Montana Time - Zyra 3rd Bday Party - Day Four

Crawling out of bed after two little ones awaken us, we are up and running.  There is a party to finish preparing for ya know.  Miss Zyra has requested a "My Little Pony" party and mom is doing all she can to meet that request.  She even had a pony coming over to play, but it got sick and had to cancel -- so sad.  Matt gives some space as he takes the kids and dogs to the river for awhile.  Grandpa gets to work putting Zyra's gift together and I march upstairs to help Becca as much as I can.





She is already hard at work putting out all the treats she has prepared ahead of time and finishing the cake.

I think it turns out great and that her ideas were perfect.  I really could learn a thing or two from her in having tons of materials available to work with.  She just starts pulling items from her cabinet and soon we have a finished product that will be perfect for the party.  Back into the fridge it goes since it has a whipped cream frosting.

Everything is finished and it is time to get dressed.  Becca discovers that the security tag on her new top was not removed and so while she finishes with the kids, Mister and I make a quick run into town to have it taken off.  We are back in 1/2 an hour and things are all go again.  Everything looks amazing and Matt is still zooming around finishing things.  He has been a whirlwind today -- everywhere we looked, he was busy.  Not sure where all that energy came from after a late night last night.  Whew.

It is party time --- complete with a chocolate fountain.

When the pony plans fell apart, a store run was made and this giant ball purchased.  It is great!  The kids crawl around inside and are pushed around tumbling all over the place.  It is also an instant hit along with the trampoline, especially for the boys who are still girlied out from yesterday.  Are you wondering what I see as Mister is taking this picture of me taking a picture?  Look.

The two smallest soon locate places to play that are not quite as busy where they won't get trampled by the older kids.

It always surprises me that they can just find things to amuse themselves and soon we are looking for them.  I also wish I could do this squat for more than a couple of minutes.  Ah, youth.  We never truly realize what we have until it is gone -- even something as simple as squatting.

The older boys have retreated downstairs to the video games and pop up occasionally for a run in the ball or a jump on the tramp.  I think I am running low on energy as I sit down often and miss some of the side activities.



Soon it is candle time.  Becca lites the candles and Zyra promptly blows them out before we can even get the first note out to sing.  We start over and Matt has to hold her back while we sing both the American and Brazilian versions of "Happy Birthday to You".  At last she gets to blow out her candles and have a piece of cake.

Becca has also cooked up a storm as usual and the food is delicious.  I am totally stuffed and wanting to just sit and visit.  My niece, Jill, and her husband, Brock, are here for the event and so we are able to sit out on the patio for a quick visit before it is time to move into the living room to open gifts.  Zyra is so cute with the cards -- she loves them and wants to open each one.  She then stands and reads them -- at least what she thinks they say.  Goodness -- so cute.

Grandpa had found a gift for Zyra several months ago and stored it out back until this trip.  Yep, we checked the box on the plane and brought it with us.

We watch as she takes all the furniture from her gift bag and Daddy keeps asking her what she is going to do with it.  Once she finds the house, it doesn't take long to put everything inside.  Yay Grandpa.

The party breaks up shortly after that and while I am outside saying good-bye to Amanda and kids, Matt has armed the kids with wooden skewers from the table and let them go to down on the balloons.  They make very short work of this task and soon the arch is gone.

It has been a great day and after the mess is cleaned up, we sit down and breathe for a few minutes while Matt goes from room to room organizing the house again.  He reminds me so much of myself as he counts pieces to games and toys and puts everything back in it's proper place.

As I snuggle with Zyra after the party and have her try on the outfit I made her, Grandpa snaps this oh so cute picture of us.  Love it.

Where is Hyrum in all of this???  Well, he went downstairs with a friend and was seldom seen today.  Crowds are just not his thing --- also reminds me of his dad.  Well, if he follows true to form, he will one day be Mister Gladhander just like Daddy.

Montana Time - Elena 4th Bday Tea Party/Malea is 1! - Day Three

After a wonderful hot breakfast from Becca, we are off and running.  The day is drizzly and overcast, not at all promising for an outdoor "Garden Tea Party".  We arrive at Rhiana's to find balloons being filled with helium and birthday cakes needing to be finished, decorating still needing to happen, and a decision whether to wait for the rain to stop or just go with an indoor tea party.  A short while later:   indoor it is.  I set to work on the cake while Rhiana and Amanda and Mister get the decorating underway with Mister pitching in and being the "documentor".

