Gracie Birthday Party

We decided to go bowling at Wild Cat Lanes at Weber state to celebrate Gracie's birthday. We ended up with 20 people...7 adults and 13 kids plus Em. We had 4 lanes and it took us about 90 minutes to complete one game. The kids were just shy of finishing when we had to leave to get to our dinner reservation

These two cute sisters love each other. When I asked Gracie how she wanted her hair done she asked for it to be just like Hallie's. They both looked really cute

The bowling ally had bumpers for the kids and these slides so the kids didn't have to throw the ball. Hallie was so helpful and kept everyone going making sure they had a ball and they knew it was their turn

Although Em didn't officially bowl she was content to wander among the 4 lanes we had and visit with everyone

This sister of mine is amazing! Always so supportive and like a 2nd mom to my kids. I sure love and appreciate all she does for me and my family

We got to Pizza Pie Cafe just in time for our reservation. It was a little crazy because they were busy but we got everyone in and sat down. It was a little tight but everyone had a seat

Kerry, Joy, Chris, & Krissy couldn't make it bowling but they were able to join us for dinner. I was happy everyone could make it to help us celebrate Gracie and feel special

After we all got our first round of food Gracie couldn't wait any longer to open her gifts so she found a spot in the middle of the floor and started open. We asked the kids to stay in their seats so everyone could see and it worked out great

Nick & Brit bought her some Legos! She is loving Legos right now so she was really excited

We bought her a snowman kit that she was so genuinely excited about. Matt thought I was silly for buying her a kit he thought she should forage for all the snowman pieces in nature..lol

Hallie picked Gracie out a couple read a long books one Frozen and one Moana and she was so thrilled I hate that the candid pictures are all blurry

Em picked out these cute bracelets and a Frozen microphone...of coarse all of them make noise

Grandma and Grandpa gave her money that she has decided to put in the bank since she said she got everything that she wanted..lol

The restaurant then brought her a "monster" cookie. Which included a giant cookie with 3 scoops of ice cream and then a gallon of whipped cream, caramel, and chocolate. 

                               After we sang we gave all of the kids a fork and they all dug in

Kinley was quick to pick up the bows off the gifts and "decorate" Nic. Kinley said this was a headband and a flower

I love all our family and I'm so gratfeul for their love and support. I was so grateful they were willing to make time in their busy lives and drive to come spend the evening with us. Happy birthday to our happy and emotional 5 year old. She is such a sweet and tender little girl. Happy birthday Gracie

Just an added note: I don't think it was necessary at all to take friends with us. It was just extra work and Gracie didn't even seem to care if she was there. Next time Ill save myself the headache and extra money and just let her enjoy the time with family

Happy 5th Birthday Gracie!!!

Gracie has been really excited for her birthday since we started counting down the days after Christmas. Matt and I are having a hard time believing she is 5 years old now. We let her open a couple of her gifts the night before just for fun. My mom bought her some dominos, stamps, stamp pads, and some clothes. I love the look on kids faces when they unwrap gifts

Because her birthday fell on a Friday she got to take treats to preschool on Thursday so Wed she and I made brownies by her request to take to preschool. We made smore brownies. She loves to help when Im baking/cooking. She also took ice cream sandwiches that they all loved.

She also got this shirt in the mail and was super excited since its Elana of Avalor

At preschool during the kids birthday month they get to be student of the month. We made a poster all about her and her favorites. It was fun to look over pictures to put on it and ask her a whole bunch of questions. She said her favorite food was pizza, her favorite show is Elana of Avelor, She lives in Huntsville, is 5 years old, favorite color pink, favorite sport soccer, and favorite books and the read along ones.

All ready for preschool

All morning as I was taking pictures of Gracie Em would say "cheese" wanting her picture taken as well.

After preschool Gracie came home she played Legos and wore her hat she got at school for the rest of the day. I love her teacher and how she makes the extra effort to make the kids feel special.

That night we opened a few more presents. These little dolls are my fav. The girls have been playing with them at the checkout in Walmart for over a year. They are miniature princess dolls. I finally talked Matt into letting me buying all of them and she was pretty thrilled.

Gracie requested cheesecake so we used our new instapot and make new york style cheesecake in under 30 minutes. It needs some tweeking but it turned out pretty good

Thursday night after the kids were in bed and asleep Matt and I decorated Gracie's room. She requested rainbow colors. Along with the streamers we also did helium balloons all over her ceiling. When she woke up she was super excited with her first birthday surprise

Morgan came over to play most of the day. She requested cereal for breakfast and mac n cheese for lunch so that is what we had. Matt came home from work early to help me finish some of the preparations and then we headed to pick up Hallie from school so we could go to Gracie's birthday party