Blessings, Birthdays and Baptisms (part 4)

Well we rounded out the week with the greatest event of all...Bryce's baptism. 

He was so excited...as was Noah (who that he was getting baptized as well). I told him that he could have anybody he wanted help out for his special day and wouldn't ya know it...he wanted me to give a talk. I was happy to do this for him and thankfully it was a talk on Baptism so I wasn't too worried about that one :)

Papa J helped by giving the opening prayer and along with Uncle Ron served as the witnesses for the Baptism. Along with my talk I recited this little poem and then gave each of them (he shared his baptism with his friend Neal) a copy and their very own white towel. Here's the handout I designed for each of the boys:

After we all headed back to the house for a BBQ and swimming celebration (ya know with the pool still warm from the birthday party) We all a great time, but Bryce especially. He truly felt loved and we truly feel blessed to be able to have him in out little family. Congrats Bryce!!!

Blessings, Birthdays and Baptisms (part 3)

In our home every other year is a Birthday Party year. And I know it sounds crazy, but I have all the kids on the same year so that on the off years it's nothing but simple family fun. Well this year is the party year and Bryce's was first up. He originally wanted to have kind of a beach party theme, but that seemed a little broad so I asked him to narrow it down and this is what he came up with:

Courtesy of a cute little store on Etsy, but I can't remember which one right now! I'll find it and let you all know ;)

I had all of these grand ideas and ordered a lot of it off the Internet and as usual my luck always runs out and pretty much nothing was delivered on time. Go figure!!! Thankfully I'm getting really good at improvising ;)

I made Shark sugar cookies and cupcakes (which were supposed to have little plastic sharks in them...didn't come) but at least they had blue (ocean) frosting ;)

First the crowd frosted/decorated cookies while we waited for guests to arrive...

Next we played a little toss the shark for some fun shark inspired prizes...

I found these cute little hammerhead sharks at Target that were just perfect for this!!

Then we headed to the pool to cool off and have some fun! We actually heated the pool and it was a refreshing 92 degrees by party time. Just perfect for this April day!!!

Bryce was having so much fun and made sure I came up with a lot of water games to play. We had swimming races, holding your breath, etc. It was super cute to watch him with all of his little buddies. He is such a quiet little kid that it always amazes me to see him interact with his friends.

Afterwords we rounded the kids up for some cupcakes and presents.

And luckily the UPS man showed up early and delivered the grand finale. I really would have been upset if this little guy didn't make it.

All in all it was a great party and according to Bryce...the best day ever!!! So worth the frustration!!!

Blessings, Birthdays and Baptisms (part 2)

Tuesday brought Bryce's 8th birthday. I can't believe he is that old...he is growing up so fast. He has such a quiet sweet spirit about him and brings so much to our little family. Though he is not fan of cleaning his room, he really loves to take out the trash and for some reason to scrub the toilets. Which for me is a trade off worth having ;) We really wanted to make a big deal out of this Birthday and really went out of our way for him. We started the morning with some very special pancakes which I think The Hubby had more fun making them then eating them ;)

Bryce was so excited to bring treats to school to celebrate his birthday. They always do this cute little thing to celebrate and I love watching it. It really makes the kids feel so special and it's something I know he'll always remember. Afterwards Noah and I helped Bryce pass out his store bought Sugar Cookies.

 Luckily I was able to talk him into store bought since I was spending the day surprising him with this:

Sharks were the theme this year and I really had fun making this little guy. Bryce was over the moon when he saw it and I was happy to see his big smile :) Later that evening we had family over and celebrated together. It was very fun and Bryce was so surprised when he was given a DSI. We had always told him that if he wanted one he would have to earn it on his own. Well two years later he was still trying to earn the money and I couldn't bear to watch him wish for it any longer.

It was such a great day and Bryce really felt the love that surrounded him! Happy Birthday, Bryce!!!

Blessings, Birthdays and Baptisms (part 1)

I had one mega week last week and I think I am finally settling down and rested enough to write about it. Last Sunday Sallie and Micah blessed their beautiful baby boy Ali'i Toa Ka'ena and it was an amazing day! Micah did a fantastic job and Sallie is truly blessed to have such a wonderful example and priesthood holder as a husband. Toa was great for the whole blessing and the whole meeting for that matter. He is such a good little baby and has such an easy disposition. They are truly lucky parents!! Sallie asked me to take pictures to help document the day and I was happy to oblige. 

Toa patiently waiting to get his blessing outfit on:

Sallie and her little bundle all dressed and ready to go:

Sallie pulled out all the stops and really made everything look beautiful right down to the water bottles. She found a cute little shop on Etsy called Mason Jar Holdings. It's a cute little shop and she does some really amazing stuff.

Here's the table all prepared for the guests:

And of course I had include a close up of the water bottles and muffin toppers:

All the men who surrounded Toa and participated in the blessing:

The cute little Andresen family on Toa's big day:

Mama and Papa J with the happy parents:

And of course I had to get a picture with my little sis'. I love this girl and am so very proud of her!!!

New find

Easter is on it's way and I was in desperate need of something fun for my boys. I don't know how anybody else feels, but I always get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach when I show up to church and there are like 5 boys wearing the same thing as mine. I know there aren't a lot of options out there for boys especially in this small town, but I found one amazing exception in this little town of mine and she's on Etsy!!

(Click Here)

She is the sweetest thing and what does she make...ties, ties, ties!! I was super excited to learn that she was local and she even rushed it so that I could get them in time for family pics ;) What I got were these:

One for the little boy:

And one for the bigger boy (it ties like a regular tie):

This is vintage houndstooth that she found at an estate sale...so cool!!! The best part I was the first one to buy these so here's hoping I can avoid any weird feelings this Easter, hahaha!!! If you have boys you should totally go and check out her site!! Super fun materials ;)

Well this week didn't go as planned or maybe it did...depending on how I look at it. I totally sabotaged myself with no remorse and am actually sitting here eating M&M's as I type...sad I know, but no one else to blame but myself ;) and the stats reflect that. 1.8 lbs up, yikes!!! I have been doing so well and the main problem was the fact that now that I'm running again I let myself eat more than I should. These are the ups and downs of any weight loss journey and I know that it was about time. I can't be perfect forever (like I ever was), but starting now and yes I have put the M&M's away I will get back on track. So I'm going to put on some Paramore and mop some floors...that's a one way ticket to burning off those M&M's!!!

Do any of you out there ever feel like I did?!?! Or is it just me?