August = Time to Celebrate!

So far August has seemed like one big celebration for us!  I am going to start with today and work backwards to the beginning of the month…

EMMETT is ONE!!!!!!

Tonight we celebrated Emmett's first birthday with some gifts...

 … and just a little birthday cake...

 Sarah made a special card for Emmett on his birthday and then Claudia, who wants to be just like her big sister, just had to make her own version.  Here is a side-by-side comparison of the two cards...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!!!!!

Claudia has been really into 'evil' stuff recently (as in the evil queen from the fairy tales) and just had to have an 'evil dress'.  When I mentioned the purple witches dress we already have in our dress-up bin she said, "Witches aren't evil they're wicked! They make that scary soup!"  So, when we got home from our trip I made an 'evil dress' and an 'evil crown' out of pipe cleaners.  She was thrilled!  She immediately put the dress on and then brought in a key that she had tied to some blue ribbon.  She then said to me, "This is the evil key of LOVE!"  Awesome!

UTAH:

We spent the first few weeks of August in Utah playing with cousins and having a wonderful time...

We loved finding this play place at the gate in the Detroit airport during our layover on the flight home.

Aunt Kelli let the girls help her make homemade play dough and they loved every minute of it...

Kelli and her snail.

Rhiannon and her elephant.

Sarah and her lion.

Claudia and her tortoise.

Sarah and her submarine.

Colorful snowmen.

Hours of fun!

Myrna and Emmett loved turning the play dough tub in to a  'hat'.

Emmett's first experience with the trampoline!

Grandpa really knows how to grow em'!

Emmett loved everything with wheels.

We spent a fun day at the zoo...

… and another at the Aquarium...

Sarah enjoyed the 3D Shark movie with Eliza, Tom and Kristin.

…But mostly we just hung out at grandma's house and played with cousins...

A NEW MISSIONARY

We said goodbye to Weston as he headed out the door to the MTC (Ultimately he is headed for Cambodia for 2 years.)

50 YEARS OF MARRIAGE

We helped my parents celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary...

… the kids had a blast on the trampoline...

We had a great turnout for the party!

And 'freaked out' a little when one of the littlest cousins enjoyed some fried larvae left over from Weston's farewell.

Sarah tried a larvae...

… and survived it.

50 Years of Awesome!

A WEDDING

My sister Kristin's oldest daughter got married and we held a great party in my parent's back yard...

The happy parents of the bride.

The cutting of the cake

My little sister Kelli - the pastry chef!

So, there you have it… August is only half over and yet the celebrations have been many!