Lindsey's 13th Birthday & Glow-in-the-Dark party

I think Lindsey had a good 13th Birthday.   All Lindsey wanted for her birthday was baking supplies and cake decorating lessons.   So, that is what she got.  She was really sweet and let Hailey open all her gifts and I wasn't smart enough to snap some pictures.  She had school and then soccer practice that night.  I brought donuts to the end of her practice, which I think the girls loved. 

 

 Lindsey, Bella, Beth & Makenna

 

She came home from practice and her sweet friends called and asked if they could come over.  They had been working for hours on a cake for Lindsey.   It was so sweet and so cute of them to do that.

 

Lindsey, Grace, Addy & Sierra

 

The weekend after her birthday, we did her birthday party.   We had decided to do a Glow-in-the-Dark party, which worked out great.  I knew I didn't want 20 hyper-screaming preteens in my house, so having it in the dark at the park was perfect. 

 

Lindsey really, really wanted to play a version of "fugitive" where you drop a group of kids off in the neighborhood and they have to find their way back to the park.  I wasn't willing to be responsible for something like that (Lindsey has a really mean mom!) and felt that we should all stay together at the park.   Lindsey was a really good sport about it - even though she was extremely disappointed.

 

This is the cute invitation that Kelsi designed for me....

 

 

 

It was still light when the kids arrived.   I had ordered some crazy amount of glow bracelets (like 1300), so we let them all make any accessories they wanted.  Some took a lot of time and were really creative.

 

 Bella, Emri, Hannah & Olivia

 

 Emma

Jessica, Megan, Grace & Addy

 

 

 

We had also found some glow-in-the-dark paint, so they could paint a little wooden box to take home.

 



 Hailey is all about a good craft project!

 

 Kate's necklace

 

 Kate & Lilly

 

Hannah

 



 Jessica & Sierra

 

 Jack really got into making as many glowing things as possible.  He was a good sport to be there with all those girls (and Jon and my brother Mike).

 

The group:  R1:  Lilly, Lenaya, Emma, Malena, Addy, Emri, Hannah, Beth & Delaney

R2: Sarah, Grace, Brea, Olivia, Jessica, Megan, Lindsey, Bella, Eve & Sierra

Not pictured:  Zoey & Alyssa  (they had car problems, but got there shortly after)

 

 Then the night games started.  Jon (Bless him!) took charge of most of these.  We had a balloon game where they had to put a glow stick in a balloon, blow it up and keep it up in the air while trying to knock down other's balloons.   They played Jon's version of fugitive and played some capture the flag.

 

At the end of the party, we had dessert and Lindsey opened her gifts.

 

She has great friends and it was fun to have them all run around like crazy in the dark at the park!

 

Happiest Birthday to a wonderful teenager!

Cute kid pictures

 While we waited for Mike & Mandy's wedding ceremony to start, I grabbed the kids and got some fun shots of them outside.  It was a gorgeous day and I think I got some good ones!

Hannah - age 6

 



 Kate - age 8

 

 My cute niece Brooklyn - age 3

 

 Hailey - age 3

 

 Kate, Hailey, Brooklyn & Hannah

 

 Lindsey - age 12 (but turned 13 the next week)

 

 Emily - age 14

 

Jack - age 10

 



 My adorable nephew Jake - age 2

 

 My darling niece Sophia - age 3

 

 My handsome nephew Max - age 17 months

 

Becky and her cute kids!

 

 Hannah is so photogenic that it's hard to not just take a million pictures of her cute face!

 

Hailey & I (too old to mention my age)

Mike & Mandy's Wedding - September 18, 2014

On Thursday, September 18th, my brother Mike married Mandy Eggett.   We absolutely love and adore Mandy and love how happy she has made Mike!   Mandy has two little girls, Zoey & Alyssa, and we have absolutely loved having them join our family as well.

 

On the morning of the wedding, I met Mike, Mandy, my mom, Mandy's mom and Mandy's sister at This is the Place, where they had their ceremony and reception.   It was a gorgeous/lodge-looking building and was perfect for the wedding.    Mandy had prepared beautiful centerpieces and arrangements, which made set-up easy and fun!

 

I got the kids out of school a little bit early so that I'd have time to get their hair done and to the reception place by 4:00.  I was able to take some cute pictures of them (next blog post) beforehand and then wait for the ceremony.

 Riley & Remmy

 

 

At 5:00, the ceremony started.   My dad's good friend, Paul Warner, performed the ceremony.  He did  a wonderful job and the vows that Mike & Mandy shared with each other were beautiful and sweet.

 

 Mike waiting for his bride to walk down the aisle.

 

(I didn't take a ton of pictures because I didn't want to be the annoying guest with a clicking camera the entire time).

 

 Jake was outside and happened to slip in right before the ceremony.  He did a good job of standing with Uncle Rich and Uncle Pete.

 

 Sweet Alyssa was one of the highlights of the ceremony for many of us.  She was so sweet and so emotional and tried to fight off her tears the entire time.  I think she was just so happy and so grateful to see her mom so happy that she just couldn't stop her emotion.  She was what made me cry.

 

 And sweet Zoey was just soaking it all in and having a blast!

Mr. & Mrs. Sorenson

 

We then went outside for pictures and appetizers.  After that, they served a delicious dinner!

 

Then, the dancing began!   The one thing that our side of the family knows how to do, is dance at weddings.  It was a blast! 

This is Annie & Riley watching Mike & Mandy's first dance - in complete adoration and excitement!

What a wonderful day and evening.  Thankfully the clean up was minimal, but we left about 8:30 or so because the kids had school the next morning and I was actually leaving at 4 in the morning for a retreat to St. George.

Congratulations to Mike, Mandy, Zoey & Alyssa!  Oh, how we love you!