Priya's 7th Birthday

Still playing catch-up.
Priya turned 7 in October, and her Birthday Theme was based on her initials: PNK
So, she had a very PINK birthday Party!! Everyone wore pink, and all the decorations were pink. The activities included games, and dancing... a walk down the runway to model their pink outfits.
Each of the girls strung beads to make a necklace... and they all got a manicure with pink nail polish. Mom did a fab job decorating and putting together a pink luncheon. I made a poster for the occasion:



You'll have to imagine it blow up to poster size. Love the picture of Priya which was taken by the photographer that Erica uses for prof photo shoots.

And here are a few more pictures from the Birthday Party : )


But, her birthday celebration didn't stop here...

There was another surprise for her. It was a trip to the new American Girl store to choose her very own doll...really 2 dolls, because she had money from grandparents and family to spend.
Let me tell you something... that store and those dolls are something to see! I could almost be convinced to take up playing dolls again ; )



Priya loved the new dolls that she chose after carefully looking through all the dolls they had to offer. We went to lunch at the restaurant next door... that welcomes American Girl dolls and has special chairs that attach to your table, so that you can dine with your new doll! (Pretty savvy business deal going on there between the store and the restaurant, wink. wink.)

but wait, we're not done celebrating yet.

Priya took cookies into her school classroom to share with her classmates. They were witch-hat shaped cookies and gobbled up right away by the students. It was fun for Dean and I to see her classroom and meet her teacher.
I should mention that it happened to be "hat day" at the school... which followed right after pajama day... imagine that : )
So Priya was wearing a hat and a rather 70's looking outfit if you ask me.


All in all, turning seven seemed to be a wonderful thing!

ASHA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!

In August we visited Denver for the celebration of Asha's first Birthday (Aug 27th). In fact Asha had both both sets of her grandparents there, which made it extra special!



Erica put together a beautiful presentation in pinks and greens, and just the perfect touches!
She had the cake designed to go with the fabric backdrop. I made a poster-size version of her 1 yr announcement.



Asha dressed in pink and white, with a cupcake embellishment. So sweet!



The theme of the party was a Teddy Bear Picinic. There was a small Bear for each child.



Each child got a lunch box filled with a delicious lunch. (Priya was such a big help getting these all packed and ready for the party). Both Priya and Taj were a great help to their mom getting everything set up and ready.



The picnic was fun for the kids.



After lunch they all enjoyed the jumpy castle.



There was a special small size cake just for Asha.



However, she was not real impressed with it... and the more sticky frosting she got on her fingers, the less impressed she became ; )



But she was all smiles when the time came for her to try out some of her new toys!

Priya comes to town!

(I'm so behind here, so trying to catch up... This story took place on August 16th)



Priya had a chance to come to town with her Daddy, and stay for a week to have fun with her cousins.
It was the perfect opportunity for her to meet her newest little cousin Ellie. Well, it comes as no surprise that she was completely smitten! She held the new baby and admired her pretty hair and sweet little face, and her tiny hands and feet. She demonstrated for us, her special technique of calming a crying baby by putting in the binkie, and then lightly pressing on the tip of the nose. And it seemed to be working for her, lol!



We then all went to Priya's favorite restaurant (The Olive Garden) for dinner. After she enjoyed her pasta e fagioli soup and breadsticks, she was given the choice of being directly driven back to her paternal grandparents home, or... going back to Justin and Becky's first. She gave it some thought, and quickly decided that she wanted to go back and have one more chance to hold little baby Ellie.



This meeting and these pictures are just the beginning of joyful times among cousins.

And how about this sweet picture of little Ellie with her Daddy! (Her little yawn is contagious!) I am yawning now as I type : )

Sunday with Jake

Sunday was the day when friends and family joined together to spend some time with, and say farewell to Jake. He is leaving on a 2 year mission to Tokyo, Japan.



He gave a wonderful talk in Sacrament Meeting! Then we all met back at the house for a luncheon. I appologize for taking such blurry pictures that day, but I am posting them anyway. Blurry is better than nothing, right?



It will come as no surprise that Jake has a huge number of friends who came to share the day with him.



and family too, of course. We even had a surprise visit from Tammy. It just so happened that she was in town for a work meeting, and spending the weekend with Ashley & Kevin.



Shayne and Chris shared a hug...



This was the first chance for some of the family to meet Ellie.



There was no shortage of family wanting to hold little Ellie Rose...





Ellie is a month old now, and sweet as can be. Isn't she cute in her first pair of denim jeans!

