Catch up: Where we are and what we're doing this week!

Well, June 15th was Eli's birthday, and I made a post that said "Part 1" of that week, and have not caught up since. :)

We are back in Phoenix to have our 3rd baby (in two days!), but first, here's a quick catch up on the end of our Washington trip:

Eli got the neatest kite for his birthday from Great Grandma and Grandpa Dailey. It had been in the family for over 40 years, and was the best quality kite I have ever seen. It went up 1000 feet in the air! My dad had to use the drill to real it back in- thank heavens for his quick thinking or we might have been winding for hours. :) Eli was in love with it. We flew it every time the wind picked up!

Side note, check out the beautiful country I grew up in!

Later that week, we were invited to a tea party at Great Grandma Celesta's house. The kids were to come dressed up and ready for a good time. Check it out: Grandma Celesta doesn't take her tea parties lightly....

We had Itallian Sodas instead of tea, and every kind of good food you could possibly imagine. Wishing we were back there now, enjoying it all again! 

After the tea party, Grandpa John let the kids ride horses. Alayna loved it. Every time cousin Ruby circled her back around asking if she wanted to get off, she would just say, "Again." And around and around they went. I love that my kids are getting the chance to ride horses. :) 

We love Grandpa John! 

In late June, the entire family gathered to attend the temple together with Sam, hear his farewell talk, and spend some time together for the last time (we'd all be together) for two years. It was so much fun. The kids loved holding baby Mercy. 

Of course, any chance to get the whole family together is a chance for a new picture. Essie did not like this idea. 

Love my family! 

The fourth of July started out with a ward breakfast and games:

And was followed by more kite flying: 

A few awkward, dirty faced selfies on the way to dinner #1..

And ended with dinner #2 back at my parents, followed by sparklers and fireworks: 

While we were in Washington, we participated in their summer reading program. Every week they had a new big show or activity. Eli's favorite was the clown and the magic show. One week, they got to see firetrucks, ambulances, and police vehicles up close. Super fun! 

Alayna said as the police man helped her off the motorcycle: "Thank you fireman!" 

Followed of course by playing at the park :) 

Later that week, we sent Uncle Sam off on a 2 year mission!

But not without a lot of hugs goodbye: 

By then, we were wrapping up our time in Washington. But not without a last goodbye party in Farmington with lots of extended family!

Goodbye country roads! 

We stopped in Salt Lake for a day to rest and catch up with some of our close friends from our years living in UT. What a fun night! 

The kids were so exhausted from all of the traveling, they actually slept for several hours in the car 

(miracle! ESPECIALLY for Eli- who never sleeps, and tells you so regularly. ;)) 

Alayna had thrown up once early that morning, we think because she ate too fast, because she wasn't sick the rest of the trip. Still, she insisted that she needed the garbage bucket to stick her head in. Every time she fell asleep with her head in the garbage, I'd try to discretely remove it, and she would grab it, pull it back over her face, and go back to sleep. I finally gave up. Too funny. Especially since she was never sick again. 

Once we made it back home, we stayed busy with all kinds of activities. 

Family night out to the Diamondbacks game was a highlight, although the kids liked the fireworks better than the game: 

And finally, sailing with Grandpa was a good time had by all!

Now we head into August- the month where we found out yesterday Otto's crazy day/night ER schedule for the month, where we have a new baby via Csection, start prepping for our three month trek across the US, and start flying out to interviews for residency. Stay tuned- it's about to get even more exciting!

Week 3: Where we are and what we're doing this week! Part 1: Eli's 4th Birthday!

On Monday, my first baby turned 4! We had an amazing day together. We started the day in Riverfront Park in Spokane with cousins. We rode the carousel:

 

And the Gondolas:

And went to the IMAX movie about wild monkeys (which Eli found completely hilarious).

We also played at the splash pad, rode on the big slide, fed garbage to the garbage eating goat (don't worry people, it's a metal trash dispenser shaped like a goat), and had a picnic lunch. Fun fun morning!

We hurried back home to get ready for the party that evening. I asked Eli several months ago what kind of party he would like, and he said a "hero" party, like the one in Winnie the Pooh. So that is what we did! Here is what I came up with:


We had an outdoor party to simulate the party they had on the movie.

 
 

We had flags and party whistles at each place setting. During dinner, we took turns talking about why Eli is a hero, and then would wave our flags/blow whistles to cheer for him. :)

 

 

 

I put together a dinner/dessert family style, based on some fun Winnie the Pooh themes I found on pinterest/adapted for this party:

 

 

I also made several "honeybees" out of yellow and black pom poms, white cardstock and some hot glue. They were mostly to use on the piñata, but I used them as table/food décor as well:

 

Finally, I asked Eli if he wanted a Winnie the Pooh cake, or a cake like the one they have in the movie (pink cake with chocolate frosting) and he said that's what he wanted. (Not going to lie, I was a little relieved. It was the MUCH easier of the two options!) Here's the "hero cake"

 

 

Credit to the amazing frosting job actually goes to my mom. Here's a shot of the whole spread:

It was a little crowded with so many of us at the table AND all the food, but I wanted it that way because it was most like the movie. All in all, I was pretty excited about how it all turned out!

Next, we had "Pooh" themed party hats, that Eli got to hand out based on who he wanted to be which characters. I saw this idea on pinterest for pooh and piglet, then adapted the rest based on pictures of the characters I found online. I used regular party hats and wrapped colored cardstock around them, then drew the faces on with black sharpie markers. If you look too closely you'll see all of my glue smears and marker mess-ups, but all in all, I was pretty pleased with the finished product here too. And most importantly, Eli loved handing them out and playing with them. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In attendance we had Otto, Eli, Alayna and I, my parents, my youngest brother Sam, my Grandparents (Eli's great grandparents), my Aunt Carmen, her daughter (my cousin) Amy, her husband Adam, and their three kids Ruby, Vivi, and Porter. We had such a great time!

 

 

You have to love the tigger hat and cowboy hat combo. :)

 

 

Cute little grubby face

 

Adam, Ruby and Amy

 

My parents

Cute little Porter

 

Sam, making faces.

 

Carmen, Vivi, and Ruby.

 

And of course, this cute little birthday pooh bear:

 

 

Eli and Vivi are only a few months apart and they have had so much fun playing together!

 

 

After dinner, we broke the piñata. I made this just by using a regular balloon as the base (with the typical newspaper strips+flour/water combo) and then covering with yellow tissue paper and the honeybees.

 

 

The kids had a lot of fun with it:

 

 

Then we had a "hero" parade (copied from the movie) complete with throwing Eli in the blanket at the end. He enjoyed this very much. :)

 

 

 

As if we hadn't had enough sugar already, we blew out candles and cut into the hero cake:

 

 

Then we finished up with presents:

 

 

All in all, it was a tiring:

 

 

but happy day!

Happy FOUR years to my happy grown up little man!