Birthday Party

The girls have only had one birthday party. We decided to let them have a party for their 8th birthday. They each invited 5 friends because we knew not all of them would be able to come. We made bead bracelets and played some games. After that they enjoyed some cupcakes and then they played tag outside. It was a lot of fun.

The Birthday Celebration

I posted a little about the girls turning 8 on the previous post, but this is more about their birthday celebration! (Still can't believe they are 8 - such a sad day for mom). I am so proud of them and love them so much. Life with the two of them is great! They are the best of friends and the worst of enemies, but at the end of the day... they always have each other.

We didn't do much on their actual day. We were going to try and go ice skating and we told them their friend could come. When we got to the skate rink, it was closed to the public, even though their website said it was open. We went home, opened gifts and made plans to go ice skating on Friday night.

Some things Shyann enjoys:

• Soccer
• Reading
• Piano
• Computer games
• Wii games
• Wizards of Waverly Place (TV show)
• Bakugan (with Chandler)
• Lip gloss
• bubblegum
• straight hair

Some things Shelby enjoys:

• Tumbling
• Reading
• Being Silly
• Talking (social butterfly)
• color: Blue
• iCarly (TV Show)
• Crafts - beads, making cards
• Drawing
• Lip gloss
• Fashion (being girly-girl, but don't let her hear you call her that)

For their 8th birthday and baptism gift, they received their set of scriptures and scripture bags.


Happy birthday Shelby and Shyann! We love you so much.

My Babies Are 8!

I can't believe the day has come. My baby girls are 8. Baptism will soon be coming. It's a little heartbreaking for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad to see them have the opportunities and blessings that are before them, but... they are growing up. At each step in their lives, it isn't one baby, it's two that go. I wasn't sad like I have been when they do other things. Like the time I sobbed the night before they started first grade. Or the tears I had when they left Sacrament Meeting to start Sunbeams. It wasn't as hard as I thought. I kept telling them they weren't turning 8, they were going to go backwards now. Shyann was all for it. She understood (I would hope) how hard this was getting for me to see them grow up.

These are a few differences that I am noticing more between them:

Shelby is still a bit more outgoing and when friends come to play, she pretty much runs the show. Shyann is content to just do her own thing and is a bit of a homebody.

Shyann does not like to have her hair done. She prefers it 'straight' and would like me to do that everyday for school. However, I love being able to play with it. Shelby on the other hand, let's me 'experiment' with her hair. She loves to have it done, but is excited to get it cut short again. Shyann prefers tights, Shelby likes lacy socks.

The picture above is a rare occurence to have them dress alike. Shelby really isn't that short. I noticed she was hunched over a little and Shyann is wearing shoes with a slight heel. They are the same height and weight. They always have been within 1/2" of each other and the weight is within ounces of each other.

Happy Birthday Colby!

It's official, as of FEBRUARY 20, he's a teenager! Of course with the attitude he has, most would have thought that came about a year ago. Just teasing! He's a pretty good kid. We do have challenges, but we still love him! He has a fun personality (when he wants to show it) and can be a great brother to his siblings.

We celebrated his birthday by having dinner at Chili's (his fave molten volcano dessert). He stuffed himself at dinner and took the cake home for later.

We stopped at Grandma (Loveland) Thayne's where he received a nice hoodie. Then we came home and opened gifts. He really didn't ask for much, but since he really enjoys his DS and the Wii, we gave him a couple of games. It was a quiet celebration, but lots of fun! We celebrated more with the Hansen Family the following Sunday. We love these birthday celebrations.

Some things he enjoys:

• Movies with the family
• TV series "Stargate Atlantis"
• Wii
• DS
• Computer Games
• playing the flute
• Junior High School - 7th grade is awesome!
• Riding his bike
• Drawing/Sketching
• Airsoft Gun Wars
• Going out for dinner
• Spending time with family
• Visiting cousins
• Friends
• Listening to music
• Reading - finally!

Happy Birthday! You're an awesome kid and we love having you in our family! Life certainly is NOT boring with you around! We love you!!!

McCall, ID

For Christmas Break 2009, Casey decided that after all of the begging and pleading that Bill and Chris had done, we would go to their cabins the week. We left on Dec. 26 and came home on Jan. 2. It was a 7 1/2 hour drive to their cabin. At one point outside of McCall, the outside temperature in our suburban read -4 degrees. Ok, that is freezing! I was certain I would be hiding out in the cabin after seeing that temp. Our suburban was jam packed with luggage and bags of snow clothes. You'd think we were packing up and moving out.

SNOWMOBILING & SLEDDING

Snowmobiling ended up being a blast! Being my first time out, I wasn't sure how it would go, but I really liked it. Yes, I was a bit nervous and even got stuck (ok, buried) a couple of times, it was still a lot of fun!

Shyann & Dad

Shelby & Dad Colby (driving) & Nathan

Chandler & Brendan

Mom

The snow was so deep (I think we got 12-18" new). Casey had a good time throwing the kids in and making snow angels. (This is Shelby)

After a few hours, Shyann was done, she was crying and wanted nothing but to go home.

A few miles down the road from their cabins, is a huge sledding hill. We only let the kids go as far as the middle or a little higher to sled. Of course, they all wanted to venture out and see what was at the top of the hill. None of them slid down from the top (phew)!

This is a slight perspective of how high/steep the hill is.

Some other things the kids enjoyed while hanging out at the cabin were the Wii, table tennis, and just being together.

Clearing the Driveway

So much snow fell in a couple of days, Bill decided to pay the kids who wanted to shovel the driveway. They all jumped at it, except the last day Shyann had enough and stayed in to work on puzzles.

Chandler & Shelby

We had so much snow that after the kids cleared off the driveway, they decided to make a sledding hill on the side of Bill's cabin. They even included a jump!

At the top of the hill!

ColbyChandler

ShyannShelby

And...

Wishing everyone A Happy New Year!