Gracie's Birthday Out

 Saturday we got up and Gracie was already up and going. She was excited to get going for the day. We got everyone ready to go to lunch. I have been working on braiding more...its not something that comes natural to me for sure. The girls really liked it though so we'll do it more.

We met Gracie's friend in Ogden and picked her up to go to lunch. Gracie wanted to go to Golden Corral. It's actually really nice because the kids can get what they want and are now pretty much to the age they can just get it. Matt and I helped Liam and the girls just did their thing.

After lunch Matt took Liam home and I took all the girls to Color Me Mine to paint pottery. 

They each chose a project and I even chose one this time. Usually Im helping the kids paint but they are to the point now they didn't need me to be hovering so I chose something to do. Stuff like this isn't my strong suit as I like to go off of a design other give you and not have to make the decisions myself. But all of the projects turned out great and we had a great time. I thought we'd be done in about an hour but in ended up taking us just over 2.

Hallie chose the same project as mine and seems to struggle creativity wise like me but once she got going she did a great job.

Then we walked down to Coldstone ice cream. I think its so cool when you can walk from one destination to the other without a lot of effort. Probably because there haven't been many times or places in my life that I could do that.

That night Gracie opened the rest of her gifts.

Happy birthday to our Gracie.

Gracie Turns 11

 I'm not sure how it's possible but Gracie is 11! I think every year I feel like it sneaks up on us because of Christmas and New Years. I'm always glad that I do her birthday shopping when I do Christmas because everything can be pretty picked over after the holidays. She has really gotten into Harry Potter. She was the first one to show interest in watching the movies and reading the books. She got the books for Christmas and we have been slowly collecting the movies from the DI. When I asked Gracie what she wanted to do for her birthday she had 2 plans one celebrating at home and a little party out. So Friday on her birthday we had dinner at home, opened presents, set off lanterns, and finished up with cake and ice cream.

I have always wanted to try the floating lanterns and I decided it would be a fun surprise for all of the kids to set these off. They each took the time to write or draw on their lantern before we lit them and they floated off into the sky.

Gracie is fun to ask every year what kind of "cake" that she wants because every year its a little different and often times she doesn't even request cake. This year she wanted to do better than anything cake.

A fun night at home celebrating our girl. She is so unique and helps keep peace in our home. She is everyone's friend and the first one to offer or ask for a hug. She is a silent succeeder in the sense that she excels at pretty much everything she does but doesn't need the attention or praise when she does. She loves to play games and do puzzles. The kids spend hours in the foam pit making up shows or teaching rock climbing wall class or in the play room playing legos. She's also a great helper and loves to cook and bake. She is the only one that consistently gets up with her alarm but is the first to have a cluttered room.  She also loves reading and regularly can be found cuddled up in a blankie doing so.

Surprise Lets Do Family Pictures

 One of the babies I took care of in the NICU lives up here in the valley and recently their family had pictures done in the snow. I have wanted to do family pictures in the snow for a long time and I decided instantly that it needed to be done ASAP. I reached out the photographer to ask specifics and pricing. We went back and forth for a couple days and then she asked on Monday afternoon if we could do pictures on Wednesday afternoon. I was a little panicked as it usually takes me weeks to months to deicide on outfits and feel like were ready. I text Matt to see if he could come home early so we would have time to take them before the sunset. He was a little caught off guard but after checking with his boss we decided we could pull it off. Now all I had to do is put all the outfits together. They came together a lot easier than I had anticipated. I decided last minute to wear a hat and then all the girls wanted to wear hats so about 30 minutes before pictures I was texting friends to find one more hat. Amy saved us and we picked it up on our way out the door. The snow was so deep Heidi had made paths and spots for us to stand. The kids were all very cooperative and did a great job. We were done in 40 minutes even though we had a hour. I love how they turned out and she did a great job with some editing. I love the coloring and how she did everything. She also has a great system. She takes the picture off her camera and emails them to the client and then we chose the 20 pictures we wanted her to edit.  She even did some head swaps. I would for sure use her again. So glad I didn't freak out and decide it couldn't be done...it was so great. And now I have these pictures forever.