Birthday Week!

Last week was birthday week at our house! On Tuesday, Tessa turned 8! She got to spend a fun day out with Mamma. Mommy came home from the hospital that afternoon, and that evening, Tess got to open a few presents. 

 She got a book on baptism from Mamma, a new princess dress, and a new cd from Mom and Dad!

 Everyone was a little freaked out by Mommy, but they tried to hide it and still come near me. 

 Thursday was Caleb's birthday and he turned 2! The kids spend another fun day out with Mamma so Mommy could rest. When they got home in the evening, Caleb got to open a few presents and then they had some cupcakes and ice cream. 

                                       

Aunt Katy brought Caleb a Nemo toy.

 

He got some Star Wars toys and dinosaur toys from Mom and Dad.

And Mamma got him some new sandbox toys.

His big surprise from Mom and Dad was a Storm Trooper that is the same size as he is! He was so excited!!

He was so excited to blow out his candles. Mommy made him do it twice to make sure we got good pictures. He had no complaints!

Such a happy birthday boy!

It wasn't exactly how I would have liked to celebrate their birthdays, but they both had happy days, so that's all we can hope for. Happy birthday, kiddos! We love you!!

Summer of Fun-Week 8

Adam had a pretty exciting week, but the rest of us had a pretty mellow week, which was nice. 

Adam got to attend an all week sports camp at BYU and he had so much fun! Each day they played a different sport and when I picked him up every afternoon, he had a giant grin on his face and a lot of sweat running down his cheeks. 

 He got to do gymnastics and track, soccer, football, baseball, and basketball. He loved getting to hang out with the football team and play football at the stadium, but he said playing basketball was his very favorite. 

 Mommy has been getting a lot prepared for her surgery next week. We have been cleaning and preparing freezer meals, and grocery shopping. Mommy also indulged a little since she won't be eating for 6 weeks. We also had friends over to play a couple of days this week. 

 We have been so excited for the Olympics to start this summer! I had planned on doing a big Olympics party with a family Olympics in the backyard and a big Opening Ceremonies party. But life had other plans this summer, so we settled for a small pizza party while we watched the Opening Ceremonies. And it was fun!! We are so excited to cheer on Team USA for the next 2 weeks. We can't wait to see Michael Phelps make more Olympic history!

 Mommy was thankful to get to spend an early Saturday morning at the Temple. It was just what I needed. 

Mamma arrived on Sunday to help out while Mommy is recovering. The kids could hardly contain their excitement!! They are ready to have a fun week with her and Mommy is anxious to get this surgery over with and get on with life. Always an adventure....

Expedition Unknown

Last Sunday, we celebrated Tessa's birthday with the whole family. Tessa went back and forth on several ideas of what she wanted to do for her birthday party this year. She finally settled on an Expedition Unknown theme, after her favorite show on Netflix. Mommy had a hard time coming up with ideas for that theme, but I think we nailed it and everything turned out perfectly!!

 Tessa specifically wanted to focus on the Nazca lines and the Amber Chamber, so some of our decorations incorporated those things. 

 Ready for some adventures!

 We made a dig site cake

 We had lots of treasure and artifacts around the house. 

 We even had a snake for dinner.

 Tessa said it was better than she had imagined.

 Our cute little Explorer!

 We were glad to have a few of our cousins come to the party. Mommy and Daddy planned a special treasure hunt for the party. 

 The clues to the puzzle were hidden in the sandbox. They had to dig the pieces out, figure out the puzzle, and participate in the activities on the back of the puzzle pieces to get the treasure clues. 

 To get their first clue, they had to do a Mummy wrap. The girls were more efficient than the boys, so they won and got the first clue to the treasure. 

 The next activity was dart guns. The kids had to blow q-tips through straws and hit the target. 

 Next was Target shooting

 Our last activity was supposed to be a booby trap and we were going to play pie face, but we were missing some pieces to the game. Instead, the kids all went digging for the final puzzle pieces so they could get the final clues for the treasure. 

 After they got all the puzzle pieces and figured out the puzzle, Mommy gave them the final clues and they tried to figure out where the treasure was hidden. It was in a place that was dark, cold, you can't see it from the outside, and it has no carpet. The kids thought the basement might be a good place to start looking, so they headed down there. 

 And they were right! They found a treasure box full of goodies for them hiding in the basement. 

 Opening some of her presents! She got some good stuff!!

 She was excited about her ice skating lessons!

 Kathleen brought some head scarves from Morocco and taught us how to wrap them. We look so mysterious!

 Before she headed off to bed, she said it was the best birthday ever. It was a pretty great party!!
Happy Birthday, Tessa!!

 Documenting some of her loot. She has a few more presents to open on her actual birthday. 

She especially loves her fossil necklace from Michael and Kathleen. 

 On Monday, Mommy and Daddy took Tessa out for a special birthday dinner. This year, she chose Chick-fil-A. She's pretty easy to please!