Camping at Palisade

My parents arranged a fun camping trip for us.  We stayed at Palisade State Park.  My mom reserved a cabin to stay in which was nice as I was 7 months pregnant at the time.  The cabin had electricity and the bathroom and showers were just a short walk away.  Always important to have bathrooms close by as a prego lady.

Me and the two little girls enjoyed staying in the cabin while Easton, Clint and Marielle slept in the tent.

We enjoyed going on trips up into the mountains on the four-wheeler and razor.

Looking a little dusty and dirty after a four-wheeler ride.

Easton wanted to ensure his safety by wearing Adriana's life jacket.

My mom planned a fun decorate-your-own-shirt activity.

Hanging out and having fun together.

My grandma, aunt and cousin Melanie and her son Carter came out one night and enjoyed dinner with us.  My grandma is so cute.  She has a funny personality- which is where my Dad gets it from.   Esme asked, "Why does Grandpa Bob's mom have a canker?"  I said, "How do you know she has a canker?"  She replied, "Cause her couldn't bend."  Oh- a cane.

Don't ask me why I have to act like a dork.  Apparently being around my cousin brings me back to my super hyper childhood days where I did lots of dumb things.

Clint and I were able to visit the Manti Temple and do a session.  It's the first time we've been back there since we were married.

Once again- why the specialness?

I love this picture because Esme and Adriana were holding hands while we were cruising around and I had to snap a picture.  So precious.

My kids loved camping with everyone.  They can not stop talking about all the fun we had.  

Beach Party

Easton decided he wanted a party like Marielle had for her birthday.  (See post here.)  We used a lot of the same elements but went with more of a beach theme.   Easton also wanted to swim at night with glow sticks. 

Several years ago when Easton turned 4 I did a beach party for him then too. We lived in Utah at the time and for being almost the fourth of July, it was cold.  Instead of swimming we turned on the fire pit.  Luckily we don't have that problem here in Vegas. 

 I made a similar cake to this one for him then as well.  After baking a cake, you cut it into squares and put it in the bucket.  Then add pudding and cool whip over the top.  Crush up graham crackers and vanilla wafers to create the sand. The finishing touch is the chocolate seashells and edible pearl candies.

One little detail I did not take into consideration was the heat.  Those chocolate seashells started melting into oblivion within minutes of being outside.  When we did Marielle's party it was still the beginning of May so it wasn't quite as hot.  I had to take his cake back into the house and put it in the fridge until it was time to eat it.

The jello also experienced the same fate as the chocolate seashells and quickly became blue juice instead of jello.

Easton was spoiled with lots of fun presents.

It finally got dark and it was time to break out the glow sticks for a little night time swim party.  The kids thought it was so fun to swim in the dark with their glow sticks.

The Day of Easton's Birth

My first born, the boy who made me a mom, celebrated his 9th birthday on June 30th, 2015.

 This boy is such a sweetheart.  He is very tender hearted and is a good big brother to all of his younger sisters.

For his birthday dinner he chose to eat at CiCi's Pizza.  He loves the mac and cheese pizza.  Easton is a good eater and enjoys all food.  His favorites include: pears, apples, pizza, ravioli, smoothies, ice cream, and homemade treats.

Easton enjoys collecting everything and anything.  Some of the collections that I often find stashed in every corner of his room include: seashells, rocks, crystals, pine cones, rocks, little pieces of wire, acorns, rocks, geodes.  Did I mention rocks? Let's not forget the dried up apple cores.  I don't know that he's collecting those but there is a collection of them in his room.  Every few months I clean out his room and he never ceases to amaze me with the amount of treasures he has amassed in such a short period of time.

He loves to swim and is such a little fish.  He enjoys riding his shark scooter, jumping on the tramp and going to the lake with our friends.  He loves to build rockets out of Lego's, draw rockets, make rockets out of playdoh, paint rockets and just about anything he can use to create with- he makes rockets.

He enjoys reading Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books.  

He calls headaches "headiks," envelopes "envenopes" and bikinis "Lamborghini's."  

He likes to make sure everything is fair and that he is always getting his fair share.  Must be an oldest child thing.

His primary teachers always comment on what a good boy he is and how sweet and kind he is.

He makes our home happy, and fills it with lots of noise, laughter and let's be honest-tears.  Sometimes he can be more moody and weepy than his sisters but that's part of having a gentle, tender heart I guess.

We love this boy so much!