Kent's Birthday!

Kent's birthday was pretty low key too. We each made him a card with a coupon attached instead of a present because hey, it's just more stuff to move at this point. =o]

I got up super early and made him a special breakfast, and while we waited the last few minutes until the made-from-scratch-apple-cinnamon-muffins were done we got to have a relaxed heart warming conversation. We are so blessed to have each other! I love celebrating people on their birthdays and letting them know how much I love them!

While Kent was at work we got ready the best surprise he could ever want- a clean house! Trust me, it was a ton of work and he was super happy and grateful. =o] 

Since he got home late and we had already eaten, I got out one of his mission photo albums to show the kids. He had a great time reminiscing and telling stories and the kids LOVED it! Then he opened his presents. 

We still had cake left over from Caleb's party and even my birthday so we opted for a batch of some of his favorite cookies to make ice cream sandwiches with instead. 

Seth was LOVING the ice cream and Kent and the kids had a great time taking turns pretending to be Seth scarfing his dessert or commentating his every move. It was so fun to laugh together so hard!

Then while I put Seth to bed Kent and the kids played games in the dark with these glow in the dark balloons. It would have provided HOURS of entertainment had we let the fun continue! I seriously think we are going to get some for our emergency storage for when the electricity goes out. 

After the kids were in bed Kent and I discussed some house stuff and watched a movie while I folded laundry. Like I said, low key. But hopefully he still felt celebrated and loved!

Caleb's 5th Birthday and PARTY!

Caleb's birthday was pretty different than in the past and I am so proud of him for rolling with the punches like a champ! Kent wasn't home, so the celebrations were spread out over more than just one week as is tradition. Since Caleb is 5, he got to have his big party with friends (we are doing big parties for 5,10,15, and 20), which was super hero themed and held at the park. Simple and stress free was the goal!!

Here are his decorations I put up the night before. 

He loves this sign and begged to keep it up until we move!

For breakfast he wanted toaster strudel... no idea why! lol! But he was the birthday boy so we did it! 

He got to open some presents at breakfast and throughout the day. This year was super different because he was there when we got his presents, instead of the siblings all going to the store with a parent to get surprises. He got to help pick things out from everyone and Natalie kept reminding me that she didn't want to do it this way on her birthday. Like I said before though, I am so grateful he was so flexible! 

He wanted to play games all day! (And yes, those are CHRISTMAS decorations still up in the background. We barely got them down and put away before February to tell you the truth. I was feeling super overwhelmed to say the least!) 

They danced around for like an hour that morning and here is Caleb leaping from the banister during an especially rousing round of "open the gates and seize the day!" 

After we finally all got dressed we played outside for a long time. 

Our neighbors came over (I'm sure they could hear us!) and presented Caleb with several coins for his coin collection. They are such kind people and we will miss them!

For lunch Caleb wanted to have designer pancakes. I did a couple cool shapes and then he decided to give it a whirl...

Genius. =o]

Then after lunch he opened another present and it took a lot of convincing by Natalie to stick to the plan of making "surprise inside cupcakes" instead of something from his new cool Star Wars cook book. I didn't care either way!

During quiet time we read through all of his journals/baby books, scrapbooks, photo albums, etc. I felt so bad that I hadn't had the chance of update them recently, but again he was so easy going and said it was ok, he could wait to see those parts. Whew!

Then we made the "cupcakes" aka brownies. Each had a (leftover Halloween candy) surprise inside. The kids were THRILLED by this experience. Seriously, it is more stressful to me to make everything with them underfoot, and they don't look good at all ha ha, but they LOVE it! So I tried super hard to just sit back and let them do as much of it as possible and not care about the product as much as the PEOPLE! Caleb was so happy and proud. 

Oh and did I mention we were doing school intermixed between all this? Yes. THAT.

Then we opened some more presents... 

...which he was beyond excited about as you can see!

And then we went out to dinner at Chic-fil-A! Yes this was his top choice!

It is because of the play place of course!! I caught this awesome face that I didn't notice until after because I was chasing Seth. When I asked him what was wrong he said he didn't want those strangers in his birthday picture because they ruined it. Ha ha! Who ruined it? Who?? LOL silly kid!

Then we got home and decorated the cupcakes. Again, LOTS of fun...

This picture just makes me laugh...where is he???

After that and talking to Kent I put Seth to bed. When I came out I found Mr. Independent building his new Lego set! 

He then changed into his new snow jacket and refused to take it off to go to bed! =o]

Saturday morning rolled around and with it came the long lost Dad! Caleb got another few presents from Kent. 

One of those gifts was a teenage mutant ninja turtle DVD of old episodes. WOW is all I have to say about that. During quiet time I went to Costco to pick up the cake and dinner items for the party. 

Then finally the moment had arrived! We piled all the stuff into the car and headed out to the park. The kids were beyond excited to play with their friends (even if the games I planned were total bombs) and it was so great to see friends we hadn't seen in a long time. Even our sweet old neighbor Abe came, and gave Caleb a new backpack and a whole bag full of foreign coins for his collection. He also got Canadian coins from our both friends from Canada, so he graciously shared some with Natalie.

He was SO HAPPY and I am so grateful that I can honestly say that nothing else mattered!

After the experience of cutting and serving this cake I understand why people do cupcakes for parties. Deciding who got which piece and how big and blah blah was ridiculous! 

Some of the crew =o]

Everyone was so kind and brought gifts even though we had said they didn't need to, or could just give him a unique coin. 

Natalie had a blast catching up with her friend who came to her 5th birthday party in Rancho! 

Then the next time that Kent was home, he took Caleb out "mini golf-balling" as Caleb calls it. He felt so special and loved and grown up getting to hang out just the two of them. I am so grateful we have this tradition!

Caleb also got a birthday blessing, and we did a birthday interview that was just hilarious! He is such a fun, smart, handsome, kind-hearted kid! 

Happy 5th Birthday Caleb! We love you!!

House Hunting Trip to Utah!

When we got back from Hawaii/Madera we turned around and three days later went to Utah to find a house to buy. I will forever be grateful that Kent is so interested in this process because then he does most of it! =o] In other words I know that he would choose something better than I would so I just kind of hang on for the ride!

We got in on Friday night, and then Kent was gone all day Saturday finding an awesome house with our realtor while I got to be with my sister and the kids got to play with their cousins! Win-win-win! Of course we played in the snow. It was A LOT of work, but also a lot of fun! =o]

Rebecca's house is already so cutely decorated! And I'm so excited for them and their plans for the unfinished basement! 

On Sunday we went to their Stake Conference which went surprisingly well and I actually got to hear the majority of an AWESOME talk about the sacrament that I am totally going to turn into an FHE lesson sometime. Then after church Rebecca and Eric graciously watched the kids (minus Jenna lol) so Kent could take me with the realtor to see his top five choices. They were all amazing homes, but I fell in love with one floor plan after walking through and luckily it was his first choice too! So we arrived back home just as they were sitting down to dinner (the poor soldiers!! at least uncle Derek had come to try and help ha ha) and Rebecca had even made a birthday cake for the four January birthday-ers! Katelyn, taking after her thoughtful mother, had even made us each an adorable card and prepared some games to play for a party. Then we packed up the car and drove home because Kent was heading out the next morning on a business trip. 

So despite being a whirlwind of a trip, it served it's purpose! Thanks for hosting us Murrays!

UPDATE: I forgot to say that the house we are buying is in South Jordan! It is being built by Perry Homes and is their "Chapman" model if you'd like to take a look:
http://www.perryhomesutah.com/home-designs/chapman
We are beyond excited!!