Anne's First Birthday: Take Two

Anne's California party was such a success we decided to follow the same outline for her party here in Utah. Why not, huh? We had some repeat guests, Rachel, Cory, Jocelyn, Stephen, and Alisha got to attend both fiestas, lucky them, huh? The rest of the party consisted of Brandon's parents and siblings. What didn't repeat was all the help Brandon and I got from my mom and dad to put the whole thing together. I think I need to fly them out this way whenever I want to throw a party. We can afford that right, honey? Seriously, they just know how to get it done. 

So back to the events of the day....

 

After hanging out for a bit waiting for family to arrive,

We made our way out back to let the kids splash around. I should have taken a picture of all the adults standing around with their cameras while the five kids swam. So funny.

 Cake and presents. Anne was certainly spoiled!

 The spread. The main dish was this pulled chicken sandwiches. We kept the sides simple, a veggie tray and strawberries with my favorite fruit dip ever (softened cream cheese whipped with a container of marshmallow creme ...easy peasy), and some chips. If you feel so inclined, enlarge this picture and check out the owl theme on the plates. So darling! When I saw them I had to go with that, the owls reminded me of Anne's beautiful, big, round eyes.) 

 Cousins. Aw, so cute and matchy-matchy.

 Yep, like I said, we followed the exact same plan. Next up was the pinata. This one was extra super cute, but much harder to break apart. We all had to take several attempts before we broke it open.

And, let's be honest, some of the attempts didn't really make much of a dent.

Marie lasted about 2 minutes before she was in her princess attire. Recognize the dress? Yep, it's her Halloween costume from when she was 1 year old. She certainly knows how to earn the center of attention, even at her sister's birthday party.

Brandon ready to save the day and break that darn pinata.

But William would prefer if we gave him the credit for it's demise.

 Anne was only interested in one type of destruction, cake destruction.

She knew exactly what needed to be done and gladly did it.

  The cake for the guests using the booties from her blessing cake. It certainly doesn't match Misty's talent, but it was yummy! (black forest cake)

It was so much fun and exhausting to celebrate Anne twice. I definitely don't want to make a habit out of it. Happy birthday, again, to my sweet baby girl.

P.S. Thank you SO much to Cory and Rachel for coming early and helping get things set up and to Stephen and Alisha for staying late to help clean things up. So, so, so grateful for your help!
P.P.S. Thanks to Mike (brother-in-law) for the awesome photography. Pictures of the pinata breaking, the cake destruction, the last picture of Anne and me, and that gorgeous picture of Anne in her pink hat were courtesy of his amazing skills.

Splish, Splash!

We didn't plan do do anything extraordinary on Anne's actual birthday because her birthday party: take two (stay tuned for that post) was planned for the next day. However, I couldn't help but make it a special day. We had been home from California for a week (where we went swimming in a pool or in the ocean every single day except Sunday) and I was having serious withdrawals from the water. I decided I felt extra brave and perhaps a bit desperate and took the kids to the Roy Aquatic Center. 

So. Much. Fun. Intense for me with three non-swimmers, but the kids couldn't have had more fun. Other than the fact that I backed the Sienna into the Alero as I was leaving (still kicking myself about that one), the day was perfect!

William was awesome at checking in with me every couple of minutes between going down the slides and playing on the water features. Marie made it a bit easier because she was really just content to play in the water next to me and Anne. She ventured off to the water feature every few minutes and then would come back to my side. 

And Anne, well, I am not, not, not a water wing/life jacket/ floaties type mother but if I were to go to a pool more regularly I think I would become one just for this age with Anne. She crawled through the water, stuck her face in the water, tried to jump in the water and thought she wanted me to just let her go. Whenever I stood up with her to get a better view of William or when Marie had to go potty (4 times!), Anne just screamed because she wanted to be in. the. water. We obviously picked a good activity for her to celebrate her birthday, I don't think anything could have been more appropriate for our water baby.

And due to the fact that my attentions were very  much taken by three very busy kiddos, these were the only three pictures I took to document our adventure. Nice, huh?

Happy birthday to my sweet Anne-girl!

Anne's First Birthday: Take One

It started with a little fun in the water.

Then we moved on to filling our stomachs. Grandpa "manned" the grill.

The cousins just being themselves.

Anne adores hot dogs so we made some pigs in a blanket for the her and the kids. The adults enjoyed cheeseburgers and everyone devoured the grilled corn on the cob. 

After dinner we moved onto the best part ... birthday cake!

Look at that cute adorable face and those happy eyes! This little girl sure does brighten our lives.

She was a rockstar when it came to digging into the cake and she was willing to share.

What a good sport. 

"I like this first birthday stuff!"

She got lots of much needed summer clothes and they are all so darling!

