Halloween Weekend

We began our Halloween weekend with a costume parade and Halloween parties at school on Friday. Friday was Ellie's actual 10th birthday so after school we began her spa party. We decorated the basement to look like a spa by placing candles all over, dimming the lights and covering the sofas with white sheets. Soft spa music was playing. As each girl entered the spa she was given instructions and a welcome by Emma and then given a towel, face cloth and head band to keep her hair back.

One of the stations was making bath salts with different colored pepperment scented bath salts.

The finished product.

Fingers and toes were also beautified.

Face masks were applied. The girls came out with glowing skin after some relax time in the toy room.

Brookie was in heaven surrounded by the big girls and getting georgeous. She is such a girlie girl. I can't paint her toes often enough.

There was also a hair styling station.

After the girls were relaxed and beautiful we had cake, presents, popcorn and a movie and then a sleep over. It turned out to be a great party.

The next day was trunk-or-treating at the ward party and Sunday, of course, was the actual Halloween. Ellie was a pirate and Brookie was a flamenco dancer.

We picked up this costume while in Spain so it is authentic.

Emma was a beautiful genie.

Mia was going to be a puppy (leftover costume from three other girls before her) but she was feeling under the weather so she never got to use it. I'm sure she won't be too broken up over it.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Number seven

Emma is officially seven years old going on 25. She is full of fun and energy and adds excitment to our family. These are some of the presents she received for her birthday. For her party we went to Lollilocks which is a hair salon designed for kids.

The party was a spa theme. Everyone got their hair done, their toes and fingers painted and tattoos.

I think Brookie liked it the best. She loves getting beautiful.

They also made lip gloss, ate cupcakes and sang kareoke.

Everyone looked georgeous by the end.

This is a pic from Vegas that I forgot to post last time. I guess we tired her out.

The girls had their first piano recital. There were alot of people there watching and they both did fabulous!!

Vegas

Ellie and her friend had a hair salon. These are the beautiful doos they gave Brookie and me. We were able to go to Vegas for a long weekend. After we got there we went to the Hoover dam to check it out.

After that went to the Paris hotel to look around. My dad and uncle were in town for a business convention so we hooked up with them for dinner.

Ellie has her dad promising to take her to Paris for her sixteenth birthday so she was very excited to get this preview and stand under the Eiffel Tower. She was even wearing her favorite Paris shirt.

We met up with our fabulous dental school friends Rob and Ashley who we haven't seen for 2 1/2 years and we met their little girl Taylor. It was so fun to see them again. It felt like we have never been apart.

This is one of the gorgeous hotel lobbies.

The fountain shows at the Bellagio was one of our favorite sites. We watched it three times.

Brookie and Taylor became fast friends. It was cute to watch them together.

Family photo opportunity in front of a waterfall.

The Venetian hotel was also a favorite. Our authentic Italian gondalier sang to us and gave us a great ride.

I forgot to mention that we are minus a child in all the pics. Grandma and Grandpa Lambert ended up staying at our house for Grandpa to get surgery on his arm (Canadian healthcare would have had him waiting over a year). They graciously offered to take Mia and we accepted. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!

School begins

It is hard to believe that another summer is gone and another school year is beginning. We had a fun summer playing in the sun with friends, visiting family and having family visit us. Now it is back to work. Here is the C.E.O of the family taking a break from giving orders. We got a tramp this year and it is great for the hair.

Here are the first day of school pictures. Emma started grade one and is now gone for the full day. She likes her teacher and has already made some new friends in her class.

Ellie is entering the fourth grade. She is growing up so fast. She was excited because she got the teacher she was hoping for and wants to be on the student counsil this year.

Last weekend we thought that it was pretty pathetic that the summer was almost over and we hadn't been to Estes Park yet so we strapped the kids on our backs and went for a little hike.

Cooling off with some icecream and a foot bath.

August also brought our Mia's first birthday. We were fortunate to have Kyle's sister and her family with us to celebrate.

Mia is just barely starting to walk. She is in to everything, however, and is starting to bug Brooklyn by getting into everything Brooklyn is playing with. She has a big smile with three teeth and loves to play. We have enjoyed this year with her and look forward to watching her grow.

We love cousins

This last week we were excited to have Josh, Traci, Taylor, Nathan and Drew come to visit from Canada. We love seeing family and the cousins had a great time together. But before I tell you about their visit there are a few other things I need to show first, like how adorable Mia looks while sleeping. I love the arms behind the head with the tiny elbows sticking out. Here are the kids with Daddy on Father's day just after we took him out for lunch and gave him his cards and presents.

Here are the cute cousins Brookie, Nathan and Drew. Some of the fun activities we did while they were here include swimming, parks, jumpin' (astro jump place), concert in the park, drive-in movie and going out to eat (of course).

On Monday we went to get a trampoline while we had Josh here to help us put it together. (Thanks Josh). Of course the box was just as fun as the tramp. The kids decorated it and then used it as a club house complete with mailbox and window boxes with flowers.

Kids waiting for the tramp to finally be finished.

I was very lucky to have extended family here for my birthday as usually we are apart. Josh took the little kids while Traci and I had a girls day out with Ellie, Emma and Taylor. We got pedicures but, of course, I forgot my camera. Here are the finished products.

After we got out toes done we went for smoothies. Then later that day we all went out for dinner. It was a great birthday.

The kids decided they wanted to sleep on the tramp. Josh was kind enough to go with them. All was well until 4:00am when the sprinklers went on in the green strip just outside our yard and got everyone wet. They made a mad dash into the house trying to get all the blankets and pillows off the tramp. Fun memories!

Thanks for a great week Sherwoods. We are looking forward to coming up to Canada soon.