Third time is a charm ...

I had a great third birthday this year ... I love all of you! Here are some pictures of the fun ...

Happy birthday Emery!!!

Tic tic tic  ... countdown to the big day!!!

Grandma Judy and the masked Emery!!!

Grandma Judy and Grandpa Eric drove all the way 
down to make sure my third birthday was a blast!!!

We had a pre-birthday celebration 

with balloons, candles, and cake ...

... and then it was party games time ... 
Avery dominated, but she gracefully helped out Grandpa Eric ...

... and Grandma Judy each and every hand!!!

We all went to the fairy museum 

and had a grand old time ...

... in fairy town, we could "hover" over all the people and villages ...

... and even see all the fairies come and go!!!

At the end of the night, 

Grandma Judy read us both great bedtime stories!!!

On Emery's actual birthday, the day started 
with a shout-out to her at story time ...

... then a nice long dog walk ...

... and then a quick test of the pool water's temperature ...
it was perfect!!!

Then it was time to get ready for the party!!!

Sophie playing "Hunger Hunger Hippo" with Avery ...

... then into the cool pool water ...

... for tons and tons of fun pool time ...

... with all my good friends, where some like to get crazy ...

 .. and some like to be more quiet and comfortable ...

... and then we had lots of grilled meats and party foods ...

... until it was finally time for BIRTHDAY CAKE ...

... Grandma Wendy made the super-duper best 

Micky Mouse cake ever ...

... and Emery has no trouble blowing out all of her candles!!!

Everyone enjoying lots and lots of cake!!!

Emery testing out her new Minnie-Mouse bicycle!!!

Picking out only one bedtime story 
is always tough ...

... so instead it's great to talk

Grandma Judy into reading all of them!!!

Thanks for all the good times and well wishes ... I love all of you!!!

Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!!!

Avery and I had a very special Mother's Day today with Mommy ...

First, we all went on an early carefree trail ride ...

... next we did some much needed home gardening ...

... then we all jumped into a nice warm bath ... 
we gave Mommy the full spa experience!!!

After a bath, we got all fancied-up with Mommy's makeup ...

... Emery went heavy with the eye shadow ...

... and Avery with lots of everything!!!

At the end of the day we made Mommy a wonderful 
floor picnic BBQ dinner and watched her favorite movie ...  
The Princess Bride!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Seven Years of Avery ...

Avery had a great 7th birthday party with tons of friends and tons of fun. Here are some pictures leading up to her big day!!!

Happy Birthday Avery!!!

Counting down to Avery's birthday ...

it seemed so far away, so we had a pre-party to test out 

all the fun things we would do at her actual birthday party ...

... like play in a jumping castle ...

... and have a special dinner with lots of balloons and gifts ...

... and we even tested out a special little cake to

see how much smoke seven candles would make ...

 maybe we would need a fire extinguisher?!?!??!!

On Avery REAL birthday party day, we had a full day of fun 

starting with swimming and poolside lounging 

with our infamous Auntie Em ...

... next was cleaning up and 

getting ready for the party ...

... right after a quick sister pedicure ...

... it was finally time to decorate the house ...

... and get out the cake 

(made by the best Grandma Wendy ever)!!!

It was then party-time with guests ... 

here is Emery and Sora lounging with drinks ...

... then jump-time in the HUGE jumping castle ...

... and as usual, Daddy had to take it up an extra notch

throwing huge balls around at everyone ... we banned 

him from jumping after 15 minutes of that ...

... and even Mommy and Stella wanted to bounce ...

... everyone was having such a great old grand time ...

... some kids even wanted to jump into the pool from way up above, 

but good thing Grandma Wendy talked them all out of it!!!

Time for great birthday cake!!!

Time for tons of presents!!!

Avery and her new two (+2) wheeled bike ...

 just look at all that confidence!!!

And just like all good things must come to an end, 

so did Avery's birthday after way too much fun!!!

Thanks to all for all the presents and the fun ... 

much much thanks to all, each of you and everyone!!!

Round & Around & Around ...

Lazy Sundays always seem to resort to this type of sister fun eventually ...

Get ready ... get set ... and go!!!

Carnival Time ...

The carnival came to town today, so we beeline over to the rides and had a great day ...

Emery and Avery riding round and round and round!

Mommy and Emery on the major roller coaster ...

... and then back to some slower rides ...

... that is until our best friend Shannon met up with us ...

... and we ditched all our parents and 

took off by ourselves for the rest of the night!!!

Happy {Super High Numbered} Birthday, Mommy!!!

Hooray, it's Mommy's birthday today ... but unfortunately she's not really all that into it ...

Mommy hiding out from her high numbered birthday!

So we started the day sending tons and tons of flowers, 

but that didn't seem to cheer her up enough ...

... so then we tried grooming all of the horses 

and that also didn't seem to cheer her up enough ...

... and then we did all sort of "fun things" from Mommy's 
childhood, but even that didn't seem to cheer her up either ...

... so we ended her fabulous day with a nice celebration 

and great conversation, 

and finally made it a great day to remember!!!