Joy's 2nd Birthday Party

Joy's 2nd birthday is on Wednesday, but we had her party tonight.

 

Here's Joy next to Grandma. They're both ready for a party.

 

Here's her special birthday cake made by Daddy (decorated by Mommy). Its a chocolate layer cake with a chocolate mousse filling and a chocolate ganache on top with heath bits. It was so good!

 

Joy wouldn't eat her ice cream in her high chair, she just had to sit by her Aunt Chrissy. Joy said Chrissy's name for the first time tonight, she calls her Sissy, very cute.

 

Joy got some dress up clothes from Grandma. Here she is with some fairy wings and a wand.

 

And here's Grace in Joy's new hat and apron.

Thank you for everyone who came to help celebrate Joy's birthday. She has been such a wonderful blessing in our lives. She keeps me smiling all day long. We love our Joy!

Lady Bug dress

 

 

 

Joy grew out of all her Spring dresses so I got this lady bug dress on clearance to get us through the fall. Have a great week!

Love,
Aubrey

P.S. The first picture is cuter if you click on it.

Back to School and Birthday

BethAnne and Grace started school and Monday. BethAnne is in 3rd grade and Grace is in morning Kindergarten. They are now going to a magnet school that specializes in the arts. It's a great school and we are so glad that they were picked in the school lottery to be able to go there. I didn't take the normal back to school pictures like I should because I usually sleep in a bit with the baby (aka, big toddler) and Mark gets the kids ready for school and drops them off. He's such a wonderful husband! And he's a great Daddy too. He made a special breakfast for the kids a few days a go. The butterfly's wings are sandwiches made of chocolate heart waffles and peanut butter. Then he used a half banana for the body, cashews for the antenna and decorated the wings with Reece's pieces. He's so creative!

 

Even though I didn't get any back-to-school pictures, I did get these pictures tonight of my pretty girls.

 

Grace loves to strike a pose.

 

Joy's face is a little messy, but her eyes are stunning! We love our Joy!

 

Here's BethAnne at our piano. Her new school has piano keyboarding class twice a week and she memorized a short song that she played for me tonight. She's so smart and she loves her new school. I have never seen her so excited about school and it's a big blessing.

 

Here are the cards that BethAnne and Grace made me for my birthday. I think they are great!

 

I had a great birthday. It was nice to hear from so many of you today. Mark stayed home from work today (and tomorrow) to make things extra special. We've had a nice, relaxing day. Then we took the kids to Tepanyaki for dinner, which they loved (except Joy was terrified by the fire at the beginning of the show and she cried for several minutes afterward). I should have known that a girl who is terrified by the car wash might not do well at Tepanyaki. We were going to go to the Fair, then I realized it was a school night and also it was at least 95 degrees today (and I don't like the heat). Hopefully it will be cooler next year. We had a nice party at home later this evening with pies and presents. Mark gave me a beautiful card and some great presents. I am so blessed to have Mark and our sweet children. I sang part of a song to Mark earlier today from Sound of Music. It says- "somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good." I hope you all are well. Have a great weekend!

Love,
Aubrey

More great pictures from this summer

I thought I'd post some of the other great pictures from this summer because they haven't been posted yet. The Llewellyn kids and Bousquet kids are super duper cute!

 

Tyler and Aiden and Cameron are butterfly whisperers!

 

 

I love this picture of Mom and Adam. Grandma is always so much fun and so good to us!

 

I thought this was a very pretty butterfly picture.

 

Handsome Brian!

 

Beautiful Eva!

 

 

Adam is a cutie!

 

Cute Xander likes pizza. We should have had pizza more often :)

 

Brotherly love!

 

 

Triceratops Conquerors!

 

 

Stylish Faux-hawk boys!

Lots of cute kids! It was great fun! Thanks for coming Suzie and Lisa!
Love,
Aubrey

Fun Summer!

I just got prints back of some of my favorite pictures from Suzie's "home leave." Didn't we have fun!? I love you all so much - and I'm so grateful for your love and the wonderful people you are! I love the pictures that Aubrey posted, so I won't post more....but I am going to have fun creating with my new fridge pictures! Carl and family - we miss you! And Dad and I hope to come and see you during the holidays! Love to all of you! Mom

Lily Rose

 

 

 

Dear Family,

Right after we got our first dog (Daisy), my little brother, Carl, told me that I was the last person in the world that he ever thought would get a dog. So, I guess I've really "gone round the bend" now :) We felt like Daisy needed a buddy and we had the opportunity to get a two-month old puppy (related to Daisy), so after much thought and prayer, we decided to get one. We picked up Lily Rose (Lily for short) in Salt Lake on Saturday. She is the cutest little puff ball ever. She and Daisy seem to get along really well and Lily's a lot more mellow than Daisy was/is, so that's good.

The kids really love our dogs, so that makes it all worthwhile. Plus it helps that these dogs don't shed and are pretty. I hope you're all doing well. We're a little crazy, but a lot happy. :)

Love,
Aubrey

Summer Fun in Boise!

I love the pictures that Lisa and Mom took during Suzie and Lisa's visits to Boise. I thought I'd post some of my favorites (especially the ones with my kids). I'll let you guys post some of the other cute pictures, or let me know if you want me to.

 

This is one of my favorite pictures ever of the Baker sisters. It was really good to spend some time together.

 

I love this picture of BethAnne, Grace, Eva, and Aiden. They had so much fun together for the three weeks that the Bousquets were here.

 

My girls strike a pose. Very funny.

 

I think BethAnne looks like a cute frog building a sand castle. So much fun!

 

Grace is having a wild ride here at Chuck E Cheese. Thanks everyone for making it a special birthday!

 

What a great picture of Joy with a butterfly on her head! So cool!

 

And I loved this picture of pretty Chrissy with butterflies on her! So photogenic and such a big helper!

I can't wait to do it all again next year!