Paige turns 5

I was telling J that sometimes it seems that they were just babies yesterday. He takes it so literally, but really, it is hard to believe that Paige is 5! She has such a big personality. She loves girlie things, pink, clothes, skirts and dresses, helping me cook, working in the garden, picking flowers for vases, doing art, watching TV, playing with friends. She can be the sweetest, snuggliest little girl, when she wants to be ;)! I am glad she is my daughter and it will be so fun to see who she becomes!

We planned a fun tea party for her 5th birthday. Between primary, the neighborhood and preschool, the invite list was really long. Good thing we have a big yard! I scoured thrift stores for tea cups and saucers. I made a whole bunch of tulle pom poms. It was really fun getting everything put together for the party. I definitely spent more than I should have, but I could have easily spent a LOT more!

Her birthday morning. She chose Abelskievers (of course) as her breakfast.



Opening her gift. She wanted a hair salon barbie and she was happy when she got it!


Mary was so helpful at the party. A few times in the morning before the party, Paige went over to make sure Mary hadn't forgotten. When she wasn't there one of the times she told Dennis, "Well, I guess you can come if Mary isn't here". Haha! Mary finally got home and Paige offered to help her pick out a dress. How kind!







Alouise Wade, Camille Lamoreaux

Sabrina Shobe and Paige

Emma Shobe, Grace Jackson, Vivian Jackson

Cute banner my cousin Jenny made us!

planting flowers in their decorated flower pots.






Camille, Audrey Nelson, Ava (preschool pal) and Paige


Mary was so helpful with planting the flowers. I couldn't have done it alone!





Party crew. We got a few siblings too!





Trying to play a game. The kids didn't really get it....

Chaos, I mean, opening gifts. It was crazy.



Look at my scowly eyebrows. No wonder I have wrinkles.

Jackson's school field trip!

I was so happy to be able to go on one of Jackson's field trips. This was a "walking" field trip to Bob Evans, so I was able to take Bennett with me, which made it possible. I can't remember where Paige was, but I was glad to get to spend some time with J.



This guy came too! Such a good baby.

Mrs. Seals was such a great teacher!



They got pancakes and "juice" (pink lemonade).


Some of Jackson's friends, Niloy, Adam and J.



The whole class!

Crazy town.

 p.s. I did not pick out Jackson's outfit.

Douglas turns 34!

Douglas came home almost every weekend that he was in St. Louis and we were still here. That was such a nice change from last summer where we went long stretches without seeing each other! One of the weekends he came home was his birthday so as one last hurrah, I invited a few of our closest friends for a bbq celebration. Jimmy and Sham Young live in Farmington, Michigan which was about 25 minutes from us. It was nice to see them on occasion. Jimbo has been a friend of Douglas' since they were roommates their freshman year at BYU. They have been there for each other as they have gone through missions, school, marriage etc. Jimmy is now doing his residency in dermatology. Sham is awesome too. It is fun to have couple friends where we both enjoy the other couple.

Chris and Beth Andersen are our closet Ann Arbor friends. We spent many meals with them over the past two years. They live close to us and we got together often. We could talk for hours which is the sign of true friendship for me!

Chad and Elizabeth Shobe moved to Toledo, OH about a year after we got to Biz school. They are both good friends of mine from high school in Arizona and Elizabeth was my roommate freshman year at BYU. It was so fun to rekindle our friendship over the past year. We still enjoy each other's sense of humor (at least I enjoy hers) and can laugh and talk on and on when we are together. It was so fun to see them as parents and the kids love playing together.

Mary and Dennis were the best neighbors a person could ever hope for. They are missed on a daily basis by me. On quiet, lonely days, Mary was always bound to show up bringing her positive attitude and giving heart.

Now, I am just lonely for my good friends....

Douglas and Jimmy

The party!

Beth and Chris on the left and Mary and Chad on the right.

Douglas is always very present in social gatherings :) Here he is talking to Chris who looks deeply interested in what he is saying and Peter (Mary and Dennis' son) and Dennis are equally as intrigued. He must have been talking about how awesome I am.

The kids were having a blast together. This house had the best yard for kids!



Traditional calypso pie. I had a hard time finding candles, so four had to do.

Happy Birthday!

Handsome man!

Good thing he had lots of help with all of those candles.



Elizabeth made dirt cake and it was a HIT with the kids!





Sham is in the background and Elizabeth and Chad are in the left, Beth is on the right. We all had babies in the past year or so!



Me and Mary. Such a good friend!



Dennis and Peter