Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Thanksgiving in AZ!

Thanksgiving was perfect this year!  We headed down to Arizona, with the rest of my family, and spent  some time with my cousins that we don't get to see very often.  The whole trip, with the exception of the drive home, was refreshing.  The weather was perfectly warm and the company was so fun.  Sydney and Cooper had a blast, and still always play "Arizona" when they are playing together.  I loved every minute of it!



Arizona Bound!

My cutest cousins, Emily and Sadie!


Sadie reading to the kids...

Barro's Pizza

Thanksgiving Day nap

AZ Highschool State game... go Queen Creek! 

We won!

Sun in her eyes- the drive home

Made good time on the drive home until this point...











Woke up at 5:15 to drive home... and FINALLY home at 10:53... such a long day!

Friday, January 4, 2013

Sydney's Birthday

5 years just seems to fly by... Sydney turned five on November 8th, and it really does feel like just yesterday that she was born.  I try to treasure as many moments as I can remember to, because I know before I know it, my kids will be grown up- which is why I really try to keep up on this blog- documenting it all.

We celebrated Sydney's birthday in school the day before her actual birthday.  She picked out which kind of cupcakes to make- rainbow chip- which on a side note, will always remind me of college :)  It was a perfect choice for her, because she loves anything rainbow.  Sydney was so excited to celebrate and has had her "candles" picked since school started.


Birthday girl with her birthday crown

Blowing out her friend candles...


I love celebrating birthdays ON the actual birthday, but most times that isn't possible.  So Matt and I decided this year that we wanted to start a tradition of going on a special date with the birthday kid, on their birthday.  It has already become my favorite family tradition.  Sydney thought that we'd be going to a BYU game, since that's what we did with Cooper, but after we told her a few ideas, she came up with the idea to go to a "fancy dinner."  We all dressed up, and went to Brio, and Sydney got to open a little present- a necklace with her name on it. 




Sydney wanted her doll, Kate, to join us, and Kate even got her own seat in the restaurant right across from Sydney...




That date night, was truly one of my favorite memories of my life.  It was so much fun to spend some quality time with Sydney by herself.  I loved making her feel so special.  At the end of the night she said, "this is the best dinner ever!"  I couldn't stop smiling.


Sydney got to have a friend birthday party this year, so we decided to throw one the day after her birthday.  She was able to pick 5 friends, because she was turning 5.  In our neighborhood, there are so many kids... it's hard not to invite them all, but our townhome is only so big :)  So we sent out these cute invites... and planned/prepped for the big day!




A few years ago I saw a Tangled tower cake, and I thought it would be so cool to try and make it.  I went back and forth with the decision, because I knew it would be a lot of work, and Matt encouraged me to try it.  It actually was a lot of fun to make, and I think I only cried one time, which isn't too bad... I couldn't have done it without Matt, and we took a few shortcuts- the whole tower is styrofoam.  We didn't need that much cake, so I figured it would be good to make it a bit easier.  I think it turned out cute, and I'm glad I did it.  Sydney LOVED it.



We actually kept the decorations fairly simple... this was all of them.  But it was totally all we needed.


Jello boats with oranges, and carrots and popcorn were our "movie snacks" while we watched Tangled




Matt brought this movie poster home from work a couple of years ago.  When he brought it home, Sydney decided that she wanted a Tangled party, so we held on to it, for a long time, just for this occasion. 
Waiting to greet her guests...

The neighborhood kids

Flynn Rider, who is ALWAYS called Eugene at our house, pinata- and a frying pan to hit him with...


Cake Time!!!






Happy Birthday Sydney!  I am so glad that you enjoyed your birthday, and I love you to pieces!  

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