Santa Luke at Halle's 7th birthday party

Tonight we had Halle's 7th birthday party. I'd say it was a success! She had some fun ideas and I tried to make it all happen, including a special appearance from Luke that was quite hilarious and fun. 

It was a pajama party/pizza party. We painted nails, watched a fun movie, and made these cupcake creations Halle saw on a YouTube channel where you make cupcakes that look like a hamburger and French fries. And then, there was the Santa visit. 

Here's where that idea came from.  For probably six months Luke and Halle have been talking about an idea where Luke comes to Halle's birthday party dressed as Santa and passes out presents to her friends. At first I thought the idea was just kind of funny and that it would pass, but they kept talking about it as her birthday got closer, and then I remembered Dixie had a Santa costume so I thought, why not? Why wouldn't we incorporate Santa into an August birthday party? But really, I figured the kids would love it and it was something different, so we went for it! Luke had a lot of fun with it, along with his friend Brennan who dresses up as an elf, and the girls LOVED it. They were all laughing hysterically. It was the highlight of the night. Here's some pictures from the party

  

Today we went and got new PJs for the party. Luke got some new Star Wars pj pants :). 

The finished cupcakes! 

A visit from a very jolly and silly Santa. The girls thought it was hilarious.  

Luke, Mr, Sweetooth, couldn't wait long to eat his hamburger and fries 

Two days of animal farm!

On Monday we went to the Thanksgiving Point Animal Farm and the kids loved it! It was the first time for the twins and they loved seeing all the animals. I loved hearing Avery say "oooooo!" and "ohhhhh!" so excitedly and pointing at each animal as she saw them. Her eyes light up and looks back and forth to the animals and me and smiles and laughs. 

Asher says "huhhhhh?" like it's always a question with the way his voice goes up at the end, and then babbles on and on with the most adorable little serious and concerned look on his face. His little baby babble is just the cutest thing in the world. 

Halle had a lot of fun with the animals and loved riding the horses. She wanted to do it again. She was cute and found a little grass to feed a baby cow and then Luke started doing it along with her. They were both such good helpers with the babies and I think they had fun seeing the babies get so excited to see the animals. The babies also liked watching the kids ride the horses. We went on the wagon ride and the kids were good helpers with the babies. 

We were in a hurry there on Monday because we had dentist appointments to get to and the kids really wanted to go back, so we went again today!

Here are pictures from Monday:

Today we went and it was a lot of fun, too. We packed lunches and had a little picnic. There were a lot of "ooooos" and "ohhhhhs!" from Avery again. I let the babies out of their stroller from the very does this time because it's a good place to let them walk around with it not being too big and surprisingly they did really well with it. Luke and Halle were great helpers and would help me with one baby if one was wandering off. 

A funny story with the twins - when we were waiting for the horse ride for the big kids and it was really funny because Asher kept wandering off onto the grassy area and I would say to Avery, "Avery, can you go get Asher?" and she would run toward his yelling "Sash!" and try to get him to come back toward us. She would point at me and look back at me, as he happily toddled along and ignored. At one point she held a water bottle up, trying to bribe him back to us with it. It was so funny. She is like a little mom to him always watching out for him. Their relationship is really cute and it's fun to see. 

Pictures from today:

Baby chicks

Meet our newest set of twins, baby chicks Fuzzy and Albert. Fuzzy got his name because he's fuzzy and cute, Albert because he's smart like Albert Einstein (say the kids :) ). 

Here they are a couple days ago

This was the day we got them. Look how much they've grown in a little over a week! They are growing fast! 

Soccer

Halle and Luke have been playing on the same soccer team this spring. It's been a rainy and cold season so far but the kids have been troopers and played in all their games so far, even when some of gem have been super windy and freezing! Luke is funny because he complains about going to soccer but he's one of the best on the team! And I feel like once he's playing he has fun with it. But he's really into basketball right now, his spring league just ended, so maybe he is starting to gravitate more toward basketball now. It will be fun to see if as the weather gets better this spring if he decides he likes soccer more, or if he still decides he isn't a huge fan (as of now he says he doesn't want to do soccer again). I'm glad he and Halle have been able to be on the same team, though. It's always fun to have them together! 

