Monday, July 30, 2012

yard upgrade

When we bought our house, this is what it looked like. A horrible yard, and too many, overgrown, ugly plants. The first thing Ben did was rip out those tall trees by the front door.He also trimmed up the trees and plants that we intended to keep.
It looked like this for the next few weeks.
The grass we did have was crab grass and water grass, and it was patchy and awful looking.
We hated feeling like we had the worst looking yard on the street.
So a few weeks ago we had all the ugly old grass removed, and replaced with new sod. We both love the clean and trim look now.
We replaced most of the shaggy, old bushes with newer plants, and replaced the red lava rock with white stones. It has been a pain having to water constantly thanks to the record heat, but I think it looks much better than before.


Thursday, July 26, 2012

log ride

I just had to share these pictures from 6 flags. We don't usually buy the pictures they take while you're on the rides, but we couldn't pass these up! This one, I love the pure joy on Kara's face, contrasted with the sheer terror on Evie's face. They're good at getting the pic at the most intense spot. You wouldn't know from this how much Evie actually loves this ride, and begs to ride it over and over.

I also loved this one! Kiersten's face is a perfect mix between Kara's happy face, and Evie's scared face!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The party!

Since Evie loves Minnie Mouse so much, I saw these cupcakes on pinterest that I had to make for her birthday party. I frosted them, and Kiersten put on the ears and bows.
All the kids had fun playing with the balloons. My intention had been to make a balloon wall, but I'm glad I just left them loose, since the kids had such a great time with them.
Ben set up a slip n slide in the back yard, and we turned on the sprinklers too.
birthday baby with a water gun!


The kids got to frost a cookie to eat. I think Kiersten did a couple. she was in there for quite a while.
we had some velvet posters for them to color. Evie was pretty good with the markers. I was surprised!



We all got a kick out of Jacob's cookie! I was sure he'd get sick, but he ended up only eating a couple bites.
Kara said hers was a work of art, and she wanted to save it forever... until she ate it.


Evie loved opening her gifts!
of course I had to get the baby dolls right out of the packaging so she could play with them before moving on to the next gift.
She has lately started to love the new strawberry shortcake cartoons. So she was pretty excited to get some of the scented dolls! We do get tired of her demanding to watch "shawtcake!" all the time.
It was a fun party, and I think all the kids enjoyed themselves.
Yesterday, Nancy and Victor wanted to go to the temple, so I got to hang out with Tommy and Whitney. Of course Whitney was a dream, and went straight down for a nap with no fuss. The other kids wanted to come outside with me while I watered all of the new plants, so I got out the sidewalk chalk for them to play with.
Tommy was so funny. as soon as he drew a picture, he would grab the eraser to start erasing it.



After sidewalk chalk, they all had popsicles, and then we made cookies. They were all pretty good about taking turns helping. Isn't this a fun bunch of kiddos?

Evie's 2nd birthday

Evie Pie turned 2 on friday! She was such a sweet little birthday girl. Mickey Mouse called her to say happy birthday, and tell her a little story. She was so excited about it.
She got to lick the frosting beater, and didn't have to share with Kiersten.
I made her a small cake, and it was the perfect size. I didn't want left over cake sitting around all week, since I had made so many other things for her party.
Kiersten helped me decorate the livingroom while Evie napped. It turned out pretty fun.
sleepy birthday baby
Nancy and Victor arrived just before dinner, and Ben brought Evie's favorite, pizza! After dinner, we all watched her open some gifts.
In case you haven't noticed, she really loves Mickey and Minne.





When it was time for cake, she kept trying to grab the fire, so we couldn't get a shot of her with the cake. I had to keep grabbing it away, or holding her hand back away from the flame.
We couldn't get her to even attempt to blow out the candle.
Luckily, her cousin Tommy was there to help her out.
Happy Birthday EVIE!!!!