NICU Reunion

A couple of Saturdays ago, Hailey was invited to a NICU reunion at St. Mark's Hospital.  

 

The invitation said to bring a picture of your child when they were in the NICU and one of them now.  

 

 Hailey looking at the picture of her when she was so teeny.

 

They had several fun "stations" to take the kids too.   Each child got a name tag to write their name and the date they were in the NICU.   They took all of their picture in front of this poster.

 

Then, they had face painting, fishing station, a craft table to make a frame for their picture, a balloon artist and the fire truck to climb on.  

 

There was also a huge poster with pictures of all the NICU doctors & nurses and families could write them a message.

 

Such a cute party and such a great reminder of how wonderful all the NICU staff are and how many lives they touch every day!

 



A Surprise Wedding!

A few weeks ago, I was folding laundry at 10:00 at night and Jon was sleeping - getting ready to go to work at midnight.   The my cell phone rang and it was my brother-in-law, David. 

 

I answered it and David asked what our plans were the next afternoon.  I told him "Oh, the kids get home from school and then some soccer stuff, etc.  What's up?"

 

Now, backing up a couple of weeks....

 

David met the most wonderful woman, Sandy.   We had a Bowen family dinner at the very end of August/beginning of September to celebrate Jon's birthday and we got to meet Sandy and her darling son, Dawson.   David & Sandy were engaged and had scheduled November 2nd as their wedding day.

 

We loved Sandy & Dawson right from the start!  They are absolutely wonderful and couldn't have picked a more perfect wife & son for David.  He was beaming!   After that dinner, I had corresponded with Sandy through facebook a couple of times regarding family addresses/flower girl stuff/etc.  

 

So, when David called a couple weeks ago, he said "We have decided to move our wedding date up a little bit.  We're eloping and getting married tomorrow and wondered if you and Jon would be our witnesses."

 

I first thought he was joking and even made sure with Sandy that it wasn't a prank.   I was so, so happy for them and thrilled to witness the marriage.  Jon was excited too and only slept a few hours before getting up to go the next afternoon.

 

We got to the Salt Lake County building, where they easily got their marriage license, but because they didn't have an appointment, there was no one to marry them.   We waited and hoped that either an appointment wouldn't show up or that their Bishop would be able to get there to do it.

 

Miraculously, sure enough, there was someone that became available to marry them and do they did!  Jon & I signed their marriage license and then the marriage was performed!  So fun!

Congratulations David & Sandy (and Dawson!!)!!  We love you guys!

 

It was so wonderful that Bob & Debbie and Anne & Emily were able to make it too!

Kindergarten!

The day after Labor Day, this silly girl started Kindergarten!

It was a happy day for her and a happy day for me!

She's my youngest Kindergartener (with an end of July birthday), but she was ready & excited!

 

 Kate & Hannah walking down the street together.  It looks so picture-perfect with the school bus driving by, but when we got down to the corner, the bus was actually stuck.  They were re-tarring (is that a word?) and the bus couldn't get through.   

 

Hannah & Heidi



2, 4, 6, 8!!

 On the last Monday in August, the 4 kids started school!  The summer went by so fast and we loved it.  We were busy and happy and safe - what more could you ask?

I have no idea why this picture is blurry - but Emily (Age 13) - 8th grade

 



 Lindsey (age 11) - 6th grade

 

 Kate (age 7) - 2nd grade

 

And getting this goof ball to smile....

 

 Finally - Jack (age 9) - 4th grade

 

Here's to another fantastic school year!

Being Five

 Hannah did 2 sessions of swimming lessons over the summer.   She made a lot of progress, but the one thing she refused to do was jump off the diving board.  She would not do it!  

I'd reassure her that she'd be safe, that Ms. Lorie would catch her as soon as she went into the water, reminded her that all the other kids in her class did it, etc., but she absolutely refused.   During the first session, I even bought her a makeup kit that she could have if she'd only jump off the diving board once.  Nope.  Wouldn't do it.

She started telling me after every lesson, "I didn't really want a makeup set."  

But then, she turned 5!

The day after her birthday, she had swimming lessons.  Once again, we got to the point in the lesson where all the other kids from the class headed to the diving board, and she stayed in the shallow end.  I went over to her and again encouraged (okay, begged) her to jump one time.  She wouldn't do it. 

Then, Lily's mom (from her birthday party), went over and said "But, Hannah, now you're 5.  You can do it." 

Lo & behold, that is all it took.   That Hannie of mine got out of the pool, marched over to the line, waited her turn....

Waiting for Ms. Lorie to be ready

 Adjusting the goggles

 

 And...

 

 Launching herself as far as she could to Ms. Lorie

 

 And then that stinker got right out and did it one more time.

 

When I cheered and cheered and then went over to her, I asked her what made her decide to jump. 

Her response  "because now I'm 5." 

 

Here's to a girl who definitely does it her way!

Hannah turns 5!!!

Oh, where do I start with this Hannah girl of mine??!!

Hannah waited and waited and waited for the day of her birthday to arrive!  And, it finally did!   Her birthday was on a Sunday this year and we have morning church, so after I got all the kids ready for church, we let her open a couple of gifts.  

She got a Friends Lego's set and has become a great lego-builder.  She asks to build them every day and follows each step of the directions.   (After she got that set, we (okay, I) went a little crazy and bought several more sets for the kids).   We've spent a lot of summer hours putting together Legos and we've loved it!

 Hannah - 5 years old!

 

 

That evening, we had a family birthday dinner for Hannah.  She wanted grilled chicken and noodles with 'white' (alfredo) sauce, so that's what we had.    And, then chocolate donuts for dessert!  Super easy and super fun!

 

I love all of her expressions!  These pictures definitely show her personality!

 

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!  I can't believe that you are already 5!

Mermaid Weekend - Part 2 - Hannah's Birthday Party

Part 2 of our "Mermaid Weekend" was on Saturday, July 27th.   Hannah was turning 5, so it was her year for a friend party.   We decided on a Mermaid Party (mostly because ideas I found on Pinterest were so easy).    We decided to have it only be a girl party, which was tricky because there are more boys Hannah's age then girls.  

Kelsi designed these darling invitations for me!

 

 

The party favors were super easy too!  I bought towels and used rubber bands on one end to create a fin look and then sewed velco to the other side for little mermaid tails.   The little star-fish wand I made just using things I found at Michael's. 

 

 

 

And, Whitney White, made these incredible cookies!   These were the most delicious cookies ever - seriously!  I ate about 4 of them just getting them ready for party favors and my kids kept asking where they all went!  So, so good!

 



We had the girls come and paint a little treasure chest.  They all loved it and took the time to make them really cute.

 Hannah and her new friend, Lily.  She met Lily at swimming lessons the week of the party. 

 

 Hannah's twin, Heidi.

 

 Brooklynn & Kate

 

After painting, we played a few games.  They tossed the jewels into the treasure chest.

 



 Lindsey drew these fish for me - for a bean bag toss.

 

 We blew up some balloons and the girls played on the trampoline with them.   They could have stayed on the tramp the entire time!

 

 Then we dressed up as mermaids for cake & icecream!

 

 Lindsey made these cupcakes for me.

 

And this was one happy little girl!