Freddy's ninja birthday

Frederick William turned 6! He had been planning his birthday party for months and months.  He liked to sometimes look through cookbooks with Grandma Dixie and pick out foods he would like to make for his birthday... but as it drew closer the thing he really wanted was to basically repeat his party from last year with the ninja obstacle course.  

The day, of course, started with breakfast in bed...luckily for us, it was the typical Late Start Tuesday so we had time to get him some waffles.  We also met Tiff and Estefi and Sarah and their littlest kids for lunch up at the McDonalds in Lehi that has the playplace that Freddy really loves. Then he enjoyed having Chris come to school to read him a book to the whole class in celebration. His cousins walked home with him because his party was starting just 30 minutes later.

We had Alec help teach party guests how to make Ninja Stars. It was pretty complicated so I'm glad Alec made a bunch of extra to just give to kids who didn't finish.

Then out of nowhere a dragon showed up and stole all of Freddy's presents to hide in his lair!

It was up to Freddy and his friends to train as Ninjas so they would have the skills necessary to retrieve the presents. Sensei Chris led them in Ninja stretches and stances "Yes, Sensei!"

Part of the training required some helium balloons taped to the floor to act as 'dummies' so they could karate chop, and kick and punch with all their hearts.

Then they had to do target practice throwing their ninja stars.

And lastly they had to practice stealth moves as they limboed under and jumped over laser beams.

With their training complete the ninjas were ready to venture to the dragons lair and rescue Freddy's presents.  They had to leap across a lava pit....

crawl through the laser beams...

 make their way across the river of slime...

and throw their ninja stars at the nimble and threatening dragon.  Yay! they did it. I had to make sure they didn't hurt the dragon too much before they grabbed some presents and headed back upstairs for present opening, cake and ice cream. (Charlie took some convincing to be the dragon, but then he pulled it off perfectly with a growly voice, fun wisecracks, and awesome defensive moves)

All in all it was a very fun party and I know Freddy had a great time. Chris makes everything fun and Charlie and Alec were super helpful. It was really crazy having so many kids...especially crazy cousins who were extremely comfortable being crazy together in Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was totally worth it for our Freddy though. He is such a joy to have in our family. He hasn't lost his exuberance for life and can get so excited about simple things. He loves to cuddle and is naturally very grateful. He is helpful with his younger brothers and loves to make them smile and also keep them safe. He has mastered the Monkey Bars (with help from teacher, Gwen) and loves school, crafting, and building with legos. 

Max's Birthday

Mr. Ball of Endless Energy, the Master of Messes, Prince of Physical Prowess, the King of Cuteness with a mind of his own, the Great Imitator turned 2.  He had no idea how fun a birthday could be before this day, but now he knows.  We opted for breakfast in the kitchen instead of breakfast in bed for the Master of Messes.

We was really slow and precise opening presents and wanted to play with everything he got right away. His favorite toy was probably the plasma / wiggle car Grandma and Grandpa got him. He saw some ward friends playing on one a few days before at a playgroup and was entranced from the first moment he saw it.  I'm not sure there is a better image of pure joy in my mind than of watching him cruise on it in the big church gym with a constant grin on his face, the wisps of his baby hair flapping in the breeze.

We went out to eat at Chick-fil-a for dinner. Thom and Brittany's family joined us. Max loves to play with his cousin, Bend-it. (Bennett).

Then we went home for cake and ice cream.  He's been watching his cousins at their birthdays recently and had been practicing blowing out the candles.  So he knew exactly what to do... we just need to work on the timing. His brothers were trying to hold him back from the second the candles were lit.

Oh this boy. He loves to drink milk, and eat cheese. He likes to hold a corner of his soft blanket when he falls asleep. He loves to run and jump and play outside. He loves to get into the freezer and eat shredded mozzerella cheese, or move a chair to the pantry to reach the marshmallows. He can climb out of his crib with ease and knows how to move a chair to the front door to undo the deadbolt.  He has such a sweet laugh and often does a funny growl talk (with a chin down and eyes up face) that sounds kinda scary but is in pure jest.  He has such an inquisitive and bright mind and figures things out so fast. His perseverance and initiative will be such assets when he's older! We love our darling Maxwell Henry.

Beginning of December Christmas fun and Family Pictures

Like most years, at the beginning of December we get all excited to follow along with the challenges/invitations associated with the church's Christmas initiative, LightTheWorld... and then things get busy and we lose steam a little but we still love to try and make a difference in sharing Christ's light in special ways on the days that we remember. 

Alec had his Christmas concert pretty early. He had some really fun pieces! Sugar Plum secret agent or something like that. Christmas classics with a 'spy' theme sound. He did really well. I love to see and hear him play his saxophone. He doesn't play much at home, but he really enjoys band and I'm glad he's learning to develop this talent at school.

Our ward Christmas party ended up being the same night that Dixie had gotten all the girls in our family tickets to go see the BYU folk dance team and dance department classes put on the Christmas Around the World concert.  Chris' cousin is on the team and they did a few dances at a recent campus wide devotional and Chris thought the boys would love to see it too, so Dixie got tickets for everyone in our family. We had to leave the ward Christmas party a little early to make it to the Marriott center on time for some pre-concert games.  We got pictures with Santa, (which Max and even Freddy were REALLY nervous about it... good thing for older siblings to follow!) There was a mix up with the BYU catering and the food never was ready for the dinner! We had planned to leave for the Marriott Center right after the dinner but we ended up leaving before the last-minute Little Ceasar runners got back with food. Dixie ran home and made us all some PB&J sandwiches to eat in the car. ... We were all so hungry, PB&J never tasted so good.

The Christmas Around the World concert was AMAZING!!!! Seriously the dancers are all so talented and the music so fun and the costumes so beautiful. We were all mesmerized for the entire time. Ok... thats not quite true...all the older kids and adults were mesmerized. Theo and Max BARELY made it through to the intermission. Chris offered to take them home and I stayed with the rest of the kids to finish it off. Freddy didn't quite make it and fell asleep towards the end. I was in a little bit of a bad mood and I regret being childish about the seats and having to deal with babies instead of having a girls night like I anticipated. But regardless, it was a fun memory and I'd love to make this a tradition.

Family Pictures!

I'd been trying to get a good family picture for a few weeks. We hadn't had a good one since Theodore was born. I even brought coordinating clothes to Jared and Ashley's over Thanksgiving, hoping to get someone there to take our picture. It is such a hassel to get everyone ready and we didn't ever get it to work. So on Sunday, I decided if I just helped pick out some outfits before church we could get a few pictures afterward. It almost didn't happen. Charlie was mad about something and didn't want to cooperate... but we persevered and I'm glad we did because I think a few of them turned out nice. 

Dixie took the ones of our whole family and then I took the ones of the kids. Charlie and Alec helped take ones of Chris and I and, like usual, Chris goofed around to make the moment fun. Man, I love that guy... and isn't he just the handsomest ever?!? How is it fair that guys just look better and better as they age.