The grand finale of the party was the pinata. She was excited about it until I actually started hitting the pinata with the stick she was holding, then she'd had enough. So all the cousins took over.

Everybody took a whack at it, but it was Christian that finally sealed the deal ... in one monstrous swing. You'd think he plays baseball or something.

Our family feels so much more complete with Anne that it really isn't hard to believe that a year has passed since she came into our lives. I can hardly remember what it was like without her. I'm so glad we could celebrate her with (almost) all of the Pulsipher clan. 

Just a Little Flashback

 Ethan, July 2007

William, July 2007

Ethan and William (and Tanya and Audrey), July 2011

William-ese vs. Marie-esque

William: I am a bad guy robot that is made out of other bad guy's skin. And my head is made out of a bad guy's heart, that is why my chin is pointy, it is the bottom of the heart.

Marie: I am a mean lady in pink. I can fight you.

July

I keep waiting for summer to come. You know, those lazy days when the kids and I pack up the car and head to the park nearly every day, usually with good friends to hang out with. Or those weeks when every Tuesday or Wednesday we head to the library to play at the park and then go inside for story time. Or those afternoons when we sit outside and the kids play in the water while I relax and soak up some sun.

Suddenly school starts in a week and a half and I haven't even had a chance to slow down yet. My summer has been completely stolen from me. The moments that stole my summer have been fabulous and busy and memorable and wonderful and fun, but still .... I want some lazy days darn it. *sigh*

Well, here's to all the reasons July was NOT lazy. Just one really big reason on this post.

Another trip to California. I can't say that I am sad we made it out to California three times in just over 6 months. I can say that I am sad that in the next 6 months we won't be making it out to California at all.

Anyway, this time a family reunion brought us out there. 6 out of the 7 kids in my family gathered in Simi and then packed up our many vehicles and drove to El Capitan State Beach to camp for a few days.

Anne is officially my best camper, as a baby. She actually let us get some decent sleep at nights and she loves the beach, so our days weren't too shabby either. Her only complaint was that she had to be held or in her booster at the campsite. This girl likes to move and being held does not provide that.

William had a blast with his cousin Ethan, who is just one month younger. Nothing is greater for him than to be around boys. He is ALL boy and is surrounded by way too much estrogen on a daily basis. 

Luckily, there was enough estrogen running around to also satisfy my girly-girl, Marie. Her cousin Kaitlyn, who is 3 years older than her, became her BFF. Marie worships and adores Kaitlyn. As a matter of fact, just the other day she let out a big sigh of despair and said, "I wish I was as old as Kaitlyn." 

Our first day camping we took the kids down to the beach once they had enough of the setting up camp business. It was almost 5 in the evening and we did not expect the water to be nearly as warm as it was, hence the lack of suits on Brandon, Anne, and me. No suit, no problem! for Anne. We could not keep her out of the water. At. All. She crawled right at it and just laughed when the waves would splash her. All my kids love the water, but I think she is my true blue water baby. I have no idea where she gets that from. ;)

The next morning, or maybe the morning after that .... this time wearing the proper attire and enjoying the gorgeous view as we made our way down from the campsite to the beach.

The BFFs, humoring my memory making with fake smiles. 

Haha! I couldn't resist posting this picture. It perfectly captures what William and Ethan spent every moment on the beach doing (i.e. running through the waves splashing each other) and not doing (pulling up his pants).

With great trepidation, I must admit that Sara is the favorite Aunt. Probably because at heart, she's still just a kid like all her nieces and nephews.

The second full day on the beach wore Marie out. She curled up under the umbrella and slept for almost 3 hours. I can't blame her. There is nothing quite like a nap on the beach. So peaceful and relaxing.

Dave and Cory couldn't agree more.

 Brandon and I tried our hands at ocean kayaking. I loved it. I could have spent hours out there. We only made it out once, which was probably my only disappointment of the whole trip.

 Can I tell you how much I loved having so many willing arms to hold this little squirt? This is Dave's son, Christian. He is the oldest grandchild and Anne is the current youngest. Christian is what every young man should be. What a good kid.

 Jayna, another older cousin for Marie to adore ... both very worn out from a long day of beaching and camping. I could use Jayna around on a daily basis to cuddle with Marie.

 OK, if I was honest, which I tend to be ... ;) ... I would say that although the nights were great, Anne did wake up between 5:30 and 6:00 every morning and Marie would often join her. Brandon was a saint and took the girls on a walk every morning so William and I (and the rest of camp) could sleep a bit longer.

 William and Ethan spent about 85% of their time at camp climbing this tree.

It was such a great camping trip and so wonderful to spend time with the family. We left California with a bit of sadness, not knowing when we would all get together again. Let's not make it three years again this time, K guys?