Good big brother

The babies are learning to color! They both are interested in coloring and try to do it when they can get their hands on some markers or crayons. Avery is especially interested in it. Luke is such a good big brother and sat with her, helping her color this morning. He is so patient and sweet with her as is such a good helper!

Basketball!

Luke made 5 baskets at his game yesterday! And one was from really far away. He's loving basketball lately! He played in the winter Jr. Jazz league but liked it so much he wanted to sign up again, so now he is doing the spring league. It's fun to see him find a sport he really enjoys, and fun to see him getting so good and improving! Love this cute boy of ours!!

Stuffed animals and sleepovers

I love that they love having "sleepovers" out in our family room, and that they love to set out their favorite stuffed animals with them. They play for hours with these stuffed animals. I love that Luke will still plays with them with Halle. They get so into it.  Luke was thrilled when he won the big blue bear in an auction at school today because it could be a husband to the big white bear and the little bears would finally have a dad. He said a lot of the kids in the class wanted that big blue bear but he was the lucky one with enough tickets to get it! (They get tickets for good behavior). Between that and his two baby chicks he got today (yes, we have chicks!) he kept saying "pinch me, this must be a dream!" and "this is one of the best days of my life!" It was a great day! Love these kiddos and love being their mom! It just keeps getting better and better!

After school when he got home with the bear. 

The chicks! More to come on them!

Pillow pile!

Lazy Sunday mornings (and jumping off mom and dad's bed into piles of pillows and blankets) are the best! 

(Asher wasn't as excited about the pillow pile and would rather be throwing things down the stairs!) 

Happy St. Patty's Day!

The leprechaun visited our house and brought the kids their yearly lucky charms, turned our milk green, and all our toilet water green! We also made lucky charm Marshmellow treats, and the kids looked super cute in their green outfits. 

Luke came home from school with this he made and at first was embarrassed to try it on for me, but I made him anyway, and then he got goofy with it. Little stinker is starting to get embarrassed about doing things that seem to "little kid" to him. He's growing up too quick! 

St. George weekend

We escaped the inversion in Salt Lake to sunny St. George for President's Day weekend. Scooter rides, picnics, and swimming in February...yes please! :) 

Luke's baptism

Yesterday Luke was baptized, what a special day. I still can't believe he is old enough to be baptized! I remember looking at families who had children that age and feeling like it was so far off, and now Luke is there!

We love this boy so much and are so grateful for him and what a good kid he is. He is such a wonderful example to his younger siblings. 

Luke was so prepared to be baptized and took the covenant he was making with Heavenly Father very seriously. He wanted to buy a baptism book last month which we bought and read all about baptism. The councilor in the bishopric said Luke did so well at his baptism interview and knew all the right answers. Not only was he prepared, he was so excited! Last month I remember him saying "I wish it was next month so I could be baptized" time and time again, and all last week leading up to Saturday he would say "only ___ more days until I get baptized!" 

The baptism day was such a great day and Luke had a lot of people come to support him at his baptism and come to his pizza party afterward at the house. He was also given lots of fun baptism gifts and some money - something we both weren't expecting! People are so generous. 

We love you Lukey, and couldn't be more proud of you! You are the perfect kid and I couldn't ask for a better son. Mommy loves you so much!!! 

Luke's baptism invitation 

Before the baptism 

This is the picture of Luke the primary took and had displayed at the confirmation. Luke's confirmation blessing given to him by Cory was very special and spoke about what a good boy Luke is, what a great example he is in our home, how proud Heavnely Father is of him and how much he loves him, and how Luke will do many wonderful things in his life as he grows up and continues making the good choices he is making. 

At the party at our house after the baptism. Pizza party! 

Luke picked Uncle Jake to give a talk about the Holy Ghost at his baptism. Jake spoke just before Luke got confirmed. It was also Jake's birthday which made it an extra special day for him!