Temple, Tents & A Terrific Time

Even though it was a Saturday, Autumn woke me up at 7:30 am. But, it’s good I got up that early b/c I had a lot of cleaning to do. I vacuumed the whole house and did some laundry and dishes and then I had to get Autumn & myself ready for the day. We went over to Mom & Dad’s at 9:00. Dad had made waffles for everyone using his Texas shaped waffle maker. We ate breakfast and then Autumn & Andrew wasted no time talking Dad into going in the back room to play with them. I think Dad had more fun playing w/ the Lincoln logs that the kids did b/c of that big old tower he’s building. What do you think?

Mom & Dad were nice enough to watch the kids while Lexie & Jon & I went to do a temple session. We got down there and only had 10 minutes to make it into the 10:30 session. It was nice to be in the temple w/ Lexie & Jon.

We got home and this is the scene that greeted us. Dad had made a big huge tent made out of blankets with the kids. If you look closely, you can see that he used industrial strength clips to hold the blankets together and anchor them on the table and slide. We were surprised to find out from Pam that the kids were outside playing w/ Mimi. They had been over on the lot throwing sticks in the stream and running around.

We had leftovers for lunch and then Autumn & I headed home around 2:00. I had a lot more cleaning to do. I used my new fancy Shark steam mop and cleaned all the tile in the house (which is the whole house except for the bedrooms). Then I put away all my piles of stuff that seem to accumulate all over. I deep cleaned my bathroom, organized my jewelry, cleaned my closet, etc. I finally finished at 4:45 and laid down on the couch for 15 minutes. Autumn was so good while I cleaned and had me put on music so she could dance in the living room and then she had me put on Frosty the Snowman so she could watch that.

At 5:00, Mom & Lexie got to my house to help me get ready for the big birthday bash we were having for Autumn, Brooke, & Heather. We had decided to have English muffin pizzas that people could customize. So, we cooked up the hamburger, sausage, mushrooms, and green peppers. We also made up a tray of them w/ cheese & pepperoni so when people got there they could eat right away while their personalized pizzas were cooking. We just set up the station on the island and everyone had plenty to eat and had a great time making their own pizzas. Emily brought a salad and Mom & Dad brought the drinks (and provided everything for the pizzas).

Mom & Dad also brought over the picnic table that they keep out on their patio so the kids would have a place to sit. I was worried about there not being enough room for everyone to sit, but we all fit just great at the 2 dining room tables I have. The kids especially loved getting to have pizza and their own drinks for dinner. They were laughing and being silly and having a good old time at their own little table.

After everyone ate and talked for a while, it was time for dessert. Aunt Sandy brought this huge cupcake and then we also had Blue Bell ice cream.

Here’s the 3 birthday girls (and Baby Jamie) blowing out their candles while we all sang Happy Birthday to them.

After everyone had cake and ice cream, Aunt Sandy called all the kids into the living room and they did the Hokey Pokey. The kids thought it was a blast and had so much fun.

Here’s a picture of all the gifts before they got torn into. There were a LOT of presents there!

I thought this was a cute picture of Heather & Brooke opening their presents.

Aunt Sandy & Uncle Robert got Brooke these ADORABLE cowgirl boots. We were trying to get a cute picture of Brooke but she just wanted to pull funny faces. I’m so happy to know Autumn’s not the only one that does that!

Heather’s showing off her beautiful necklace she got from Shane. My favorite part is the big yellow bow she’s wearing. I think it makes her look like a 1920s flapper girl.

Autumn got lots of cool gifts like a Princess kick ball & Princess frisbee (Sandy & Robert), the Belle doll she’s been asking for (Papa & Mimi), another Mulan doll (Lex, Jon, & Andrew) which is great b/c her other one is trashed, a Tinkerbell charm necklace & bracelet (Rocky & Heather), a Toy Story game (Tyler & Emily), and her favorite was a Barbie laptop type thing that plays games (Papa & Mimi). This picture of her & Shane laying on the floor playing w/ the laptop is so cute.

I thought we were going to have to bust out the karaoke machine to keep the party from lagging, but we didn’t need it. We had all the entertainment we needed by watching Uncle Robert feed Peyton. He would give Peyton a spoonful of food and would move his mouth a little bit like he was helping Peyton eat it. He did it every single time and we were all laughing so hard. He kept looking at us going, “What?” which just made us laugh even more.

After we sat around and talked and laughed for a while, everyone finally decided they had to go home. I was so worried about there being enough room for everyone to sit and I worried that people would get bored, but it seems like everyone had a good time and I’m so glad I was able to have the party at my house and will definitely have to host more parties here. I had to go in my room for a minute while the party was going on and it made me so happy to hear everyone talking and laughing in the living room. Having my home full of good people and good food and making great memories just fills my cup to overflowing.

After everyone was gone, Nick decided he wanted to get out the karaoke machine and bust out some sweet dance moves and tunes. It was really funny when he started singing, “New York, New York” and doing a little Chorus Line kick. Autumn had fun just making up her own words while singing along.

Once I got all the food put away, I went and sat down on the couch to relax and get out my laptop so I could download all the pictures I took. Autumn climbed up next to me and got our her laptop so she could pretend to blog like I was doing. Like they say, “emulation is the sincerest form of flattery,” or at least that’s what I’ll tell myself so I won’t feel guilty for spending so much time on my laptop. Just kidding. I’ve been a lot better about putting my laptop down if Autumn wants/needs me.

It was a great party and I’m so glad everything went so well. The kids kept themselves entertained by playing in Autumn’s room and I think hope everyone had a great time.