Marinne is 12!

This pretty girl turned 12!  How am I old enough to have a child this age?

We had a family party on her birthday.  Ray grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and Costco made the cake, since I was burned out with the cake making.

 She got her bedroom redone, a ticket to see Wicked, and other cute stuff from family and friends, but I think her favorite gift was being allowed to get a facebook account.

That Friday night, she had a friend party complete with Justin Bieber cupcakes and everything purple.

They made headbands, thanks to Aunt Natalli who provided the materials and made a bunch of flowers for them!

We played a "get to know you" candy game, and Just Dance on the Wii.

Marinne and a candle-lit Justin!

The Young Women came and decorated her room.  I'm excited for her to be in Young Women's!  She already got to do baptisms at the temple and go to girls' camp. 

Wasn't I just doing all of that for the first time? 

Happy Birthday Marinne!

Blake's 10th Birthday

Blake turned 10!  We had a friend party at the rec center.  We played the forehead "guess who I am" game, ate pizza and cake.

Then the kids got to go rock climbing!

It turned out to be a smaller group of kids than we planned, but they got more turns to climb, so it worked out.

The party favor was a nerds rope to go along with the climbing theme.

We also had a family party on his actual birthday. 

opening gifts

strawberry cheesecake

His favorite gift was a snake!  He named him Buster (after Buster Posey).