Sharing a recipe

This was a recent dinner at our house... and these green beans were delicious, so I am sharing the recipe. It is from the website Eat Better America. Here is the link to the recipe:

http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/recipes/sides/cashew-green-beans.aspx

CASHEW GREEN BEANS

Prep Time:20 min

Start to Finish:20 min

makes:8 servings

3	cups water
1 1/2	lb green beans
2	tablespoons teriyaki baste and glaze (from 12-oz bottle)
1	tablespoon margarine or butter, softened
1	tablespoon honey
1/4	teaspoon ground mustard
1/2	cup drained roasted red bell peppers (from 7-oz jar), cut into strips
1/2	cup cashew pieces

1.	In 4-quart Dutch oven, heat water to boiling. Add beans. Heat to boiling. Boil uncovered 5 minutes. Cover and boil 3 to 5 minutes longer or until crisp-tender. Drain beans; return to Dutch oven.
2.	In small bowl, mix teriyaki glaze, margarine, honey and mustard until well blended. Pour over beans; toss until evenly coated. Stir in bell peppers. Sprinkle with cashews.

I omitted the butter completely, and didn't miss it at all. Be careful not to overcook the beans. They should be crisp-tender.
If you try them let me know how you liked them.

Introducing Ellie

She has arrived!
July 10th at approx. 9 a.m. She was a bit overdue, and we are all so happy for Becky, Justin, and Ellie Rose. Gorgeous name isn't it?
The stats: 7 lbs. 6 oz, 20 inches, and she has a full head of hair (brown). She seems to be a very happy, and content baby and doesn't cry much (so far...anyway :)
Becky had been in labor since 1:30 am on Friday, so she is tired now as you might imagine, but doing well.
Becky and Justin made a great team!



Here is one of the first pictures of Ellie, before she was taken back to the nursery



Back in the Nursery, we watched through the window as the nurses checked the baby. She was very content lying there, and didn't cry until they gave her a shot. She didn't cry for long though. They took her footprints, which are oh-so cute!



Then she was back in the room for her first bath. She was very content except for when they used the scrubber brush on her scalp.



See her cute little pout!



But, she loved the shampoo and when they held her under the running water to rinse her hair, she really seemed to love that. Which we all commented was very fitting, being Becky's daughter.



Re-diapered...



and now for the comb-out. Her hair is over an inch long, and we finally got to see the color, which looks like a light brown.



and lastly, her very first bow!



Isn't she just beautiful!



Although I didn't get many pictures with her eyes open, she had her eyes open and looking at faces a lot. So much, that we all commented on it.



and here she is snuggled in the arms of her parents, who's voices she is sure to recognize.
Welcome to the world little one. There are a lot of people to love you here!

The new car

This is for Taj and Priya, who wondered what Grammie's new (used) car looks like.
I have no doubt that Taj will ask this question: "Is that car faster than my Daddy's car?", because it you have ever walked through a parking lot with Taj, you would be very familiar with that question!
And the answer is no. But Grammie really likes it :-)

THE GAP

And you thought I was talking about the retail chain...

Priya has a gap created by her missing two front teeth. Do you remember yours? I think it's a rite of passage that all kids look forward to and we all remember. So, I wanted to make record of this event for her.
(remember, you can click on the photo to enlarge it)

Taj turns 4

I have been editing pictures from Taj's 4 Birthday party, and finally have some to post here on the blog. His Birthday was on June 13th, and his birthday theme was Clowns.
Here he is blowing out his birthday cupcake!

Taj was the first one to have his face painted by the clown. He chose a pirate, and pretty much all the boys (and some girls) followed suit.

While one clown painted faces, the other clown made all sorts of things out of balloons. Here the kids were a little more creative in their choices. There was even a fishing pole with a fish hanging from it.

And of course these clowns always know how to throw a great party! There were clown noses and fun hats for everyone.


The clowns had fun games for the kids to play, before they painted faces and made balloon accessories.

What's cuter that a happy clown?

Priya and several of the girls had butterflies painted on their faces. You'll notice she is missing a couple of front teeth. The tooth fairy has been visiting her!

and each child had a fun favor to take home.

After lunching on tater tots, chicken nuggets and miniature corn dogs, the kids each had a cupcake adorned with sprinkles and a clown's hat.

One of the games the clowns played was the limbo. Here is Priya finding out "how low she can go".

And here is sweet Miss Asha. She wore a large flower for the occasion, and was her usual happy, easy-going self. Notice her little trademark nose crinkle!!

I am so happy that I was able to go to Denver for the fun weekend, and see Taj enjoy his special day! I always take a lot of pictures, hoping to find some gems in among some of the not so great or blurry ones... Of course there will be a scrapbook layout coming for Taj's book!