as we saw lots of family for the funeral and then more family gatherings for all the birthdays. 

The kids playing outside on the "playground" as my kids call it. On Saturday, we also took the kids up to the town park to play then to the local dollar store where they got to pick out something thanks to Grandma. The boys were once again riding motorcycles up above Ellensburg. This time Jeff and Sadie were here so he got to go with them.  

Zane turned 1 on October 4th. He is a cute kid with red hair and big kissable cheeks. He drools a lot which is pretty funny to witness. Sara did an alligator theme for his birthday. His bedroom is decorated in that theme as well. She did a good job planning everything. It was all so cute. She had fun names for all the food. She is a good little homemaker and crafter. Derek's family and all of us were there to celebrate and eat yummy food.

Baylor and Zane (on the right) checking out his new toy

Preston, Reagan (Jeff and Sadie's) and Zane

Paige and Kate showing us their new hand clapping routine with each other. I remember doing that with friends too.

Back-up to Catch-up

Ever since my Mom got a fancy camera I have relied on her pictures more and more. They take way better pictures than my camera and it's convenient when we are home to grab hers and go take pictures. Other people will grab it too and take pictures so when my Mom uploads the pictures to Google+ it's fun to see the pictures everyone took over the weekend. :) With that being said she uploaded a bunch of pictures and I wanted to include some on my blog even though they were from Labor Day weekend. 

My Mom made donuts Sunday night and she took this picture to send to Jared. 

Sara cut all our hair one day that weekend. She was busy. I finally let her cut Kate's hair into an a line bob and I'm glad I did. I like it. It makes her hair look fuller. She has super thin hair. I had her cut Lindsey's into the same type of bob. We were joking that pretty soon Kyle and Preston were going to get an a line bob and we'd do family pictures with us standing with the backs to the camera so you could see our matching hair! 

The boys went on a ride above Ellensburg. They talked Derek into going too. It was his first time and he did great...other than there weren't enough snacks according to him. haha. 

A pretty sunset picture taken by Sara.

The kids playing in the dirt pile. Kate and Lindsey are in dress up most of the time we are at my parent's house (especially Kate) and so this picture was appropriate because the girls are both in dress up. 

Chelsea being a ham for the camera. She thinks she's all grown up and can drive the gator. She's fun.

Grandma Joyce

My Grandma Joyce passed away on Saturday September 28th, 2013. She is my Mom's mom. She lived a long and happy life until the age of 81. She even went through having Rheumatic Heart Fever, Diabetes and Parkinson's. She was a great example to me of enduring to the end. I know she's in a better place, but we will all miss her. My Mom always told me my middle name was "Joy" after her Mom's name. I remember Grandma making us silky panties when we were little. As a little girl, she would ask me where the "happy Heidi" was whenever I was in a bad mood. I loved eating her frozen ding dongs when I went to her house and watching cable TV (that was a luxury). Grandma Joyce was so supportive, always coming to birthday celebrations, sporting events and baby celebrations. I'm lucky to have her as my Grandma.

Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Bill in 2005

Four generation picture with Kate in 2005

I am lucky to have both grandparents live near me when I grew up. They came to a lot of family things. It was fun. Grandma Joyce, my Mom, me, Kate and Grandma Helen Gene (my Dad's mom).

Christmas 2005 at their house in Yakima.

An amazing 5 generation picture with my Great Grandma Lucy, Grandma Joyce, my Mom, me and Kate.

My Grandma Joyce holding Preston in 2007

At one of my Mom's birthday celebrations in 2008.

Grandpa and Grandma drove over for the day to visit Lindsey after she was born. It was nice of them to come all that way to see her. 

Visiting Grandma at her house in Kennewick in March 2012

I liked this picture because in the background you can see her talking to Preston. Yes, and you see Lindsey's lovely black eye. ha.

Grandma Joyce seeing Chelsea for the first time at Miner's restaurant in Yakima. We met up there after Jared's all-star football game in Yakima at then end of June. Chelsea was only like a week old. 

Stopping by to see Grandma at the rehab center. She was in there for a little while before returning home. 

For as long as I can remember Grandpa and Grandma Wright would always wave bye as we drove away from their house. This picture was in March of this year. We were having a girl's weekend at Jeni's house and went to visit them. And as we left they waved bye, of course. :)

(My Grandpa also used to wash my Mom's front windshield on her car before we left to drive back home to Mattawa. Oh the memories.) 

Tom, Jim, John, Grandpa Bill, my Mom and Grandma Joyce at our reunion this year in August.

Almost everyone! What a posterity Grandma Joyce has. :)

And I couldn't resist posting this picture of Chelsea's arm and Grandma Joyce's arm. This was at the reunion in August and Chelsea was reaching over to her. It was adorable. It made Grandma smile. I remember the last thing Grandma said to me the last time I saw her, "you have a beautiful baby." 

You are loved and missed Grandma Joyce!

One of Those Days.

It was one of those days. You know one of those days when it's hard raising an autistic child. One of those days where you think you're making forward progress and then feel like you're taking steps back. One of those days you're grateful for that child, but wish they could just be "normal" so you don't look like a bad parent or get really embarrassed. One of those days that you cry over simple things people say or do throughout the day because they are so kind. One of those days where you realize how short life really is. One of those days where you need to count your blessings.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Our Stake put on a Daddy Daughter Dance last Friday night. I guess it was a western theme, but not too many people knew about that. They had a craft for the girls to do, taught them some dancing and served a dessert. Kate was looking forward to this night. She was SO excited to go. Lindsey was excited to go too. She likes to do whatever the bigger kids are doing. Chelsea wanted in on the picture action and actually cooperated. She cried when they drove away without her.

I put a little bit of pink lipstick on Kate. She was in heaven. She begs me to let her wear lip gloss and I always tell her it's only for dress-up. She's going to be like me and try to wear makeup as soon as she can. I had to wait until I was 13 to wear make-up and 15 to wear lipstick. I sneaked out of the house wearing some mascara before I was 13. I got in big trouble. My sisters and Mom said I needed to wear some lipstick (like around age 14) to add color to my face, but yet they still wouldn't let me wear any because they had to wait so I had to. haha! Oh the joys of growing up.