Finley's 5th Birthday party...a little early...

Since we will have been in Wisconsin for about three weeks when Finley turns 5, we wanted her to be able to celebrate with her friends here so we had a little tea party. It was lots of fun. She talked about it for months before...she is currently excited about her real birthday...she says kids get LOTS of presents on their real birthday...and she has already begun to talk about Halloween and Christmas...she loves her holidays!I kept the cake really simple and then did little mini cakes for each of the girls...twelve little cakes seemed easier than a teapot and tea cups which I had originally planned:) The deco was also simple...two tables to accommodate all the girls...each with a place setting of tea cups...little cakes...and ice cream bowls. When everyone arrived they got to color a garden decoration...then we decorated hats with fancy things. It was fun...then we tried to gather them all up and take pictures with boas and beads...but that was interesting to corral all the fancy little ladies:) Then it was off to have "tea"(sparkling cider), cake, and ice cream...The girls did great...Laikyn loved her own little cake:) So one of Finley's favorite things in the world is candy...she has her mother's unfortunate sweet tooth...so I did a Candy Shoppe for her and her little friends to pick what they wanted...but to get to it they had to go on the Giant Tea Cup Hunt... "Hidden somewhere very near by is a giant teacup with treasure inside. Help Finley find it and you will see this birthday party isn't just about tea! The first stop in our hunt is a spot where we find letters and magazines of all different kinds. If you don't know it yet ask Finley for a clue she sometimes gets packages from Grandma there too. (mailbox) You found it I see, but we have only begun The next spot to find is kind of hot like the sun. In winter sometimes you can find Finley there being warmed by the heat in a big comfy chair. (fireplace) Next on the hunt is a place you passed by When you came to the house and Finley said hi. We greet our friends there and welcome them in 'Hello' we say friends 'well how have you been?' (front door) This next spots a favorite of Finley's for sure If you ask her she might even give you a tour. It is home to a girl with long golden hair Finley loves to play like she really lives there. (Rapunzel tower) You found it at last, the final clue If you listen close I'll tell you just what to do. Ask Finley where her dad parks his car I bet she will tell you the treasure is not very far. (driveway)" Super fun little party...perfect sendoff for Finley and her cute little friends. I felt kind of bad cause Finley has so many friends...a lot of them boys...but it was a tea party so I didn't really think they would want to come...plus we now limit our parties to 10 kids to invite...but she had fun with all the girls too!!

Last days of school...

This was such a great year for the girls...Avery finished her first year of Kindergarten...she had one of the best teachers EVER!! We loved Mrs. Lashley and couldn't have asked for a better fit for her. We were so nervous about having her leave Good Sam and go to Adams, but it turned out so well. This is the last day of school and our sweet little Avery is choking back tears. She sobbed for a long time that day...didn't sleep well...carried around her little "gift of love"(a little fancy wrapped box)Mrs. Lashley gave her for hours. She is such a sensitive little girl...she said all proud...but mom, I didn't cry at all at school and not even until I got into the car...my heart is breaking that she will not get to visit Mrs. Lashley like the other kids will next year...she just adored her...but we are on to the new...all good things must come to an end:)

Finley too had the most amazing teacher. Over the last couple of years we have gotten so close to Mrs. Kristen and will really miss her. She was such an engaged, loving, enthusiastic, positive, and supportive teacher...Finley loved her so much and Avery did last year...we will so miss Good Sam...it has been the best school for our girls...such an amazing environment. I only hope we can find in Eau Claire something as close as possible for Laikyn when she is ready for preschool.

Goodies for the end of year bake sale for Good Sam...

Easter/Mother's Day/Father's Day all wrapped up in one

We had a great Easter...it was fun to watch the girls really get into it still and Laikyn just discovering the fun of an egg hunt:) My camera died of course so if I get the flippin flip to work I will update with their Easter dresses:)

For Mother's Day, Aunt Adriane came down for the weekend...we made our way up to Mary's Peak, but were stopped by snow still so we played around and saw some waterfalls...it was a fun day!

