Happy Birthday Kelsie

Kelsie turned seven on Thursday. She celebrated with 15 of her "nearest and dearest" friends. It was the biggest party she had ever had and it was a little crazy, but she had a ton of fun. She wanted a High School Musical Party theme. I had a really hard time getting excited about that theme but we tried our best. We danced to the soundtrack, played "Freeze Dance", did a flip flop cake walk to win flip flops, decorated the flip flops, had pizza and cupcakes for dinner, and ended with a "Go Wildcats" pinata and lots of flying candy. Kelsie loved every minute of the craziness. My favorite was watching her at dinner. The kids were spread out in the back yard in a few groups. After Kelsie got done eating, she went around to each group and sat and chatted with those friends for a little while and then went to the next group. It was so cute to watch her "mingle" and it made me realize just how grown up she is getting. She is growing up right before my eyes and has gained so much confidence this year. We are so proud of the beautiful girl she is becoming. We love you Kelsie!

Flip Flop Frenzy

I was planning to buy cheap flip flops to decorate for Kelsie's birthday party. Then, I heard that Old Navy was having a $1 flip flop sale and I was super excited to be able to get nicer flip flops for cheap. I really love a good deal! I headed to Old Navy on Saturday morning and it was pure craziness. The line was wrapped all the way around the entire store...and everyone was buying flip flops! I ended up standing in line for an hour to buy my 15 pairs of flip flops, but it seemed worth it when I walked out with all those fun colored flip flops. The girls at the party loved them. We decorated them with rhinestones and beads and I think they turned out so cute. Every one is so unique and fun.

Imagination

In search of treasure

The map

There are two things this little four year is not lacking: Energy and Imagination. Emily seems to have boundless energy and she always has. She is happiest when she has a wide, open space to jump and romp around in and is in the middle of acting out some imaginary game she's dreamed up. If you catch her in the middle of play, she is in some other world...a very happy world! She's being trapped by witches, or traveling in search of treasure...or...well you get the idea. The possibilities are endless when you have an imagination as big as this kid. On this particular day she had created a map and was out trying to find where the buried treasure was hidden. Her trusty friend, Ashley the dog, was by her side through all of her adventures.

Note: She also insists on dressing herself and only wearing skirts. She comes up with some really winning combinations and there is always LOTS of color. Sometimes I feel like I have my own little Punky Brewster living with me.

Women's Conference

I had the chance to go to BYU Women's Conference this year with my mom and two of my sisters. John stayed home with our kids so I could go. We went to some great classes and learned a lot. It was so fun to spend the day chatting and hanging out with my sisters and mom--without kids. No offence to any of our cute kids. I always love walking around BYU campus and remembering the college days. I loved seeing my mom's first encounter with the dreaded RB steps! I came home totally exhausted from what I thought would be my relaxing "girl" day, but it was totally worth it!

Little Librarian

We have church at 1:00 in the afternoon this year and I have to admit that I totally love it. I love having the whole morning with nothing to do but hang out together and relax. It is the most family time we get all week. My girls a love the lazy morning and are really content to play together and make up new games. Kelsie's latest was to set up a library. She organized the books and invited us all to come and check out books. She made signs to let us know when the library was open. Eventually, she added a reading corner and story time to her library. It was so fun to see her so engaged. She kept the library running for several days and we all had a good time with it. I loved watching her. It was like having flashbacks of my favorite memories from my own childhood--playing school, setting up restaurants and offices, building hideaways, etc...