Tie-Dye Birthday Fun!

Kenzie and I, have been brewing up this idea for her birthday party for a couple of years now! Last year, we ended up being in California for Cheerleading, and the year before that was her big 8 vacation, so this was her year for a big party! We decided to tie-dye t-shirts and they turned out fabulous! I can't say it wasn't messy, but it was so fun to see all the different designs they came up with!

First, we played a game with all of Tony's clothes. They got in two teams and had to run down, put all the clothes on and then run back and switch. They all cheated, but it was still fun to watch!
Next, they played the pop the balloon game. Unfortunately, the grass did most the popping! :)
After that, we did a pinata, which was about the worst $15 pinata ever! It made it through the 3 littlest kids and then broke! I think it was just too heavy with prizes! They didn't seem to mind all they really wanted was the stuff!

I think mine and Teresa's hands were the most decorated! It took over a week to get all that dye off! Note to self, when it says wear gloves for this project, really wear gloves!
She loved her cake! It was chocolate with chocolate ice cream, of course! Baskin Robbins made her a cute cake that had a tie-dye pattern on it.

All the crazies at the party!
I went the next day to school, and took a picture of all the kids that remembered to wear their shirts! They looked so good!

It was a fun day for Kenzie and us!

1st Grade Field Trip to Zions

I had so much fun hanging out with Kamren and her class at Zion's! They are soooo stinking cute at this age-still so innocent and sweet! We did a little hiking, got a little wet, and then headed back to the school after lunch! I swear field trips seemed like they lasted the whole day when I was a kid! Maybe they have shortened things up a bit so that more parents can help! Who knows! All I know is I was happy just being in charge of 3 little people! I can't imagine being in charge of all 20+ of them at once!

Kenzie in Vegas

I don't know what it is about this child, but somehow every year, gets bigger and better for her Birthday. This year, she has a Phantom of the Opera and Titanic obsession! She has read books and watch movies and documentaries and built lego models. The girls seriously knows her stuff on these subjects. How could we not take her to see both when Vegas is so close to us?!!! We had so much fun surprising her and really got her good!

We acted like it was just a normal day-woke her up to her favorite meal(chocolate chip pancakes), told her happy birthday and that we were going to do something fun tonight, just with the family. She was completely fine with whatever we planned, as usual. What she didn't know was that as soon as we dropped the other kids off at school, she was in for a BIG surprise! I had made her a CD with all the Phantom songs on it, so as soon as the other kids got out, we told her to hold on for a minute, that we had something for her. She opened the CD, having no idea what was inside, we popped it in the CD player, she still didn't get it, even with the music to her favorite play blaring! We then told her, you aren't going to school today, you are going to see the Titanic exhibit and Phantom! She was so excited, and I was so excited that my surprise remained intact! So we headed to Vegas, thanks to Teresa taking the rest of the kids after school for the afternoon.

We first went to the Titanic museum. Tony and I had been before, but it was so much fun to watch Kenzie. She would see a picture of somebody or something, and tell us all about it from books she had read. She was so interested in the history and the stuff in the museum. I think she like the actual piece of the Titanic the best, it is called the "Big Piece" and it is about an 80 ft long part of the boat that was pulled from the ocean in the 90's.

After that, we hit the Bodies exhibit because it was right next to the Titanic. Tony and I have also seen this. The second time is not nearly as intriguing as the first, but still worth the time and the money. I think she was a little fascinated, but a lot grossed out. But I still think it is good for people to really be able to marvel at the creation our bodies truly are. I guarantee the girl wont be trying a cigarette anytime soon after all the black lungs she witness from smoking!

We then went to the Adventure dome at Circus Circus because we had some time to kill and we had to pick a third thing on the pass we bought. I can' t say I would actually pay the money to go there again, but we did have fun on the roller coaster!

We ended out exciting day with Phantom! She was so excited when we finally got to the Venetian to see the show! The theater was amazing and the show was just as good as the version I saw in LA when I was in high school.

Thank goodness a stranger snapped a photo for us! They were charging $45 for the picture that they took for us! That's worse than Disneyland

I can't believe she was still smiling by the end of her crazy day! We didn't get home until 12:30AM!!! She now walks around the house singing Phantom and telling us she is going to be an opera singer when she grows up. I am so glad we got to spend her birthday seeing things that she loves. We had a great time!

So much to do

I should be doing laundry

and cleaning

and packing

and a lot of other things!

But when Daxton is so excited that there is actually wind today, that all goes out the window!

He's growing up way too fast and I need to take the time to remember that sometimes!

I forgot how hard kite flying really is, and so did he!

Elder Chambers

Troy is finally at the MTC, yeah!!!! It was such an amazing experience to be able to drop him off and know that they Lord has called him to serve a mission at this time. We have seen so much progression from him in the last few months. He has truly made huge strides towards becoming a man. We are so proud of him.

Originally, Tony had made the decision to not go to Provo to see him go into the MTC. Stupidly, I believed him! So on Sunday, after watching the show on the MTC that followed the Sunday morning session, he informed me that he couldn't miss seeing him off! We had to scramble a bit, and ended up leaving Karlin with friends, since she had made a commitment to sing at the district choir concert. It was well worth the shuffling! I was go glad we got to spend a couple extra hours with him, and feel the amazing Spirit that comes with the MTC. We both felt at peace as we drove away, and know this is where Troy is supposed to be!

Tony did relatively well considering he just let his oldest child move away for a couple years! Yes, he cried. But no, I did not have to drag him back to the car!
Troy- right before we left for the MTC!

All his cousins and siblings that were there for the send off!

Troy and all his parents! Isn't he so lucky to have so many! :)
I had this idea of the last picture I wanted of him in my head and I think I got it! Just as he was walking away, I yelled his name. He turned, and I yelled, "I love you"! That is where the smirk comes from!

What a surreal moment to have your child walk away from you, knowing you won't see him for two whole years, but also knowing that he will come back a Spiritual Giant! I can't wait for the letters to start coming!