when you're fifteen...

sadie turned fifteen on saturday!!!

crazy old!  

we celebrated bright and early--7am

birthday itinerary:

celebrate

games

set up

party

sadie carpooled with a bunch of friends to her two basketball games.  my parents met her there, which i was grateful for because dave was medical supporting at the high school track meet and i took max to his first soccer game and then abe had a game in salt lake.  

dave got home and somehow amazingly moved furniture upstairs and set up our new tv (goodbye to the cube, sniff, sniff) for sadie's big birthday party, while i ran to costco for food.  we pulled it all together minutes before the big party started.  it ended up being just right. 

sadie's shrine consisted of a few gifts for her bedroom and some pics from way back when.  i love the blue peacock.  what a find!

 we started singing happy birthday and vivian got this cute look on her face, thinking we were singing to her again:)

 sadie's birthday wish:  a snap back hat.  loved it!

 the boys gave her a spring sports pedicure.

 we surprised her with these nike shoes that she fell in love with in new york.  tricky finding them, but somehow i did.  i think it was a birthday miracle:)

 a new dresser and some decor to finish off her room.

love these two amazing girls!

wonder what the wish was, she wouldn't tell:)

i really am so lucky to have sadie!  she has decided to be remarkable and she is.  plus, we are great friends and she lets me in.  she is a good listener, a hard worker and strives to be good and do good.  she is a huge blessing to me.  i have noticed lately her efforts to make our home heavenly.  she does small things that make a world of difference, like putting her arm around kai, asking if i need help, tending vivs, talking to the boys on their bed at night, complimenting her brothers.  it makes for a happy, peaceful family.  i can't say enough about what a good person she is.  she is talented and radiates happiness and light and has great judgement.  she is mature and unselfish and i know heavenly father will and is using her to do great things.

sadie invited a few friends over.  we had tons of food and they played air hockey, foosball, soccer outside and sort of watched jurassic park.  she had a great time and so many of her friends came.   she felt loved and happy.  dave and i reminisced about the birthday party when we first saw each other.  it was in 9th grade, about the same time of year, same type of party.  crazy!!

 i love the awkward space between sadie and the boy next to her:)  haha!    

happy birthday sades!!!  we heart you!!!

vivian's birthday

we waited for the kids to get home from school to celebrate.

i enjoyed the relaxed day and happily spent vivian's nap time making her birthday cake. she was so happy to have her own huge lollipop!

the kids were excited to see what she would do to her cake!

we opened presents first.  

these cute "glass slippers"  were not wrapped and she wanted them on first thing.  we tried them on in the store the other day, and when i took them off, she threw a fit, crying, so upset that i took them off!  it was her first real "fit":)

abe patiently put them on her.  it was such a cute moment seeing how much abe wanted to help her.  she waited and right when he finished, she got so excited and started kicking and smiling, almost dancing!  

she loves shoes!  she has such dainty little feet, that they never stay on, so she is always barefoot.

sadie has taught vivs to love cinderella and she really does!  

she was so excited about this doll!

we all sat around and watched her tear off the wrapping paper a little at a time.  the kids were happy to see her reactions and anxious to help her with each toy.  she is a lucky little girl because they all adore her!

she kept hold of her new little baby, it was so cute to watch her love it!

she got excited about each gift.  it was so fun to see her reactions.  i didn't realize how involved she would be, but she loved it!

my favorite part was how curious vivian was and also watching the kids interact with her and help her and care about her.  they each wanted her to be happy and excited about everything.  i loved having them all there and no rush.

we sang happy birthday.  abe was concerned she would grab her candle, so he protectively kept a hand on her:)

watching her with her cake was the highlight!  

our tradition for 1st birthdays is to spread a blanket on the ground and then let them do whatever they want to their cake.  after singing, we let her go for it.

she pinched a tiny bit of frosting off and tasted it, then she dove right in--no hands!  it was surprising and the kids were laughing so hard.  it was awesome!

she kept taking bites with no hands.  she then started dipping her lollipop in and eating it off her sucker.  super cute!

the kids all joined in at the end.  haha, gross:)

vivian had a bath while dave cleaned up, then we went out for dinner.  

it was a great little family celebration! 

 the next morning at scriptures, she was still so happy to see her new doll!

i feel like vivian has grown up so much in the last few weeks.  it's hard to believe it's been a year!  we are so glad we have her.  she is definitely loved!!!

we're number one!!!

 vivian turned one today!

my present to her was a calm day:)  

i had sadie skip her two basketball games, abe skipped his soccer game, dave and kai canceled soccer practice, and max's game was canceled due to weather... vivian didn't have to drive in the car or sit through any games.  we all stayed home, just our little family, and we celebrated her!

couldn't decide which of vivi's facial expressions to post....so i added them all.
details coming soon.

children

i have had a paragraph from a conference talk i heard way back when, pop into my mind over and over this last month.

it's from a talk about children by elder anderson.

so here it is:

“I explained that I wanted to become a doctor. There was no alternative but to postpone having our family. Elder Kimball listened patiently and then responded in a soft voice, ‘Brother Mason, would the Lord want you to break one of his important commandments in order for you to become a doctor? With the help of the Lord, you can have your family and still become a doctor. Where is your faith?’”

when i reread this part of his talk it made me cry because i realize how much we have been blessed. 

i named our blog 'and they lived' because dave's goal was for us to not put off living while he went to school.  it was a long process.  he wanted so much for us to live along the way.  we tried hard to do this, but also we decided that we wanted to "look to god and live" (alma 37:43-47)  when it's all said and done, i want it to be clear, "they looked to the lord, and they lived!!!"  i love in verse 47 where it says, "see that ye take care of these sacred things, yea, see that ye look to god and live."  i really feel that our family is one of these sacred things and i know that heavenly father helped us, wow, in so many ways!

crazy cause i kept thinking about this talk, then i got on lds.org and THIS was the new mormon message!

anyway, i am so happy that we have been blessed with amazing children.  they make me smile!!! they give life purpose and meaning and make me love dave even more.  i love being a parent with him.    because of my love for them, and because at times it has really stretched us, i rely on our savior so much more!  
isn't that what it's all about?

**sadie and i were doing laundry, and vivian kept trying to put the clothes on, then she spotted an ant!  yes, i had ants in my laundry...gross!  she was so thrilled!!!  sadie documented it all and then sent me this in a text right before bed:)