January Birthday Party

For the January birthday party I made Ashley a AT-AT Walker red velvet birthday cake with cream cheese frosting. I also made a big pan of lasagna to take over to grandma Reva's house. We all had lasagna, salad and grandma's homemade rolls. Then we celebrated Mariah turning 24, Amanda turning 18 and Ashley turning 13 with cakes, ice cream and presents. Then we all got to hear stories about Aunt Kristey and Mike from when they were little and all the mischief they got into.

Aunt Kristey putting candles on the cakes

Amanda, Mariah and Ashley with their cakes

Ashley with her cake

Birthday girls

Mariah with her cake

Amanda with her cake

Opening presents

Ashley's Finished Room

Yes, we finally finished putting Ashley's room back together and donated a lot of things to the Idaho Youth Ranch. We have needed to do some cleaning out of things for awhile. Now need to move on to Owen's room. The photos don't show off the color very well but her room is a light sea foam blue/green depending on the lighting at the moment. Her doll house is mostly a shelf now with all her art and craft supplies in cute little plastic bins. She has a lot more floor space and she switched dressers with Alysha so now has two mirrors to help with the bathroom rush in the mornings. It turned out nice and hoping it'll stay clutter free for a little while but she does like to collect things.

New comforter and Star Wars posters

Ashley's 13th birthday

For Ashley's birthday we got together with my sister and family along with Ashley's friend Elisabeth and all went rollerskating. Since it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day the Rollerdrome was super busy but we all had a great time anyways. Then we came home and had pizza, opened presents then ate yummy Star Wars cupcakes with ice cream.

Delaney and Ashley skating

Owen and Mike

Elisabeth and Ashley

Delaney and Alysha

Taking a break

Ashley with her presents, new comforter, posters, pillow etc.

Star Wars cupcakes

Smaller Star Wars projects

A few days before Ashley's birthday she wanted to have her hair done in a bun like Princess Leia off of Star Wars for school. Then the next day I finally took her to Jo-Ann's so she could buy some material then we came home and made her twi'lek lekku hat that she has been wanting to make for weeks (also from Star Wars). It turned out really cute.

Ashley's Princess Leia hair

Ashley working on her lekku

Finished twi'lek lekku

Junk food for her birthday weekend.

January Project - Ashley's room

With Ashley about to turn 13, we decided to repaint her room getting rid of the giant flower mural I painted forever ago. She picked out the color she wanted and we got to work cleaning, sorting, moving furniture, taping and covering everything we didn't want paint on then got busy painting. It took four coats of paint to cover the mural, we painted the trim and door white, then painted her closet doors with chalk board paint. We had a lot of toys to decide what to do with. So Ashley went through all of them sorting them in three piles, ones to keep in her room, ones to keep but put away and ones to donate. We have finished painting and have started putting her room back together but still have some things to finish. Photos to come later....

Sorting out Legos

View from doorway

Covering the last wall.

Happy New Year - 2016

Can you believe it, it's now 2016. Seems like every new years day we head out to play on the ice of frozen Lake Lowell. It's always cold but so pretty. This year we went on January 1 and 2nd. The second day Kristey, Mariah and Amanda joined us. We all wish you a wonderful new year.

Ashley and me

Owen and me

Alysha and me

Ashley and Owen on the ice

Mariah and Amanda

Ashley getting ready for ice skate

Alysha and Ashley on the ice

Owen on his dinosaur sled

Aunt Kristey

Following the giant foot prints

Mike and me

My frozen kids

Mike and Kristey watching the sunset

After Christmas and New Years Eve fun

We have been having fun playing with all our new toys and games. Above Alysha, Amanda, Ashley and Owen are playing Forbidden Desert which entertained them for hours the other night. Our table has been the playground for Star Wars vs Jurassic World Legos and figures. The kids had friends over to hang out inside and play outside in the snow. Tasha and Bella who normally stay away from each other have been sharing my bed to stay warm. We played Ashley's new Star Wars Risk game.

On New Years Eve Mike and Alysha had to work late so Ashley, Owen and I went over to Grandma Reva's house to play a few games and eat yummy food. Once Mike and Alysha got off work they came over to join in the all the fun.

Star Wars Risk

Ashley cross stitching

Tasha and Bella

Playing Ticket to Ride

Playing scrabble

Playing Aunt Carla's new game

Amanda wrapping up Ashley with plastic wrap

Mike's turn