Once everything is in place it looks just like a ladies tea - oh so pretty and feminine.  Just like Miss Elena.  We even have little flower pots to be done as an activity.  Ryan and Elena (and Raef) spend a great deal of time coloring and keeping themselves out of the way.  That is a great help all by itself - don't you agree?

A few minutes before the party starts, Mister and I want to give Caleb his "late birthday" gifts and allow him to have something to focus on while people are arriving.  I hide the Geo Trax Cars behind my back but he sees what I am doing and races around behind me to take them.  So much for a build up.  It works nicely though and he is ready to play with a little help from Raef.

Within moments the house is full of little girls in pretty dresses all ready for their "tea party" and having deep discussions with one another.  I am not sure just what details are being worked out here, but they sure seem serious.

While the little ladies are making their arrangements, the boys have momentarily fled the scene and with a little help from Matt, they are having a great time on the trampoline.  When they return to the house, I am not sure who is more tired -- the ones who jumped or the one who laid on his back.  All are certainly breathing heavy and sweating.  Of course -- it is time for the party and the sun is back.  It is a beautiful day.  Perfect for a "garden tea party."  Argh.

Oh wait - perhaps the heavy breathing from Matt is because he is sitting with Becca?  Not sure, but they look like they are enjoying each other.


As everyone starts gathering around the table, I have a few fun moments with Miss Malea.  It is our shared birthday today and so a balloon is definitely in order.  I still cannot believe how lucky I am to share this day with one of my beautiful grands.


It is tea party time!!  The hats go on!  After all what is a tea party without hats?

All the little ladies and a few young gentlemen take seats at the table and enjoy their finger sandwiches of peanut butter and jelly, fresh strawberries, and cupcakes.  Their sparkling grape juice is served from a beautiful pink ceramic teapot much to their delight.  It is perfect.

Not all of the boys wish to participate at the table and so we are feeding them in the kitchen as well.  This gives me good time to talk with them as my time has certainly been taken with preparations for the party.  It is nice to find out what is going on with them as well.  Raef is such a delight to visit with and I am looking forward to more time with him and his brothers in a couple of weeks.

Once the tummies are full, it is time for the creative juices to start flowing.  They settle down to the little table to make headbands - an idea given to us by Britanie, Elena's nanny.

It is finally time for presents and we get to watch Elena as she opens her tea set from us.  What a treat as she immediately takes it so serious.  I cannot wait for a pic of her and Mommy using it one afternoon.  (Check out the headbands on the girls -- too cute.)

After a VERY short break to let kids play, it is Malea's turn and although she is tired, she rises to the occasion.  Big sister helps blow out the candles and it doesn't take long for the smiles to show up as she is giver her cake.


There is not any fist-filling though -- Miss Malea is very neat and enjoys using her spoon.

Elena is once again a big help opening Malea's gifts and she is content to sit and watch the activity from the center of the table.

Grandpa had found a great snack container for Malea to go along with her gift and it is a big hit, both with Malea AND with Britanie.  Simple things.

Mommy's gift to Malea is a trike stroller and she has absolutely no qualms about getting on and going for a ride.  Waaaayyyy too cute.

Daddy's gift to Elena is a covered sandbox and it doesn't take long for Elena, pretty dress and all, to find time to herself to play there. The male cousins have been in it most of the afternoon -- I think it was the only part of this "girls" day that they were totally comfortable with.  Poor things.

My wonderful children pull me aside and give me a beautiful birthday gift of Zebra Wood Hair Sticks.  I absolutely love them and the thought that went into the gift.  I am ALWAYS looking for unique hair items to keep things under control in Dallas as I get a little frizzy down here when it is humid.

After helping clean up, we are soon on our way back to Matt and Becca's to start on the preparations for tomorrows party.  We sit down for a few minutes and Becca comes out with a cheesecake covered in candles and I get my own little "Happy Birthday" song.  What fun and oh so thoughtful.  Thankfully she didn't try and put all 55 candles on the cake, but even still it takes Hyrum and I awhile to get them all off.

Time to get to work.  Becca and I get the table decorations finished as Mister starts in with the wall and ceiling ones.  We have a lot of balloons to fill with air and use for decorating.  Matt gets out the air compressor and away we go.  It doesn't take very long and we are soon rewarded with a very long string of balloons.

At last, it is time for little ones to go to bed and big people to relax a wee bit.  Amanda and Rhiana came over and we spent the evening playing games and laughing oh so very hard.  I have videos from the night but have been forbidden to post them.  All in all --- a GREAT day with family and many new memories to treasure.