Lauren is three!

Lauren turned three years old on Sunday the 27th of January, and she was so excited! She told everyone at church that day that it was her birthday and that she was going to have a "Punzel" (Rapunzel) cake. Both Brandon and I had meetings after church for our callings, and then I had to finish preparing to speak at a youth fireside that night, so we kept things pretty simple and the older kids all helped Brandon decorate the cake after I baked it. I think they all had a blast! Lauren got some wonderful books, an iron and ironing board (she has been wanting this to go with her kitchen), a fun Rapunzel doll whose hair you can brush and fix, food for her new kitchen, and a painting book (she loves to paint right now).

She also got a personalized birthday sign from her sister, Lindsey, who absolutely adores drawing, and a "boots" toy from her brother, Zach's personal toy collection. They were as excited to give her these things as she was to get them.

We surely are grateful to have Lauren in our family! She is such a sweet little girl and has hugs and loves for everyone. She is very sure she needs to have a hug and a kiss from each member of her family at the beginning and end of the day and before anyone goes anywhere. She makes us laugh with her cute little, raspy voice and her dancing and singing. One of her new things is to tell different people at different times that they are "her favorite." She calls cupcakes "pupcakes," makes up stories as she looks at her books, loves to play with her "babies," likes to tease and wants to do everything her older siblings do. She is a joy! 

Halloween 2012

We had a very busy Halloween and unfortunately never got a picture of all of the kids together because the oldest ones had to hurry to get off to trick or treat with friends. Brandon and I even dressed up this year to go along with the oldest two children's "Hunger Game" theme. Josh is Peeta, Kara is Katniss, Brandon the Gamemaker, and I am Effie Trinket. It was hard trying to find things exactly like one of the outfits she wore, so I settled on something that she "would" have worn. (We also didn't dress up on Halloween night, but beforehand for a costume party our friends do every year).
Zach was so excited to be a character from "Cars 2," his favorite movie right now, until he found out his best friend was going to be a pirate and wanted to be that too. Oh well, he still had a great time and keeps wearing the hat around anyway. Lauren absolutely adores the movie "Tangled" so naturally she wanted to be "Punzel," as she calls her. Lindsey is a vampire and won for the scariest costume at our ward Trunk or Treat.
It was a beautiful evening, so different from the freezing cold Halloweens I remember growing up in Utah. We had pizza for dinner (I was going to make soup, but ran out of time). Then we had donuts with hot apple cider that night after we got back from trick or treating (so healthy, but we don't usually splurge on eating things like donuts so it was a fun treat).

 

 

 

We enjoyed carving pumpkins for the family night before Halloween.

 

Josh was having a great time pretending to be a crazy carver.

 

 

Hope you all had a happy Halloween too!

 

 

Amy's birthday

 

I had a great birthday this year! One of my favorite things about birthdays or special events, are the sweet notes and cards my kids make me. Brandon also did a good job finding me a new red purse that I really like. And my sisters sent me some beautiful flowers this year which really made my day.

Brandon's birthday

 

 

We were blessed to be able to spend Brandon's birthday with his family this year. We even got to have Grandma and Grandpa Backman with us, which is always a treat. We think our Dad (Brandon) is the best!! He is such a wonderful, caring father and husband. We love you!

Back to School

 

I am finally getting a chance to post some pictures of the kids going back to school this year. The older three are all at a new charter school this year (thus the uniforms). These were a hard sell this summer, but actually haven't been bad at all (especially for me). Zach is in  a transitional kindergarten program this year and Lauren has a once a week, parent-lead, playgroup/preschool. Zach is especially excited about his new school backpack that he got for his birthday. He is enamored of all things having to do with "Cars 2" right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Puppy Party

 It has been a long while since I have been able to blog, but I still wanted to include a few things from the last few months. One of those things is the Josh, Kara, and Lindsey's combined puppy party. They each invited a couple of friends and then combined the money that we budget for birthday parties to be able to afford this party. We got to go a couple of days before the party to the petstore and pick out which five puppies we wanted to have come and play for the party. The kids chose a German shepherd, a Havenese, a Wheaten Terrier, a Maltese, and a Morkie. They sure were cute and the kids had a great time!

Josh's 12th birthday!!