Vivian IS FIVE!

I LOVE THIS GIRL.

It's hard to imagine that five years have gone by since Viv was born.  She adds so much to our family.

We celebrated her birthday with a preschool birthday party since it was our turn to host.  

The party consisted of:

*Making cupcakes

*birthday/easter art project

*decorating cupcakes

 *birthday wishes

 *good friends

*presents for everyone (book exchange)

*hop hop game designed by abe:)

 *easter scavenger hunt

Preschool birthdays are Viv's idea of a good time!  

Happy FIVE sweet VIVIAN!

He's a TEN!

Max turned 10 way back in March.  

He really wanted a friend party because he hasn't had one for a while.  His bday usually ends up being at a crazy time so I felt obligated to say yes.  As soon as I did, he had a guest list of 22 kids.  Max LOVES friends and has a sensitive soul and didn't want anyone to feel left out.   

He was pretty excited.

I made sure to do the party when Dave was home:)

Luckily, we had good weather and did most of the party outside.

No way did we need twenty gifts, so Max agreed to ask people to bring a small toy item for the refugee elementary school incentive store our neighbor started.  Look at all the gifts!  People were so generous and Max was surprised at all that was given.  He was able to come with me to the incentive store and stock the shelves with the gifts.

This little girl thought this hat was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.  Glad Max hit the bulls eye and was willing to show love to God and his neighbor by sharing his birthday treasures.


pics from Max's bday party.
GOOD TIMES!

ballet

 

the ballet at capitol theater with ladies i love. 

vivian stood up next to her seat and danced along. 

 i think she was meant to dance.

viv and jade are cute little cousins, and i'm grateful sadie was able to break away from BYU and join  the fun.  thanks holly for planning!

let's do it again.

Clabe at prom 2017

abe asked our neighbor, claire, to go to prom.  

they were about as cute as it gets.

there have been a few distanct times that i have felt of abe's greatness.  it's more than being proud of him or thinking that he is fun.  it's like i get a glimpse.  a glimpse of who he is and how great he is and how great he is meant to be.  this was one of those times.  he was happy, confident, good and kind.  he decided to be a leader in his group and get it all figured out.  i was proud of him and i a absolutely loved watching him and claire smile and laugh.  it was good and happy and contagious.

during the planning stages, a girl that abe knows that he hasn't really talked to in a long time (she asked a boy with special needs) needed a group.  when he heard, he immediately text her and invited them to be in their group.  there was no hesitation at all.  he sincerely wanted them to join.  it was a highlight to see him reach outside of himself. 

at the end of the night, he walked claire home so she could get there on time and he noticed she didn't have shoes on so he offered her his shoes.  what else can you say?  that's pretty awesome.

they went on an amazing race scavenger hunt for their day date.  another mom planned it and they had a blast.  they finished with a picnic.

highlights- 

plastic fancy cups

abe's 2017 prom mix tape- a must have for every prom date.

abe found my mom's old tape recorder and was pretty excited.

 sadie came home and took pictures for the group.  they turned out really great.

dinner was served at the tullis residence.

all the parents helped with food and it was amazing.  i really wanted it to be nice so, i figured now was a great time to get new dishes. it looked pretty and i was proud of my menus, which actually looked good....then after the dance i noticed three major typos!  uhg!!!  i always have a million things going on.  abe said they looked good and no one read them anyway, so that 

should make me feel better;)

after the dance, they combined with another group and came back to our house.  A sundae bar was set up outside and they ate ice cream around the fire pit and talked.  a movie played in the basement, but i was surprised they all squeezed around the fire pit and laughed and talked until people had to leave.  

i hope abe realized he has some really great friends, and that he can create good things for himself and those around him.

good times!!

plus... he looked so handsome!

Hosting Viv's preschool

Vivian LOVES preschool, especially when it's our week to host.

We had fun filled week, learning about the letter I.

Indoor igloos!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Viv loved putting REAL sprinkles on our ice cream projects.

We kicked off February be filling up our preschool mailbox with nice notes:)

Painted toast!!

I love this little girl.

I'm grateful I got to be her teacher this week.