Emmy's fifth birthday

Wearing an outfit from Grandma

Chocolate chocolate cupcakes!

Noah likes them, too!

Emily turned five! We celebrated on March 6, 2010. We ate at Subway, her favorite restaurant, to start the afternoon out right.

Then we had her birthday party. Attendees were mom, dad, siblings- Noah, Adam, Kiley and Christopher, cousin- Teigan, niece and nephew- Lily and Parker, and Chris' girlfriend, Hailey.

First we played Find the Presents. Emmy looked for her hidden presents as we gave her clues to whether she was "hot" or "cold". This was her favorite game. As she is very crafty and creative, she got lots of arts and crafts as presents.

Next we played Freeze Dance. Whoever could freeze just as the music stopped stayed in the game. If you kept dancing, you were out. The last two contestants were Emmy and Parker. Emmy won the game and a prize! She was a pro.

Then, we played Which Cup? This was a game where the player guessed which cup had a ball underneath it. This game was a favorite of all, and pretty much everyone won a prize, as we played multiple rounds.

Last we played How many bugs? Everyone guessed how many bugs there were in a jar. Teigan was the closest with her guess of 30 bugs.

We had chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and everyone had a great time, especially Emily! Grandma Patty came to visit later in the day with presents for the birthday girl and Grandma Eloise sent Emmy money for two new outfits. Happy Birthday!

One more stab at the snow before spring

Emmy intently ramming the toy into the dirt.

Noah offers me some snow.

Noah, Parker and Emmy stamping the snow into the ground.

Bath-time is funtime!

All three smiling at the same time- a miracle caught on photo!

Okay, this is more like it. Some arguing between Noah and Emmy, but Adam loves his bath!

Noah and Emmy take turns using the favorite Elmo towel every other day.

One smiling baby! (Emmy picked the caption for this photo.)

Sleeping beauties

My Adam

My Noah T.

My Emmy M.

My grandson Parker

My Latter-Day Warriors

"The pure gospel of Jesus Christ must go down into the hearts of [our children] by the power of the Holy Ghost. It will not be enough for them to have had a spiritual witness of the truth and to want good things later. It will not be enough for them to hope for some future cleansing and strengthening. Our aim must be for them to become truly converted to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ while they are with us....Then they will have gained a strength from what they are, not only from what they know. They will be disciples of Christ." -Henry B. Eyring

My baby blue

I could stare into those baby blues all the day long......

Christmas

Emmy's calendar-so she always knows what day it is!

Noah's blocks, the kids' blankets and art portfolios

Noah's picture via new paints

Adam got a dump truck from Grandma and Grandpa

We had a mellow and enjoyable Christmas. The kids kept their focus on giving rather than getting throughout the season, and Mom didn't go overboard on presents. It was great. I think celebrating the birth of our Savior was a success this year!!

"And now, my (children), remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation wheron if men build they cannot fall. " Helaman 5:12