FEBRUARY 2013

LAFE'S BAPTISM
February 2, 2013

Lafe was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He was so excited and so ready!  It was a special day for all of us.  On the way home, he said, "Now that I have been baptized, we can all be a family forever".
 

 

 

  Lafe was baptized and confirmed on Grandma Charmaine's birthday.  She passed away only a few months ago and we really miss her.  We know that she would have thought it was really neat to have her birthday on Lafe's special day.

Aunt Laurie made cute little groundhog day cupcakes to celebrate Grandma's birthday!

 

DAD'S RETIREMENT

February 2, 2013

 

My Dad just retired from the site so that he can farm and ranch full-time so since the family was already all here, we decided to also have a retirement party!

 

LAFE'S BASKETBALL

 

Lafe has been having a great time playing basketball for the first time this year.  A lot of the time he is being "Mr. Krabs" from SpongeBob while on the court.  Sometimes he is a dragon-and he and Quinton really enjoy chasing each other in circles when they get to guard each other (which happens a lot since they are the same size)   VERY ENTERTAINING!
 

 

 

 

 LAFE'S PIRATE BIRTHDAY PARTY! 
February 21, 2013

Lafe turned eight!  It was incredibly exciting.  We always have a family party, but he got sick this year and couldn't have it-SAD BOY!  I decided to throw him a crazy friend party!  ( I love putting together theme parties!)  He chose Pirates of the Caribbean.  We invited his entire school class and a few other friends.  The only sad part was that we couldn't hold it at a time when all of his cousins could come. 

I got the help of my sister, LesLe to help me put everything together.   This was the invitation I made.

 

I crumpled it and used tea bags and cinnamon to age it, then burnt the edges. 

(Sorry-forgot to take the picture of it aged and burnt)

 

Then, we put the invitation into a bottle that we had filled with sand, shells, stickers, and "buried treasure"!  It was so much fun!

 

 

We had to have the party at the church because it is winter and my house isn't big enough.  When the kids came walking through the doors, we had the Krakken music from Pirates of the Caribbean playing!  (It really set the stage!) 

(Sign on outside door)

 

 

(Sign on inside door)

 

 I  had flags leading them down the hall to Davey Jones' locker where they were given a new pirate name and they got dressed up in the Pirate Garb which LesLe and I had made for them (Pirate bandana, sash, and eye patch)

 

 

(This was the sign hanging on the stage door)

 

 

 

(Name tag for Pirate Name-we played a numbers game to figure out what their names would be)

 

(Lafe in Pirate Garb)

 

Then we went into the cultural hall, where it was dimly lit and Pirates of the Caribbean music was playing and everything was decorated with the pirate theme. 

(Table Decorations)

 

We played lots of fun games!

(Pirate Obstacle Course)

(Pin the Krakken on the Ship) 

 

  Then we decorated cupcakes with fondant and pirate edible treasure.   

 

 

(Yummy!)

 

Then it was time to open gifts!

 

 

Last, but certainly not least, we had a big treasure hunt!  There was still snow outside, so I was able to bury pirate bottles with clues in the snow outside.  I put a little flag nearby to help them find it.  Then the treasure was back in the cultural hall in a big treasure chest placed on top of a big X.  There were balloons inside and each child got a treasure bag filled with Pirate loot! 

 

 

These are the bags we made.  I got the idea from chicaandjoe.com.  I filled them with chocolate candy coins, pirate stickers, ring pops, candy necklaces, etc.)

 

(The Crazy Pirate Crew) 

 

(My Pirate Helpers-LesLe, Me, Heather-

Kali and Bart also helped)

 

We had such a great time!  I hope the kids had as much fun at the party as I had planning and preparing it!

 

 

LAFE IS FINALLY A CUBSCOUT!!!

 

Lafe was so excited to join cubscouts and it was one of the highlights of turning eight!

He earned his first badge-Good job, Lafe!

 

 

 YES!  I know this entire post has been about Lafe, but turning 8 is a pretty big deal and opens doors to all kinds of new things!!!

 

JANUARY 2013

Well, I am off to a great start!  It has only taken me almost a full year to post again.  Let's see if I can do a little better. 

So, I have a lot of catching up to do!  This has been an incredibly eventful year so it's sad that I haven't documented it better.  I guess that is what happens, though, when you are busy enjoying life!

I will start with January 2013.

 

 

HEATHER TURNS 18!!!!

 

Heather turned 18 this year!!!  How crazy is that?!?  I can't believe she is an official adult now.  While I have to admit, I am having a hard time with it, I am trying to be excited for her because I know it is a wonderful time in her life!  We had a family birthday party for her and it was fun! 

Uncle Brett had a creative way of presenting her with the antlers from the deer she had shot. He gave her 17 bucks in a card for her birthday gift and FINALLY got someone to say, "She is 18.  Where is the other buck?"  Then he brought the antlers in!  He had mounted them himself-Pretty impressive!

 

 

 

My daughter, Heather, keeps telling me I would love blogging.  I love to scrapbook, though,  and thought blogging would be too much to do in addition to scrapping. My new thinking is, "Why not combine the two?"  We will see how it goes.  Forgive the mess-ups.  I don't know what I am doing!!!  And please forgive the bragging-these come from our family scrapbook and I am pretty proud of my kids!