A month of celebrations

February starts off early with Grace's birthday. She was so excited for her birthday and to plan a party. For her party she picked a princess ball, of course. So we invited the family over to dance at a ball. All the girls were supposed to dress up and Bryce got some crowns at Burger King for the boys. Her cake was a Rapunzel tower and we had to have a princess tea party to eat our cake.

She was so cute opening her gifts. She loved everything and wanted to try it all before she opened the next gift. She got a lot of princess clothes, crowns, wands, and shoes. But she loves all of them. She loves to dress up and wear all her new stuff. Bryce made her a dress up 'closet' to store her princess dresses and shoes. It was perfect gift for our princess Gracie.

It was such a fun night and we loved celebrating our Gracie. She really is such a joy to have at our home. She makes everything more exciting and fun. You can't be around her without a smile on your face. She is such a happy girl and we love her so much.

Then this year I was so excited that I had actually planned ahead and prepared a Valentines dinner. And of course it was right when everyone started to get sick. We had mini heart pizzas, red jello, stawberries, and pink cupcakes. So we had dinner as planned, but Ben and Grace didn't even want dessert so I could tell they weren't feeling very well. But it was still a fun night and hopefully a tradition that we can repeat without everyone getting sick.

This year Bryce and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. I can't believe time can go by so quickly. We have had the most amazing 10 years and I love him more than ever. So we had plans to go stay somewhere and go to dinner. (I was so excited that I never even wanted to find out - I wanted a surprise - and I still don't know). But when Grace got sick we had to cancel. I was so upset, mostly because it had been a long week of everyone being sick and I was really looking forward to time alone with Bryce, but it was not meant to be. So Ben and Abby were both feeling better so Lynn and Kay still took them to the cabin and we kept Grace at home. She really was so sweet and it was fun to have some one on one with her. She kept giving us hugs and kisses and telling us how much she loved us. Saturday we got her to bed a little earlier than normal and had a romantic candlelit dinner and opened our gifts a few days early. Bryce gave me a beautiful heart shaped necklace with diamonds along one side. ( I can't believe he went to Jared's) I love it and was so excited. Bryce got a present for each year we were married (really fancy stuff like a WSU hat to remember graduation and binkies to celebrate our kids, and then it came a day late but he also got a book with our favorite photos and memories of the last 10 years). It was a great night. So what a wonderful 10 years it has been.

Then to top off a great month we finish with Abby's birthday. This year she was given the option of having a party. I offered to have it somewhere else, but she wanted it at our house and knew exactly what she wanted - she wanted a Tinkerbell party (which is funny because she isn't really a big Tinkerbell fan). We got online and found some really fun ideas.

Her actual birthday was just our family and grandparents and she had a lot of fun playing with her gifts that night. She got some movies, games, clothes, but the highlight of her birthday was her bunkbed.  She had been asking for her bunkbed for weeks.  

Her friend party was the Saturday following her birthday.  She was very excited.  We kept it small (the way Abby wanted) she invited Chloe, Molly, Suri, Alysse, and Lindee.  (She also invited Madalyn, but she couldn't come)  When the friends came they each got  fairy wings and a halo of flowers.  Then they each got to decorate their own bag to take home.  Abby had spent so much time organizing the bags to make sure everyone got the same stuff to use to decorate.  Most of girls went through it pretty quickly, but Lindee (from preschool) had to use every last item in her bag and it took her about 30 minutes to finish.  After that they used their bags to go on a Fairy Treasure hunt.  Each girl was given a sticker and had to find the matching fairy bag with their prizes.  Then I found a great homemade pinata in Family Fun to play inside.  It was such a hit.  Each girl got to take turns pulling strings to open the pinata.  Abby had decorated the pinata all by herself and was so excited to have everyone play with her.  It was a lot of fun.  Then we opened presents and she got some great stuff.  After we finished with a Pixie Hollow cake and ice cream.  It was a great birthday for Abby.  She has some darling friends and she had a lot of fun having a friend party.

We love Abby so much and she is such a great helper.  I can't believe how big she is.  Abby is always very determined and can accomplish anything when she puts her mind to it.  She will be able to do so many wonderful things.