Happy Birthday Abby!

 We celebrated Abby's birthday a day early because Brynn had a ballet showcase we invited the grandparents too.  We decided to save them another trip during this busy time of year.  Abby requested a Strawberry Cheesecake.  She LOVES to be celebrated and we love celebrating her. 

This is the cute outfit Abby received from Grandma and Grandpa.  It came with sparkly pink tights too, but Abby wanted to wear thicker leggings because it was so cold.

Happy Birthday Abby!

Our sweet Abby turned 8 years old on December 19 at 2:31 p.m.  We are so happy to have Abby in our family.  She has been a delight since the day she was born.  Here are a few things that I LOVE about Abby.

*She NEVER forgets to say her prayers at night, and she likes to say them with her dad.  If she ever falls asleep watching a movie or in the car, and we take her to bed, it never fails, she comes to our room in the middle of the night to ask us to pray with her.  I am grateful that her faith is strong and that she values that relationship with her Heavenly Father and earthly father. 

*Abby is very inquisitive.

*Abby reads and comprehends well.  We are always amazed at the connections she makes during family scripture study.  She is rather rambunctious, but she always surprises us with the comments she makes.  

*I love Abby's long, slender, and muscular legs.  She has a very nice split/straddle that she likes to show us often.  When she's dancing, I love watching her leap through the air with her long legs.  

*Abby is a great worker!  She loves to help out around the house and has a great attitude when it comes time to work.  I like to remind the kids that if they can find joy in work, they will have a happy life.  Abby always reminds me that she finds great joy and satisfaction in work. :)

*Abby loves rituals.  Every morning she comes to give me a big hug and to receive her hand kiss.   If she forgets, she'll run back from the bus stop to give a hug and get a kissing hand.  

*Abby is a great conversationalist and is never at a loss for words.  She's fun to take places, because she always has something to talk about.  

*Abby loves celebrations.  She will find even the simplest event worthy of celebration.  I will never forget the year she told me how excited she was for our family's St. Patrick's Day Party.  I thought to myself, "What party?" Then I got busy planning. :)

There are so many things I love about Abby and I'm so happy to have her in my life!

She woke up early on her birthday to open up her presents.  She was excited and very grateful to receive the Kanani doll that she wanted and the Zoku ice pop makers she's been wanting for a couple of years now.  She expressed gratitude over and over throughout the day and said over and over that it was the best birthday she had ever had.  

We had to pick my parents up at the airport from their trip to Hawaii and then take them to the temple to see my cousin get married.  The kids and I walked through the Joseph Smith memorial building to look at Christmas decorations, then we went to Deseret Book where the kids all picked out a small prize.  Abby requested to have lunch at the Lion House Pantry.  It's one of her favorite places to eat and it was a wonderful coincidence that we happened to be near there on her birthday.  

That night Joseph's mom and my parents came to celebrate with us.  Abby chose strawberry cheesecake for her birthday treat this year.  Some of our children are pretty consistent with their choice in birthday treats, but Abby always has us guessing.  

Abby is very excited and looking forward to her baptism and confirmation on January 7, 2012.  

We love you Abby!  Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Abby!

Abby had a great birthday this year. She performed in the Nutcracker on Saturday and then celebrated her birthday on Sunday. Grandma Rowene and Grandpa Billy were even here to celebrate. On the Monday after her birthday we drove to Los Angeles to The Grove shopping center to go to the American Girl Store. The girls were in heaven (and so were mom and grandma). Grandpa Billy chased the boys through the store to make sure they didn't do too much damage. I forgot to mention that there was record rainfall that day. It was totally wet!!! Traffic was horrible going home, so we stopped in Anaheim at Downtown Disney to do a little shopping to break up the drive. What a great week!

Happy Birthday Abby!

Abby had her first friend birthday party this year. She was so excited! In the last 6 years we've spent many of Abby's birthdays traveling to be with family for the holidays, so she was thrilled that it worked out to have a friend party this year. It was crazy planning for it right before Christmas, but she said it was "pretty much the best birthday EVER!" so it was worth it. Abby requested to have her party at Davis Diamonds Gymnastics months ago. I took her there for an Open -Gym play day and she loved it. I was reluctant, but it ended up being just what we needed, a fun place for the kids to run around, no stress of getting the house decorated right before Christmas and right after our trip, no clean-up and best of all Abby was as happy as can be.

There's no place like HOME for the holidays!

While we call California home for right now, our hearts are also invested deeply in Utah because we have so many wonderful family members there. We are so happy we were able to spend the season with so many that we love so much!

We packed a whole lot into this trip to Utah. Sledding... shopping...a birthday party for Abby... playing with cousins...The Nutcracker Ballet...a shower for Emily...more sledding and playing in the snow...more playing with cousins....church with Grandma and Grandpa....visits with friends... lots of last minute wedding preparations...Christmas Eve party at the Lee's...Christmas Eve dinner at the Vest's...a Christmas wedding dinner with the Vest's and Covey's...a temple wedding and celebration....early morning hikes for Joe with his brothers...many late night visits with siblings...early mornings to get everyone bathed and showered...going to the movies...guys nights...a baby blessing and a brunch.....oh and how could I forget....CHRISTMAS!!! It was a jam packed 10 days and we returned with our suitcases equally packed with lots of love and Christmas surprises!

I flew into Utah a couple of days before Joseph and brought with me most of the suitcases, not to mention 4 kids with car seats. When my dad picked us up at the airport, I took Aaron and Isaac to him and the girls came with me to retrieve our baggage. Everything was done with a very calculated effort in the planning of this trip, from the list of items to bring, to the weighing of each bag, right down to the pass off of the kids to get the luggage off of the conveyor. The girls both rolled a suitcase while I pushed the luggage cart stacked 7 feet tall. My dad said he thought he was picking up the U.S. Bob Sled team...we had so much stuff. But what would you expect with so many events packed into a 10 day trip. I pulled out my list and crossed off the 12 pieces of baggage to make sure we had it all, we stuffed ourselves in to the Pilot and made the trip to Utah County. In planning for this trip, there were many times I thought it would be much simpler to drive to Utah, but traveling through a snowy Donner's Pass by myself with 4 children, including a frequent nursing newborn didn't seem like the safest idea, so we organized everything, packed tightly and we flew.
The kids were thrilled about the snow and jumped right into it the second we got there. I even thought it was pretty...until the next day when my mom and I were driving during a snow storm in Salt Lake...it was then that I had had enough.

Brynn taught Aaron how to go sledding for the first time. Grandpa picked up these special sleds that go right under your toosh, they're easy to store and have no hard or pokey parts to injure other sledders.

Grandma and Grandpa's hill makes for great sledding grounds.

Isaac enjoyed the spirit of the season indooors, staring at the lights on the Christmas tree.

We managed to throw a little last minute party for Abby on her birthday. Thank goodness for lots of cousins closeby! Abby woke up on her birthday morning and after a few hours said, "Mom, my birthday wasn't what I expected it to be." Luckily with her little party and quite a few phone calls with birthday wishes, she was pretty pleased by the end of the day.

Abby graduated from the American Girl Itty Bitty Twins to her new Emily doll. She affectionately told me that I could have her blonde twin (whom she named Mancy) because I have blonde hair.
Abby made a list of the things she wanted to do on her birthday and dictated them to Brynn. They took the list to Grandma's house and throughout the course of the week, we crossed off nearly all of the items on the list...

*make a gingerbread house

*decorate Christmas cookies

*ice skate on a pond

*go sledding

*pinata

*play "Pretty Pretty Princess"

*show Baby Isaac

*Show Anniversary Care-Bear (her present from Brynn)

*eat cake