Happy 4th of July!!!

Lulu was having tons of fun at the balloons! She was so excited to get to wear her flag shirt and she helped mom make the clips that were in her hair.

Calvin loved the balloons. He was a little mesmerized I think.

Our day started around 5:45 am so we could see the balloons and the festivities went on from there. We were about 15 minutes too late to see them blowing them up, but we did get to see them all in the air and watch the balloon games. We were in a spot that the balloons would all go right over so we got to see them pretty close up from underneath.

Parade

Here' the kids and Oren watching the parade. I didn't take many pictures of the parade, but it was a good one! We had lots of fun and the weather was PERFECT! They even had an Apache helicopter fly right over the parade this year.

Waiting.....

Elizabeth got to buy cotton candy at the fireworks this year. Can you tell it made her kinda hyper?!? She thought it was good for a couple bites then was done because it was sticky and Calvin had one piece and then spit it out. I guess he's not a fan.

Here we are waiting for the fireworks to begin. Calvin and Elizabeth were a little crazy . We watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks in Provo this year.

What's that I see?!?

What in the world?...oh now I see...it's a GIRL!!! Okay so I couldn't really tell on this one, but the tech assured me that's what the picture is. The middle picture is her face and the bottom is...well...her bottom tee hee Okay and her legs and feet. You really have to use your imagination here but thought that I would share anyway! Elizabeth says her favorite part is the babies heart she thought it was pretty cool to watch.

New cousin

Here's Elizabeth with her newest cousin Jacklin. She and Calvin love the baby! Here's Calvin watching sister and just being the most handsome boy ever!!!

The cake

This is what Elizabeth looked like when all her friends arrived...fast asleep on the floor. She pretty much remained in a half-asleep mode until we had lunch and cake. Speaking of which, here is the cake fit for a princess.

Lulu's party

Here's Lulu with her princess friends (all the rest were princes). They all looked so pretty! She was also a little nervous from previous experience to blow out her candles, but as long as dad stood by her she did fine.

Hooray Lulu is three!

Happy Happy Birthday Lulu!!!

Gifts

Elizabeth got everything princess from dress-up to fingernail polish and lip gloss. Her new favorite thing is to cross her eyes and make funny faces...so here are a few of Lulu at her finest!

Cake

Elizabeth wanted to have cupcakes for her birthday and they had to be pink with pink frosting, sprinkles, and a cherry on top! She did a great job blowing out two candles then she got too close for the third and the flame kinda got her lip before she blew it out. She thought it was funny. When she looks at the picture she says "ooh ooh it's burning my lips!"

New haircut!

WIT WOO CALVIN!! LOOKIN GOOD!

It has been getting WAY too hot for Calvin to keep his long hair so for the first time ever mom used clippers on Calvin! I think he is lovin' it he keeps on petting his head =) He absolutely LOVES these sunglasses and would not take them off for days...then they got stepped on. OOOPS!! You would think that we had lost a member of the family-he cried for two hours straight that they were "broken...broken...". We weren't sure whether we should bury them or just throw them away. But look at those beautiful blue eyes without them!

Happy Birthday!!!

WOW! Calvin is two! He had a wonderful pirate party with a bunch of his friends. I must say that I am especially proud of the cake it turned out awesome! We had games, lunch, and presents. What more could a little boy want? For lunch we had gold nuggets and jewels (chicken nuggets and fruit) and some swill (7-up) to drink. We had TONS of fun playing in the sun! It got up to about 73 degrees so it was perfect pirate-y weather!

Games

The first game that we played was a bean bag toss called feed the alligator. Some of the kids made it while some just decided to walk right up and put it in it's mouth. Pretty cute alligator though huh?!?

Arrrrrrrrrgggggghhh... treasure

The next game that we played was digging for buried treasure. The kids loved it and got some fun stuff to put in their goodie bags.

Let there be cake!

Here he is blowing out the candles on his beautiful cake!

Presents

Here is Calvin opening his presents. Well...he really didn't open them we had to dump the bags out in front of him because he was too interested in the previous gifts!

TAG?!?

Okay so I just got "tagged" by Sharilyn to go to my sixth folder and the sixth picture on my computer. This is it. Oren on that oh so glorious day of graduation from BYU. This day was a ton of fun. We went to his ceremony and cheered, even though they told us not to-we're such rule breakers, then we scurried over to Dee and Gays house where we had an AWESOME BBQ. I was actually just telling Oren I want to have a BBQ like that again soon it was great with tons of food and family to celebrate. It was a great day. We like this picture because it has the Y on the building, the BYU sign, and the Y on the mountain. Pretty neat huh?!?

Ick Ick Lulu is sick

I feel so bad for Lulu she has been sick since last Sunday. Here she is yet again on the couch trying to recover. I decided to post this because although she is miserable I keep wondering where my personal maid is since I've been sick everyday for weeks from sun up to sun down. Wouldn't it be lovely to have someone to bring me 7-up, read me stories, make me whatever I feel like eating, and let me watch TV all day?!? Ahhhh the wonderful days of being sick as a child, they really were the best! Alas I still get to be mom and do everything around the house while feeling like I've been hit by a truck......I think I will buy myself some bon bons............blaaaach maybe I'll just drink some pickle juice.........or something.......ha ha

Pinewood

Okay so I just love the treat that one of our den leaders did for tonight. Little pinewood cars out of Twinkies, mini Oreo wheels, with a gummy bear driver?!? Rock on! They were a huge hit with the boys! (alright me too)

Ahhh...the biggest night of a young scouters life(and some fathers for that matter)...the Pinewood Derby. I just had to add this because the Pinewood was SO much fun! Our boys did awesome and there were no arguments or hurt feeling-that I could tell anyway. I love scouts they are the best!

Spring has sprung!!!

We were oh so happy to see that Spring is officially here in Payson! We love the beautiful daffodils popping up to say hello. Elizabeth says "Dad say it with me daf-OH-dills". We love Spring the nice warm air, the beautiful colors of flowers, and the happy news of a new little "chick" of our own that will be hatching in early Nov. (the 3rd to be precise). Yahoo we are all so excited for all of these new changes that spring brings. Especially a big sister and big brother. They got to go to the doctor for the first visit and see the baby on TV. Yeah they really have NO idea what is coming their way. But Oren says that the baby will come out with a sticker on it's butt that claims "AS SEEN ON TV" Leave it to Oren to provide the comic relief of the situation. tee hee

Boys will be boys

What else is there to say to describe this picture except... boys will be boys. Calvin decided to put two crayons up his nose this morning and walked around that way for quite a while. Lu and I thought it was rather comical so out came the camera. Oh yeah this one is definitely going to be shown on the first date! He is such a cutie! We love him even with the crayon nose.

Always a princess

Lulu is ALWAYS being a princess from the way she walks, talks, and puts that hand on her hip. The other day she went to the neighbors house to play with Tara and came home wearing this lovely little number. Oooh la la Lulu is posh! What a beautiful and fun little girl...I mean princess.

Cookin up a storm

Here's Lulu cooking some homemade bread with Mama 'Lene. Elizabeth is a great cook and was very excited to put on an apron and help make bread. Papa 'Lade is also in the background peeling an apple for one of his favorite little buddies...Calvin.