WICKED!

So we went to California for Todd's parents 50th wedding anniversary celebration. While there we took in a little side trip to San Francisco. Here we are eating at the Cheesecake Factory on top of the huge Macy's. YUM!

In Macy's looking out over Union Square.

Then we went to see Wicked! It was Awesome! Love IT! Yes we forced Dallin to go. Don't let him fool you. He loved it too. He just won't admit it. But he is doing a fabulous job with that ,"I'm dying of boredom" look on his face. I little culture in the form of a Broadway musical never hurt anyone.

Mario Party!

Elijah has a little friend who's birthday is the day after his. So his mom came up with this fabulous Mario and Luigi party for them since they are obsessed with playing the Mario video game. Here they are in their Mario and Luigi oitfits for the party. They were still a little nervous and unsure about this whole thing at this point.
These are the Yoshi eggs I made from real eggs emptied out and filled with confetti. They threw them at stars on the house. Our backyard will forever glitter and shine. Yoshi even made an appearance.

If ever you're in trouble - just bubble. My friend Julie (the other birthday boys mom) came up with lots of cute ideas. They went to several stations and collected coins just like in the game. At each station was a question box just like in the game as well. These are the power up cupcakes I decorated to look like the red and green power up and extra life mushrooms in the game. They all got to chase down Bowser and save the princess. Here is Eli trying his hand at the Yoshi egg pinata that Julie made. A fun time was had by all. Here they are wearing the Mario and Luigi hats I made for all the boys who came.
As you can see they are feeling a little more jovial by now.

Elijah turns 5!

On the one hand I can't believe my baby is five. On the other hand I can't believe will have three high school graduates and he hasn't even started kindergarten. It sort of feels like it will go on forever. These are the cupcakes I made. No I didn't let him pick out what kind. I had been craving these lemon cupcakes for a long time and needed a reason to make them. He didn't complain. And they were soooooo good. At this age Elijah is so much fun. Yes there are moments when he has some pretty dramatic tantrums still, but really they are very entertaining. He is usually really positive and happy. And he is always good for a laugh. He just seems to love life.

Yep and a new Spiderman bike too!

Sadie Hawkins Dance

Bridget went to the Sadie Hawkins dance with a fun group of friends.

She makes a cute hillbilly.

Cheer Camp

The Cheerleaders put on a cheer camp for the little girls. I asked Miss Shy girl Lydia if she wanted to go. I expected her to say no since she didn't seem to enjoy it last year. But she really wanted to do it. Well she still didn't like it so much this year. She just clung to Bridget the whole time. Then when it came time to perform at the Basketball game she just stood there. But in one of the cheers they drop to the ground and it took her a half a second to realize she was the only one standing. She quickly dropped to the ground too. So we can be pretty sure we will not have another cheerleader on our hands. Unfortunately the only pictures I could get were from the back. That really annoyed look on Lydia's face was there pretty much the whole time.

Preschool program

We went to Elijah's preschool program. It is the same preschool and the same program that Bridget, Dallin and Lydia did. Sometimes I can't believe I am still going to these but when they are this cute you can't help but love it. They get to sing the songs and show off the dances and everything they are learning. I don't know if this little girl is really happy about the dance or if she is thrilled with her partner but...

this is how Eli feels about it.

Can't believe we will have three in College when this little guy starts kindergarten.

Lydia is 7!

She got to have a friend party this year. I gave her a choice of having a lot of kids and having a party at home or having three friends and going to see the Princess and the Frog and then Dairy Queen. She chose the movie. Here she is with the three friends she chose, Mike, Addie and Maddie. Maddie even said it was the best party she had been to all MONTH! It must have been really fun. The only problem was that the Frog movie was gone and we ended up seeing The Chipmunk squeekquel movie. They all loved it. She got an American Doll that looks just like her.

She chose Cherry Chip cake with Strawberry AND Chocolate icing.

She was especially lucky because Grandma and Grandpa Anderson were here visiting and got to spend her birthday with her. They even went with me to her school to take her McDonalds for lunch and sit with her all during lunch. She was feeling pretty special. It was a fun time for a sweet little girl.