A Saturday Full of Parties!

This was a busy day since we scheduled two parties on the same day.  First, Ella had her friends over for a pajama dance party.  She had a great time dancing and singing with her buddies.  When you get to the dance pictures you will notice they are all blurry...well, that's because there were 10 little girls dancing nonstop while throwing balloons.  It was too funny!

Ella and Ava are best friends these days!  Anytime Ella tells us a story about Ava she will say, "You know Ava, my best friend?  Well, she....."  They are a cute little pair.

Now it's time to switch gears to our family birthday party for both girls.  Everyone from Unionville and Moberly came, so we had a house full of company.  We had a great time celebrating with Gracie and Ella.

Gracie got new golf clubs from us!

Ella couldn't believe there was money in a birthday card!

Since Gracie got new golf clubs, she quickly made a decision to give Ella her old clubs.  Ella thought it was fantastic, even though they are used.

Grandpa (finally) filled out the book we gave him for Father's Day a few years ago.  It's a memory book where he had to write down things from his own childhood and early years of marriage to Nana.  He thought it was hard, but he had to do it since Nana had already completed her book and given it back to the girls. 

Gracie wanted a trifle for her birthday cake, and we used the rest of Ella's first birthday cake at this party as well.  It was a great party, and we were so glad everyone could come. 

Happy Fourth Birthday, Ella!!!

Ella had to wake up bright and early this morning so that she could open a few presents before Brent left for work.  Her birthday party is this weekend, so we saved her big gift for the party.  Ella has been wanting Lego Friends for a while now, so she was excited to finally get one.

A birthday pancake with chocolate chips in the shape of a four and a candle started Ella's day off well.

Well Ella may be four, but she's still pretty goofy!

We took Ella to the local Mexican restaurant, where the waiters sing in a boisterous fashion when it is your birthday.  They start whistling and doing Mexican chants as they approach the table, so she knew they were coming.  Ella quickly hit my lap and tried to hide while they put the sombrero on her head.  After they left the table she resurfaced and wore the sombrero.

It's worth suffering through the singing just to get the yummy dessert they bring you!

Sweetness!

 

These two crazy characters sat across from us.  Weirdos!

SNOW!!!

The snow stuck, and we enjoyed a morning of snowy fun!  Our back hill is perfect for sledding.

We wanted to build a snowman, but knew we had to do it fast.  It wasn't that cold outside, so we knew the snow would melt quickly.  The girls didn't waste any time, and within an hour we had three snowmen in our front lawn!

Our Big Snowflakes

 Since it has been a winter-less snow, the girls were super excited to discover that it was snowing tonight.  We had gone to the library to get some new books, and as we were checking out, the librarian said, "Well look at that snow!"  We looked out the doors and saw the biggest snowflakes that I have ever seen in my life.  It looked like someone had torn sheets of paper and was dropping the pieces from the sky.  The librarian said, "It looks like the angels are having a pillow fight!"  We went straight home to play in the snow, since it didn't look like it would last long.

Gracie said, "It's just so beautiful that I can't take my eyes off of it."

The Hat

Ella couldn't wait to wear her hat to school today.  She has seen pictures of Gracie wearing this same hat, so she was ready for her turn.  The only bad thing was that a teacher made her put the hat in her cubby and she couldn't wear it all day.  I guess I can understand that her cuteness would have been a distraction all day!  

Walking tthe Runway

We had a play date today, which led to a fashion show in our living room.  Check out Ella working the runway!

Gracie looked lovely in the fashion show.  So coordinated!

Buddies Gracie, Madison, Savannah, and Ella had a great time strutting their stuff!

Partying It Up on New Years Day

The holidays have worn us out!  After church today the girls just wanted to hang out on the couch.  Ella didn't last long!  We have sure enjoyed our Christmas break.  It was nice for us all to be off at the same time and not have the scheduling conflicts that we have had in the past when I was working at the pharmacy.