Happy 5th Birthday, Emma girl!

Can it be? My little Emma is 5 now!? Where does time go really? It's been an incredible five years. Emma brings such joy to us as her family, and to me personally. I will do a post soon here about all about Emma - her milestones, personality, likes and dislikes, funny stories and more (I will do a post like that for each of the kids). So look for that! But today, I'm going to talk about how we celebrated Emma's birthday. Emma loves birthdays (who doesn't?), and several months ago got concerned because we wouldn't be living in Utah anymore with loved ones when she had her birthday. So we decided we could do a party in Utah before we left, and a party up in Washington for her real birthday. We did her "un-birthday" a month early, on July 31. We had it at Grandma Sue & Grandpa Dan's house (they are just great!!), where we were lived for part of the summer. We invited family, and just a few close friends. Emma wanted to do a tea party birthday, so we went with that! We had a bin of dress-up clothes and accessories fit for a tea party, and let the kids put dress-ups on.

The little birthday sign I made that was on the front door.

More tea? Oh, yes please!

The cousins had a great time serving up some "tea" for each other!

We ate some dinner - chicken pot pie at Emma's request, along with some salads, and pink lemonade. Then we did a few little crafts for the kids. Thanks to my lovely mother and awesome friend Hlee for helping out with this!

First, they made paper fans with doilies. Emma picked out gold doilies, fancy!

Aunt Amy the model...I love this pic. Ha ha! Love my sister!

We also made some little sucker flowers. They turned out really cute!

Xou holding Lucy. Hlee kept teasing Xou that he was baby hungry, and their youngest is only a few months older than Lucy.

Tavin, the looks on his face and the things that he says are priceless. The Millers made the cutest picture books for Emma with pictures of her and Tavin, and all of the kids! We've made some great memories together! That was super fun!

Cal with his doily! He even knew what it was called and the way he says it is so funny. Oh, the things you learn when you have a big sister!

Then we had presents. Emma was so stoked to get some playdoh! She loves the stuff almost as much as I love cleaning up after it! (:

All of the kids had a fun time testing the toys out. We opened a couple and the kids had a blast!

Emma really wanted a Barbie cake, and this was the first attempt at using a wonder mold pan. It was fun to do. The stars on the dress took forever...my wrist started hurting like mad! But the embellishments were easy (lace, bow in the back, etc.). I topped it off by finding a Barbie on Amazon that had a tea set included, and used that. Emma was so excited and loved it!

Everyone singing "Happy Birthday". All of the friends who hadn't heard the Ryerse version of the song (which is everyone singing whatever they want on whatever key they want at whatever speed they want) were dying laughing, just like I was the first time I heard it. Classic!

Uncle Jerry singing to Emma. He finishes out the song, and it ends when he quits screaming. Ha ha!

Tayla, Emma and Elisha. Such sweet girls!

Brody and Lucy. Brody's already bigger than Lucy and he's all over the place, too!

The girls dressed up Uncle Jeffry and got a kick out of it. It was hilarious! Looking at this picture again made me laugh out loud!

That was a fun night. It was kind of like the last hurrah with everyone before we left. We love all of our family and friends and miss you all. Fast forward now. Then we had a birthday party for Emma up here in Spokane on her real birthday, August 31! We got to talk to some family members - Emma got to talk to Tayla and Kaison and Aunt Stacy, then Grandma Di, Tavin and Calena, Aunt Amy, and Grandma Sue, Grandpa Dan, Aunt Julie, Uncles Randy & Brian. That made her so happy to talk to everyone! Thanks for those of you who called, it made her day!

Here's the birthday girl! The big 5!

We had cousins Morgan and Kyle, and neighbors Mia and Ayanna come over for a little party. Emma wanted a pink and purple polka dot birthday. So that's what we did. We had pizza and veggies and drinks for lunch on pink plates and a purple tablecloth.

Lucy loves her sister! We're all so lucky to have Ems!

We played a bunch of water balloon games with pink and purple water balloons in the back yard. We had relays and races, played baseball and more!

Catch it!

Water baseball.

Little slugger!

Passing the water balloons from neck to neck.

We made this homeade pinata together, which was so much fun to do with Emma! Emma learned a great lesson in patience, as it took a long time to make and dry! It held up pretty well!

Whacking it!

Getting ready to go in for the goods. We filled the pinata with pink bubble gum, pink and purple (and other colors for Cal and Kyle) yoyos, playdough, pink and purple bubbles, and a few other little toys instead of candy. That turned out to be fun!

Filling the goody bags!

Present time! Emma was excited to get her play sewing machine!

