Rudolph Competition

My boys have been having a contest to see who can look the most like Rudolph.

You decide.

Frank: Bonked his nose on Emma. So, since it hurt, he rubbed it on the carpet. And then he rubbed it again, and again. This is the result. Go figure, it hurts worse now than it did before!

FYI: this picture is after 4 days of Neosporin & Band-aids.

It was WAY worse than this.

Jack: Managed to pull open the partially-closed front door & do a head-first tumble down our front steps. Nice.

I think I vote for Frank as the best Rudolph. His is just more red!

But Jack definitely gets an honorable mention, just because I feel so sorry for him. Look at those bruises!

Boys, sheesh!

Creation of a Masterpiece

You all know how creative & over the top my husband is, right? Well, he outdid himself today. Behold, Emma's spectacular birthday cake.

How did he do it? I'll show you.

.

Step 1: Layer up the cakes.

Step 2: Shave them down to create the dress shape.

Step 3: Frost, frost, & frost some more!

Step 4: Present your masterpiece to the princess for consideration. I think she approves!

Step 5: Get it to the party destination. Now this took some doing & a whole lot of stress on the part of the party chauffeur. I literally had a stomach ache by the time I got to town from watching this thing bounce & sway as we went down the road. Glad that's over!
.

Step 6: Dig in!

We had people OOH-ing & AAH-ing all over this thing at the pizza place. I even had someone ask where we bought it so that she could get one for her little girl. Too bad, we don't take orders. Maybe we should!

.

Thank you, Daddy!

The Big #6!

Emma turned 6 this last Saturday, the 19th. Unfortunately, I've been struggling to get my camera software re-installed on my now-fixed computer. So it's late, but it's here.

What a busy day it was! We started out with some pink french toast & moved right on to the important part: PRESENTS!!

Grandma & Grandpa drove down from Thatcher & we all went out to lunch at Famous Dave's BBQ.
[I'd like to put in a plug for Famous Dave's here. Not only is the food amazing, but a few months ago I joined their e-mail birthday club for everybody in the family. We ended up getting a kid's rib meal for Emma, a birthday sundae, & a FULL RACK rib platter (with sides) for Andy---ALL FOR FREE!!! Seriously, about $30 of food for absolutely nothing. Do it! Be cheap! It really does pay!]

Like those ribs, girl?

Anyways, after lunch we came home just in time to head back to the church for the ward Christmas party. Frank was invited to do a little nativity program with the Joy School kids last week, & he's performed a program for the parents & also at a local assisted living home. It's been a great time with him being able to have something just for himself. But for the ward party, a few other children were invited to join the crew & Emma made the perfect angel to his shepherd. It was so fun!

Then today (Monday), we had planned a big princess bash at the park for Emma & all her little princess friends. Unfortunately, people apparently don't know the meaning of RSVP anymore, & we literally heard from 1 mother to tell us that her daughter wasn't coming. Unwilling to plan a party for imaginary children, I made the executive decision to bag the park party, grabbed a few kids from the ward & headed to Chuck E. Cheese. Not the most personal party, but Emma did tell me about 3 times this afternoon that it was "the best party I could imagine." Mission accomplished. Besides, since it wasn't a princess party, Emma could invite her bestest friend in the whole world, Ben. These 2 are such good buddies!

Jack was completely mesmerized by Chuck E. Cheese. He stood like this for almost 5 minutes- just watching the giant mouse dance around. Good times.

This is my new favorite picture of Emma. This is her personality in a nutshell. Silly, fun & totally loveable.

Emma has grown so much in the last year. She is more & more a young lady & ever so compassionate & loving. I tear up frequently as I watch her care for & dote on her younger brothers. We are all truly blessed to have her as a member of our eternal family.

Happy Birthday, Emma!

We're Back!

No, we're not dead. Nothing tragic or horrible has happened. Well, unless you're like me & consider your computer being sick a horrendous & painful experience. Being disconnected from the Internet is kind of like missing an arm or leg. For me, at least.

.

Nothing to post right now, I just had to get those yucky pictures of Jack's toe off the top of my blog. Sorry to anybody that's been looking at those for the past couple of weeks. His toe is healing really well. He still has his toenail, but I really can't tell if it's going to survive the trauma. He's such a trooper & is doing amazing!

.

So, have a great day everyone.

I'll try to post something super interesting & awesome soon!