Joy's 6th Birthday!

 Joy turned 6-years-old on Monday.  She had a "Frozen" friend party on Saturday and it was lots of fun.  In the first pictures she's standing in front of the "pin the nose on Olaf" game. 

 Me and the birthday girl.

 

Here is Joy with her little friends. They are all in the same grade. Joy is tall! 

We were going to order a "Frozen" cake from Walmart, but they weren't very cute so we decided to make our own.  We already had an Olaf and we got some other cute things to put on top of the cake and I think it turned out pretty well.  Joy was very happy with it.

 We also had a pinata at the party.  It was really sturdy and didn't want to break.  Eventually we had to start giving me and Mark turns, even then it took awhile to get it to break. Andy wanted all of the turns, he cried when it was everyone else's turns.  It's hard to be 2, and it's hard for the rest of us too :)

  Grace and BethAnne came to the friend party too.  They each got her a stuffed animal from her wish list.  She loved them!  BethAnne also made a great treasure hunt for a party game. 

 Cake time!

Make a wish!

Then Joy got to have a family party on Monday with Grandma, Grandpa,  Nana,  Papa, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Scott and soon-to-be Aunt Tena.  It was very fun!  We even got to play another rousing game of pin the nose on Olaf.  The grown-ups were thrilled!

For Joy's family party she requested chocolate cake with strawberry frosting (which I make with homemade strawberry jam). Yum!

Andy was quite thrilled with Joy's presents.  She got a remote control car from Scott and Tena which he did not relinquish for days.  He yelled "my car!" if anyone tried to take it.  He doesn't say much, but when he does talk, he means it! Sweet Joy was happy to share, for the most part, and that made my life much easier.

 

We are so blessed to have Joy in our family.  She is liking kindergarten and she has been making some new friends.  She really is a lovely, joyful child.  Happy Birthday Joy!

Reunion, Grace's Birthday and More

After BethAnne and I got back from Columbus, we had just a few days until it was time to go to the Baker Reunion in Park City (my parents and all their children and grandchildren).  We were all there and it was so good to see everyone.  We had some family portraits taken while we were there (click on the picture to see it larger).

 I love this picture with the crying babies.  Have 4 kids age 24 months and under at the reunion was a bit of a challenge, but it was definitely worth it.

The views from the cabin were amazing

 

 Andy had fun on the playset

Joy had fun too, except for the day she was really tired and kept falling all the time.

Grace's birthday was the day we left the cabin so we celebrated that morning with a little party.  We had a birthday tower of donuts for the cake along with a yummy breakfast. 

 Birthday girl Grace, age 9! 

 Grace had another birthday party at Nana and Papa's house when we got home from the reunion.  So much fun!

 

 This picture was taken just the other day at a fundraiser we went to.  They had horse rides and the girls had so much fun going for a little ride. I love this pretty picture of Joy.

Lastly, we have some exciting news!  Mark's brother Scott is engaged to be married to my good friend Tena.  Their wedding is on October 24th.  We are so happy for them, they're a great couple. 

So now I'm caught up on blog posts, I think.  I hope you are all well.  Have a lovely Fall!

Love, Aubrey

Columbus (Summer catch-up)

I've gotten behind a bit on my posting.  It was a very busy summer.  In July, BethAnne and I went to Columbus, Ohio for a week, for lots of tests and to see new doctors.  The visit went well.  We were especially impressed with the doctors and the Ronald McDonald House.  The Ronald McDonald House in Columbus is the biggest in the world.  There were all sorts of rooms to hang out in, like a library, movie theater, several family rooms, a princess play room, and other fun rooms.  The people there were very kind and our room was nice.  

Here's a picture of BethAnne with Ronald in front of the Ronald McDonald House.  We went to church the day of that picture.  The people at the ward were really nice.  A member of the Bishopric works as a nurse anesthetist at the children's hospital so we were able to request him for the anesthetized procedure (just some scopes) and he gave us extra attention.  

 Here's BethAnne at the Science Center.  It was pretty cool, lots of walking, but BethAnne had a lot of fun.

There was a cool water exhibit at the Science Center. 

Here's a picture of BethAnne with some of her "bracelets" one day.   

We went and drove by the Columbus Temple.  It's kind of tucked away in a neighborhood, but very pretty.

 

 My favorite place we visited was the Franklin Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.  It features Chihuly art glass throughout.  The plants and glass were amazing.  They also had a butterfly garden (with art glass) and it was spectacular.

This picture doesn't really do justice to the amazing butterflies that were at the butterfly garden, but it was hard to get good pictures of them.  

I loved this pink flower, very pink. 

 

 Some Chihuly glass that was in a ceiling.

They had a Bonsai garden, so cool. 

Here was a picture outside our room at the Ronald McDonald House. It is one of my favorite sayings so it was fun to see it there. 

 The Columbus Zoo was another amazing stop on our trip. The girls had asked BethAnne to get a picture with a cheetah, and she and the cheetah were happy to oblige.

The giraffes at the zoo were spectacular.  This feeding station was a couple stories off the ground.  It was amazing to see how tall they are.

I'm glad we got to do some fun things while we were in Columbus.  Some of the tests were really not fun, but BethAnne was brave and the doctors were able to learn a lot.  She will go back to have surgery the Monday before Thanksgiving.  She will be there at least 10 days.  It will be a pretty significant surgery (bowel resection, among other things), but it should really help her quality of life.  We would appreciate your prayers during that week and always.  

Love,

Aubrey

Pictures

We've been having so much fun with cousins lately.  I took this picture tonight and I thought it was great.  Even Bear (Rick and Hailey's dog) is smiling.  We love summers with the Bousquets!

And we love having fun with Chrissy and Caleb too.  I took this great picture of Chrissy and Caleb the other day. So pretty and handsome.  It's so fun to have them to play with too.  We miss you all who aren't here, we're glad we could see you at the reunion.

Love you all!  Have a great week!

Andy's 2nd Birthday

Yesterday was Andy's 2nd birthday.  We had a fun birthday party with family and then we did fireworks afterwards.  It was a day early for 4th of July fireworks, but it's fun to celebrate both occasions at the same time.

 I got these cute pictures before the party.  I think he could tell something fun was about to happen.

Here's Andy with some ice cream.  He didn't love the pie that went with it, but the rest of us did. 

Each time Andy opened a present, he just wanted to play with that present. It took a bit of help for him to keep opening presents.  

Near the end, he got to this big present from me and Mark and he was giddy with excitement.

Everybody liked this present.

So fun!

Pretty Grace!

Happy Joy!

The girls all ready for fireworks

Andy got to stay up for fireworks this year and he thought they were great.  I was worried he'd be scared, but he just loved them.

Lovely ladies! (Nana and Grandma). We are so lucky to have grandparents so close.  

We ended up with lots of fireworks and by then end, Andy was pretty tired.  But it was a fantastic party! We're so grateful for this sweet, busy, handsome boy!