Our Bestest Friends from R.C.

The F.'s came to visit!!!!  They had a week-long vacation, taking them to a wedding, a beach, an amusement park, and finally our house.  It had been almost a year since we had seen them.  Azie calls Cameron on the phone almost every day, so she was more than super excited to have them visit.

After the kids swam in our pool, they tried desperately to convince their parents they needed a pool of their own.

The putting green kept everyone busy trying to sink a few putts,

but Fil became the first person to sink two in a row on our green. 

It's deceptively difficult to get a ball in - the green is slanted.

Tam found a new best friend in Fil.

We have so much fun together.

May Birthdays

Tamzin turned two on May 3rd, and Azie turned five on May 4th.  True to my commitment, they had separate birthday parties this year.  

Grandma and Grandpa by the Beach did bring them a present a little early, and they opened them together. 

It was Moon Dough and Play-Doh accessories.

It provided countless hours of entertainment.

 I made Tamzin a Princess and the Pea cake, idea compliments of Family Fun once again.

Mine was a little sloppier than theirs, but still so cute... and apparently yummy.

Azie's birthday fell on the day the F. family came to visit.  That gave us double the reason to celebrate.

  

After seeing Tamzin's cake with the marshmallow girl, Azie came up with the idea that she wanted flower marshmallows on her cake. 

This is the best I could come up with, and Nita helped me polka-dot them.

Now that I've reached my goal of having separate birthday parties, maybe next year my goal should be to let Tamzin and Azie have separate posts for their birthday parties!

My Cute Baby

I just love my little Tam, Tam. 
She just loves to have her picture taken. 
These were from a photo shoot in my bathroom.

     

They just don't make kids cuter than this.

Kayja Turns Eight

The happy girl got some shirts, shoes, and gum from her sisters. 

Cameron and I got her a CTR ring and a set of scriptures along with a tote and scripture marking pencil.

Grandma and Grandpa by the Beach got her a CTR necklace, and Grandma and Grandpa by the Hill sent her $8.  Aunt Judy and Uncle Check sent their customary card and $1.  They do that for all my kids every year.

This cake was one of the easiest I've ever made.  I found it on Family Fun's website.

I do wish I had more candies so I could have blinged it out a little, but it was purple, so Kayja was happy.

 

Kayja was baptized on April 28th at the Highland Hills Stake Center. 

Grandma and Grandpa by the Beach were able to make it up from O.C. for the occasion.

She Says the Funniest Things

Azie has been cracking us up lately.  Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the last couple of weeks.

My eyebrow is asleep.

I can smell you with my ear.

When you drink it, it makes your shorts feel good.

I don't want to make people on the Wii any more because that's what Jesus does.  He makes people.

The Perfume Bottle

Darion inherited a very old bottle of Tiffany's perfume from her great-grandmother.  It is very vintage-looking although somewhat stinky.  I decided I wanted to decorate her room around the bottle. 

I mentioned my idea to Pamela on the phone one day and within five minutes she had her travel plans set.  She was soooooo excited.  She spent the next month or so making multiple trips to Hobby Lobby (her favorite store) and searching and searching online for the perfect ideas to make this room beautiful.  It all came together in four days with help from Mom the Seamstress.

Cameron and I were a little disappointed with how small the dresser looked when he put it together.  Pamela solved this problem by stenciling behind the dresser, which also added a touch of femininity.  Then she put the shelf above the dresser to add height.  This was also a great place to add some color with the bird and the bottle.  The spoon set used to belong to Darion's mother and was repainted to match the room.  The Tiffany's perfume bottle along with the other two perfume bottles were part of Darion's inheritance.

Darion has always loved to decorate her room with scarves and other clothes, so we figured we'd give her a place to do just that.  The frame above it has Mod Podged lace attached to the back and is used to hang earrings and necklaces.  One of the necklaces belonged to Darion's great-granmother.

Darion painted the picture of the woman in art class a couple of years ago, and her room was the perfect place to display it.  She painted the other three for the express purpose of hanging them in her room.

The two dark purple and the silver pillow were Pamela-finds.  The others were old throws covered with new fabric, thanks to a little math and a lot of pinning.  The handkerchief was also an inherited piece from Darion's great-grandma.  We just bunched it up and sewed it to the pillow.

The small bed was another concern of Cameron's and mine, and again Pamela solved this problem beautifully.  We used the window as the backdrop so that the bed can sit daybed style.  We also extended the curtains beyond the window in order to frame the entire bed.  Mom sewed it all with the exception of one pillow.

The elliptical machine unfortunately has no other place to go in our house, so Darion's room got it.  I had a magazine rack in a box in the garage that went with the room, so we put it on the wall to bring the elliptical into the design of the room.  The little table was pink when Pamela purchased it, but a can of spray paint fixed that.

Now exercising seems a little more pleasant, and Darion has a room full of family memories and beauty.