School Halloween Parade

I caught sight of Michael as he paraded past my portable!

One of the perks of having a grandson at my school!

Getting Ready for a Princess Party!

Noelle and Melia made tutus for all the guests to wear! 

They had fun decorating in Aislinn's favorite color - PINK! 

Every princess needs a crown! 

A pink wand is a must! 

Aislinn loves to twirl in her princess dress! 

She definitely looks like a princess! 

Guests Arrive

AS the guests arrived, they picked out a tutu to wear, 

and got their nails painted in princessy colors! 

Princess photo shoots!

Brooklyn brought a tea set for Aislinn,
 so they practiced with it for the real tea party! 

Tea Party

The tea party was full of pink deliciousness! 

The cupcake cake was adorable! 

Aislinn loved blowing out the candles! 

Dancing and Playing

The girls danced to "princess" music! 

Then they played in Aislinn's room princess style! 

Prezzies

Aislinn had a blast opening her princess prezzies! 

The boys joined in on this part.....

Every princess needs multi-colored braids!
It was a little girl's dream birthday party! 

Cook Carnival

Melia made it back from Japan
 just in time for our school Carnival!
(Lucky her!)


Aislinn loved the bouncy slide!

Michael had a blast on it as well!

Luckily for Michael, hotdogs were
 on the menu for the carnival dinner!

Balloon animals were a big hit too........until they popped!

First Day of First Grade

Michael stopped by my classroom

 on his way to his first day of first grade!

 He showed me all his awesome first day of school clothes,

 including tennis shoes that make dinosaur tracks in the sand. 

Michael was so glad that his mom

 was here to take him on the first day. 

Here he is on the steps to my portable,

ready to head off to his first grade classroom! 

Everett's Blessing

Busy weekend continues.....

We got to bed late after Noelle's feast, so we enjoyed sleeping in a bit. Not too late though, because Matt Kelley and the family came up for a breakfast of pancakes and sausage. Then we quickly made more food to take to my brother Lane's house where we were gathering after church for the blessing of his grandson Everett. It was an occasion put together quickly as just 4 days before, Lane was still in Israel where he is stationed in Jerusalem. When his father-in-law Everett Baerwaldt passed away, he was able to arrange to come home for the funeral. Since he was here, we all gathered for the blessing of Jenni's little baby. 

 The guest of honor is on his uncle James' lap! 

 Two Everett's on the couch! 

Lance, John, Matt, and Logan share a laugh about global warming..........

24th of July Celebration

Today was a big day! In between all the preparations for Noelle's feast,  I took the kids to the park for for some 24th of July fun! 

Aislinn had fun at the fishing booth - but kept checking behind the curtain to see what was going on back there! 

She also went fishing for a duck and earned a prize! 

Michael asked the balloon man to make him a dragonfly. He had never done it before, but after a moments thought, proceeded to make Michael an awesome dragonfly! 

While all the food was cooking, we kept the kids busy with watering my yard - and each other!