For Father's Day we had Grandpa and Grandpa Mortenson in town from Utah...we spent the day before over at the coast(ugly weather, but fun anyway) and then Father's day we spent at Multnomah Falls...so beautiful...once again...if I get the flip to cooperate I will update with pics from that adventure!

Catching up with miscellaneous mischief

This winter we had a little snow...it was Laikyn's first taste of the real stuff...we are all in for a shock this next winter I am sure as we head to the blistery cold of Wisconsin:)

The girls had fun with a snowball fight!

Valentines day came and went with lots of love... And St. Patties day... And April Fools...with a switcheroo...we did chicken pot pies as the dessert made with candy bits and pudding...and our usual mashed potato and meatloaf cupcakes:) It was our last Tulip Festival in Oregon so we had lots of fun...yes it is a cloudy day and both Kristian and I had our sunglasses on...hmmm...I don't even have a good excuse, but is sure does add to the family picture don't you think;)

The bird people were there and we all got a chance to hold or pet them

My beauties

Family fun...

I love this picture of our little princess...she melts my heart...

We have been visiting as many of the wonderful waterfalls in Oregon that we can...this is one over by Lebenon...can't remember the name...

Hiking fun!! I've had some fun making cakes for people...Relief Society Birthday cake...

Wow Wow Wubbzy cake for a friends little boy...

This was one of my favorite car seat tents...I love the colors...it turned out well so I couldn't resist posting it. It went to a friends sister in law for her first little one:)

That wraps up the miscellaneous mischief we have been up to...on to the next post which is much more recent hooray!!

Little Laikyn turns 1!!!!

Our little monkey turned 1 way back in January and her lame mother is just now posting about it. She has brought SO much joy and fun into our family! We are all madly in love with this little girl and she pretty much gets away with everything...which is becoming a bit of a problem:) We just adore her to pieces!! We have a tradition for first birthdays in our family. We keep the party simple with as much family as can attend and we eat cake and ice cream and head to the nearest build a bear. The closest family and build a bear just so happened to be in Portland so we headed up there and celebrated with Adriane and Tiago, and Rebecca and the kids. It was a fun filled day! At Build A BearWe ate the cake at the OMSI's food court as it was raining out...surprise surprise...what...rain in Oregon?!?! Shocking:)As mentioned...we ate the cake at the OMSI in Portland so it had to be transported...so the last picture in the collage is how it turned out from being driven around for about 3 hours and rained on...not too bad...but also not ideal. It was a fun cake...my first real topsy turvey...I have since attempted a 3 layer that I will post sometime soon...I haven't gotten any better...oh well...they are harder than I thought they would be:) The monkey's are because we call her monkey and her lovey is a monkey...and the ball with one of the monkey's is because the girl is obsessed with balls...anything that is a circle is a ball...she has a great arm too for her little age...We just love her!!

Laikyn's First Christmas!

Merry Merry 1st Christmas Baby Girl!!

I had to post a few pictures of Laikyn's first Christmas! This is the tree farm we have gone to every year since we have been in Corvallis. We have so enjoyed cutting our own tree down and braving the unpredictable weather. Every single year we have looked at the tree out on the farm and said..."It's not too big...that should do it..." and every year we end up with a beast of a tree:) Definitely part of the fun! And this was Laikyn's first tree hunting adventure...it rained like crazy, but we had fun none the less! It looks so innocent laying down...and then...you stand it up... This is Christmas morning We had a wonderful Christmas! Grandma A and Aunt Erica came from Arizona and we spent much of the day with the rest of the family from Portland...we were abundantly blessed!

HP and the return of the lazy blogger...

Yes...Avery's birthday is in November...and yes...we celebrated it in December...and yes...it is now June...but in the event that I, by some miraculous chance, get around to turning this blog into the scrapbook that I intended it to be I wanted to be sure to document this really fun day! I went all out for this party as it was such a fun theme (and we love our little six year old)! We turned our house into Hogwarts with the front porch representing platform 9&3/4. As the kids were arriving they each got a school schedule...and made bracelets for "charms" class while waiting for friends to arrive. When everyone was gathered...they lined up for diagon alley...When they arrived they had received gold coins to buy their necessary supplies. In Diagon Alley they found HP glasses, wizards robes, a wand, cauldrons, and notebooks with pens for note taking.

