Here it is...Grace's 3RD BIRTHDAY!!!

09/02/12

Gosh I can't believe it took me so long to post this!!! 

 I am so excited to be sharing Grace's Elmo birthday party!!!  See her beautiful cake?  Elmo's face was made by our very special family friend Mysha!  Thank you so much Mysha!

 The entire group of women that were in the cabin helped out with some aspect of Grace's birthday, and that's what made it so much more special :)  Here's the fun Grouch!!!

 Cookie Monster!!!  I am so excited!  He is so darn cute and decorated by the little nieces as well as Mysha's daughter, Kenna!

 Here's the whole table!  Grace in her birthday shirt, Mysha and Kenna!  So exciting!!

 These are pizza casseroles!  And even though Elmo is the one that likes pizza, he was on the cake as well as the fruit tray, so I couldn't put him on the pizza too!  These were AWESOME!  And we had another this big too!

 There's a close up of cookie monster!

 The Grouch's eyes are ranch dip.

 And here's our really good friends Donna and Lane!  They are family, and I'm so glad that they were able to be there with us.  Grace loves playing with him, and they get along so well.

 She did so great blowing out the candle!!  We've been working on blowing by blowig out candles, and it obviously paid off!

 Everyone cheered for our wonderful Grace, and then she was so excited...

 

That she cheered too!

 And now it's presents time!!!!!  The drum was so much fun!

 And of course an awesome Elmo counting book!  Now I'll just keep quiet so you can see the wonderfulness of her birthday!

Doesn't this face just show the fun?  See that dirty face?  That is happiness for sure!!

It was a wonderful birthday.  I was so blessed and happy to be able to share it with the family, and to see all the happiness in her eyes.  She loved that the attention was on her, and I could tell that it was a success!  It was such a special day for me, seeing my little girl growing up with so many loving family members all around her.

I love you all my awesome family!!

Amanda

Another Present in the Mail!

09/04/12

We got another present in the mail!!  How fun!!  This is from another very special friend of ours :)  We miss these friends so much, but think about them often.  And we like to send special things in the mail to one another too!  Like this!

 I had to pretty much drag Grace away from her drum set that was given to her by Aunt Lisa and Uncle Brian at her family birthday :)  That will definitely be coming in a post soon, don't worry!

 She did really well playing with it!

 I had a picture of her holding the package, but then I realized that our address was on it, and so I had to keep the picture out of the post.  But of course, it was decorated beautifully!  She was so excited to see that packages all ready for her to tear open!

 Oh, how cute!!!  She LOVED the fabric, and it definitely caught her attention.

 So cute!! Pajama bottoms that were home made!

 Here's another one!

 Oh wow!  They are super cute purses!  She is so into grabbing her purse or backpack and saying "bye" as she heads for the door, blowing kisses and running back for hugs and kisses!

 And then..what Mommy and Grace like to be doing together...books!!!!!

 She was already so excited that she started reading right then!  I'm so glad I have a girly that loves to read :)

 WOW!!  Look at how many books she got!  Awesome!

 There was also a package of stick on earrings and a few rings that were all Cinderella!  She those things on the bottom?  Next to her feet?  Those are crayon rings!!!

 And then here is a super beautiful, home decorated apron!  We will be using this so much!!!

And there are some small pajamas for her dolls!!!  This was such a wonderful gift box!!  Thank you so much Keri and Jonathan!  We love you guys so much!

Amanda

A Package From a Special Friend

09/12/12

We were so surprised to see a package in the mail for Grace's birthday!!!  It's always fun getting packages, but now that she knows how to unwrap, it's so much more fun for her!!

We were so surprised to see the package on the front step :)  Grace saw it and said, "birtday?" and got SO excited!

She was checking out who it came from, and she especially liked the balloons drawn on the package :)

Look how cute her name was written!  Isn't that just adorable?

WOW!!  This is what was inside!  She was so excited to see that it was something that she was able to tear into, since she's figured out that she gets something fun beneath the wrapping!

She gets to start at last!  I had to, of course, take so many pictures that she was being impatient!



WOW!!  So beautiful.  When she saw her present at this point, she lightly touched the sweater, pulled her hand over the tutu, and said...."soft...soft..."

"So pitty!"  She thought it was supposed to go on her arms.  Isn't that cute?

Here is the whole outfit!  I can't wait for her to wear this to church, as well as out and about.  "Grandma" Chapman really knows how to pick a cute tutu for sure!

And here is another awesome toy that she plays with all the time.

"Hello?  Hello?  Otay, bye!"

Checking out her perfect face.  She absolutely loves mirrors!

Cute decorations on the envelope!

And a secret message on the back.

ELMO!!!!!  I can't believe we she found a card like this!

Happy birthday with a special message :)

And wow!!!  Grace got $20 for her IPad fundraiser!

Thank you so much for all of the fun presents that Grace got for her birthday.  Though we are so far away from one another, and we don't get to see each other much, we think about you all the time, and hope you are doing well.  And to see a special gift in the mail from you lets us know you think about us too!

We love you and thank you for Grace's birthday present!


Amanda