Birthday Girls!

December is a month filled with fun events for us!  Kate isn’t the only one with a birthday this month; Isabella and Sophia turned 9 this year, just 3 days before Christmas.

They were thrilled to celebrate their birthday and sooo happy to open gifts right after breakfast.

            

A few gifts were for both of them to open together – like these “talky-walkies”, as Isabella called them.

         

And a few of the gifts are the same type of gift, but slightly different, depending on their taste and personality, or in the case of the ones they are opening here, different sizes!  They each received a pair of boots – but Sophia’s are one size bigger than Isabella’s. 

                     

It’s hard to believe it has been 9 years!  Here’s a lovely shot of me a short time before they arrived – trying to find a comfy spot on the couch!

(notice how I didn’t enlarge this picture quite so much as the others… there’s obviously just no need to do that….)

 

These pictures show how tiny they were at almost 6 weeks old!  Skinny little legs!

I’m holding Izzy (as she is spitting up!) … and Glenn is holding Sophia..  Any pictures from those days were few and far between – and usually very unprofessional…  who had time to take pictures!?

                                           

 

                        Here’s a shot of them together – in the very willing arms of Grandma!

                                

Thought you might enjoy a look at how they’ve grown…

         

                                                                   

 

 

                        

                                                                                                                                                                

 

             

 

                              Happy Birthday Isabella and Sophia!  We love you!

The Red Carpet Birthday Party

For Kate’s 13th Birthday, we thought it would be fun to have a few of her friends and cousins over!  Because they love to dress up, a Red Carpet Party seemed like just the thing.

Kate and Alix set the table for dinner.  Kate made elaborately beautiful Menus, with the food listed in both French and English, which she put carefully at each place setting. 

            

 

       

 

                                          

Earlier in the week, Kate had searched fancy hairstyles on Pinterest and found one she wanted me to try.  We gave it a practice try the night before the party and she was happy with it.  She looked fabulous!

And so did her guests!

           

 

Of course the little girls needed to be included, so Olivia and Sophia dressed like the big girls and offered to be their enthusiastic fans. Isabella agreed to be the Interviewer.  I gave her appropriate Press credentials, a notebook and pen.  Kate wrote out several questions she wanted Isabella to ask the girls.

             

 

                        The girls acted like lovely young ladies.

             

                                                                                                                                                                                    

                                                             

                             Well, most of the time anyway…

              

 

                                 Isabella was every inch the Professional during her interviews!

                                    

And her guests were very gracious!  (I wonder if this shot was taken when Isabella asked what her political preferences were….)

Kate seemed very thorough and convicted about her answers!

                                 

After a sumptuous dinner (if I do say so myself) it was time for an elegant game of Hedbanz.

            

 

                           And at last!  The Walk down The Red Carpet!! 

                         

Excitement was high!

                  The devoted fans were eager for autographs!

The paparazzi was ready for dazzling shots of the guests!

                                         The music was swinging!

The boys had made themselves scarce!

 

                        ~Suddenly! ~

 

One of the fans made a mad dash down the carpet to grab the perfect spot for obtaining autographs!

                                  

Ok – Here we go! The procession began amid cheers and applause! (and high fives at the end)

                 Juliette Monroe!   (Kate)

                      

              Zoe Hendrickson!     (Courtney)

  

                            Alyssa!  (Erica)

                   

                                              Dakota Adams!   (Danielle)

                                                       

Roxie Adams!  (Callie)

                             Elizabeth Whittaker!  (Rachel)

                            

                                        Audry Winters!   (Jan)

                                                    

And Sandra!  (Alix)

                                         

                              

As the evening’s excitement wound down a little, the guests changed into lounge wear/pajamas to watch a movie.

         As you can see, the atmosphere was serene and the ladies were elegant.

But, eventually the evening drew to a close and Kate said fond farewells to her guests.

 

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!!  We love you!

Decorating the Tree

Looking at these pictures brings it all rushing back… the mayhem, the ornaments flying here and there, and the hands – lots of helpful little hands.  It was a blast!

           

 

           

                                     

                         

 

  

                                                                                                                                  

 

                                         

 

Ta-Da!

                             

Here is a partial shot of one of the little boxwood wreaths I made.  It was so fun to decorate using our own plants!

         

For each Advent Lord’s Day, we give the kids a little gift before breakfast and take turns reading the Scriptures for that day.  We also light the Advent candles. 

Sleepy but excited!  The first Advent gift is always pajamas – that’s why the packages look so big!  After that, they’re smaller – things like pens, playing cards for the boys, stationery for the girls, Pez dispensers, etc.  Just opening a gift is thrilling in itself – and all of it combines to gear up our anticipation for Christmas Day, when we rejoice in God’s Best Gift to all of us – His Son!