After supplies were bought it was on to the Grand Room for Transfiguration. I whispered a creature from HP for them to act out and then the kids were suppose to guess what they had been transformed into. They had a blast doing this. Next it was on to Divination. In this class they each had a few jelly beans in their bowls and they had to guess what flavor they would be and then taste them to see. We used Any Flavored Beans so some were very interesting;) I'm not so sure Divination was one of their favorite classes:)Next it was on to Care of Magical Creatures where Kristian acted(very convincingly I might add) as Hagrid. Each child was given an egg (I made paper mache eggs...each with a "dragon" inside) and they were told all about how to care for their magical dragon egg. I don't have photos of Divination and Hagrid because we had only one parent there to help so we were short on numbers...So next it was on to Potions class. They got to try out several different kinds of "potions" in their cups... Then it was back to the Grand Hall for the Great Feast...I did the sorting hat for the cake and it was one of the easiest cakes yet because it didn't need to be perfect to look good! After eating cake and opening presents they all got to line up to visit Honey Dukes for some sugary fun!It was actually hard not to do more candy cause there were so many fun possiblities. Here are a few of the goodies... It was such a fun party...Avery was in heaven. As I write this 6 months later our six year old is on to the next obsession(Star Wars)...but she still is one amazing kid! She is so sweet and tender hearted. She is very much a pleaser and always wants to do what is right. One of my favorite things about Avery is she is always learning. She has a thirst for knowledge that I can hardly keep up with. She frequently gets out workbooks and does pages on her own just for fun...she walks around with a dictionary and highlights words that interest her...and just today told me with wide eyes that she was under her bed with a flashlight reading in Mark in the New Testament and had the goal of reading all of Mark and John today! She didn't quite make it...but I am sure she will get there soon. She loves to make goals and work toward them. She just saved up $15 for a StarWars watch that she is so proud of! She will often make charts for exercise goals. The other day she did push ups in groups of 10 until she reached 130. But for all the maturity and intelligence beyond her years she is still just a sweet little six year old who is afraid of snakes and most bugs(rolly pollies are now okay:) and loves to snuggle with her daddy. I love this little go getter...she never ceases to amaze me.

It has been so long...

It has been to long to catch up completely. I had a whole folder devoted to our summer travels and adventures to update here a month or so ago...but here I am...weeks after Halloween updating that event. Maybe someday I will get my act together...So we have Hermonie, a little monkey, and a Barbie. It was a great Halloween...we had three days of candy! Friday afternoon the downtown did a trick or treat at all the stores, on Saturday our ward did a trunk or treat, and then on Sunday Kristian's colleague threw an annual Halloween party with even more trick or treating. The girls were treated out...well at least mom and dad were. When I actually curled Avery's hair (we were in a great hurry for this picture so it didn't get done) people kept commenting how she looked just like Hermonie Granger...she was thrilled:) And Finley graciously kept correcting people when they would call her a princess...she was very polite and explained that she was a beautiful sparkly Barbie. Laikyn just soaked up all the attention that her pink bows and big toothy grin brought. It was a fun weekend:) We call Laikyn our little monkey, so this costume is very fitting. The first day she had the bows destroyed...I got wise and glued them on tighter for the next haunting adventure:) I made this last year too...so yummy...a broccoli cheese soup of sorts with tuna tombstone sandwiches. I think it might be our Halloween tradition from now on...it is a big hit! ******************************************************************* The other big event in October was Laikyn's blessing. My parents were able to come out for a week during which my dad blessed Laikyn. It was so nice to have her finally blessed:) It was a really fun day! Larry and Tamra came over from Utah to join us and Carol was there in spirit:) And the same dress that Avery and Finley wore when they were tiny infants actually fit Laikyn...I'm glad they make em big!

Wow what a delight this little girl is! She is an amazing spirit and lights up everyday in our home!!One of our better family pictures believe it or not:) And the only one we got for that day...the girls were LOVING having so many grandparents in one room all to themselves! Daddy and his littlest love.