It was cute because Morgan and Kyle would read the fun notes the other older kids all made and wrote to her. Grandma Sue and Grandpa Dan also sent a Tinkerbell card with music in the mail - Emma just dyed!

We played the thimble game, and then we played a freckle game. I made a bunch of punches out of pink and purple construction paper. Then we put everyone in teams. One person got freckled, and each team had to try to get as many freckles on each other as possible before the time ran up. That was a hoot!

Emma said "I already have freckles. How about we put freckles on you, Ayanna?" Here are a few more, but these ones were pink and purple.

You've been freckled!

We made pink and purple polka dot cupcakes using Nerds candy. They were so easy and turned out pretty cute.

Emma blowing out the candles! Make a wish, big girl! My wish is that these kids o' mine would stop growing up so quickly!

Morgan and Kyle brought Cal a present - a truck and candy, so he wouldn't feel left out, which was so sweet! After the party, he went to sleep with that, along with Emma's My Little Pony. It was cute!

After the party, we played some more with the new birthday toys. Then we looked at Emma's baby book while Cal was asleep. Emma watched "Aristocats", one of her favorites. Then we went to back to school night ice-cream social at her new school. She will be going to Shiloh Hills in the Mead School District, which is supposed to be one of the best schools around! We're excited, and she is too. She found out her teacher is Mrs. Camponella, who we've heard from neighbors is the nicest kindergarten teacher ever. And she was! The classroom was way too awesome, and Mrs. C held up to her reputation. I think Emma will have a fantastic time! We got to see her new classroom and went on a scavenger hunt. Then we went to get a free backpack and purchased a school t-shirt and water bottle for her. Finally, we went to the gym to eat some ice-cream. Then we were starving, and asked Emma what she wanted for dinner. She decided on Chili's, so we went there. Once we got home, Emma played with her new toys some more, and we talked to Aunt Amy on Skype. It was a great day! She had so much fun! Again, happy birthday to my little Emma girl! She's not so little anymore! But she'll always be my little girl, no matter what age she is! I love you, Emma!

End of summer, beginning of school...

{The picture formatting got all messed up again...sorry, I don't have time to play with it all day and fix it. So hopefully you can get passed that and enjoy these pictures anyways} I just thought I'd give a little update for all of those back home who are curious as to what we're doing up here. The first full week we were here, we decided to spend a lot of time together doing things before Dave started school/work. It feels almost like we're on vacation, only we're not coming home. We have been to the Riverfront Park three times already, we love that place! Walking down the path next to the river, the carousel, the splash park, the parks, and of course, the giant Radio Flyer wagon! We have also been busy getting our house together, so now it's all pretty much set up and ready to go. Except I still can't decide where and how to hang a few pictures. We bought a pantry and a kitchen table and some shelving and a few other pieces of furniture to outfit our place. So we're pretty much settled in now. We really like the area though! It's been very nice! The neighbors, the climate and weather, the scenery, our ward, we really like it so far! Our neighbors are sweet on the other side of our duplex. They have 7 and 9 year old girls that have been playing with Emma. They're cute. They brought over a card and some zuchinni bread to welcome us to the neighborhood. They're Baptist, and Donna, the mom is super sweet. We only know one other person on our street and hope to get to know more soon.

Riverfront Park!

Emma liked this block because it had her initials - E.R. on it! One day, we went to visit Albeni Falls Dam (my Dad, who works for the Army Corps of Engineers would be proud!). Then we went to Sand Point, ID to go swimming and play on the beach. It was a beautiful beach and we had a wonderful afternoon swimming and playing in the sand! We've been surprised by how many points of attraction and outdoor activities are so close and there are lots of free activities, too, which is good!

We went to Couer d'Alene...so breathtakingly (is that a word?) beautiful! We played at their giant playground and then to Capone's, which was featured on Drive-ins, Dives and Diners to eat some dinner. It was SOO yummy!

There are lots of big city parks around here, abundant in splash pads, tall trees, and squirrels. The kids get a kick out of it! It is beautiful! The splash pads are fun, there is one a couple of blocks away from our house, but this one where these pictures were taken is downtown.

My Uncle Dave and Aunt Suz and their kids Alex (15) and Kyle & Morgan (8) live up here and we've been spending tons of time with them having dinner together, going to get ice-cream, having family home evening, and getting the kids together to play, and going to church together (yes, we're in the same ward! It was crazy it turned out that way). They have such a ball together! Morgan and Kyle have lots of fun with Emma and Cal and they all get along really well. One day, we all went swimming together at a pool owned by a person in our ward. Our kids love the water. Emma is getting really good at swimming and tells everyone "My grandma taught me how to swim!" since she went swimming with her just a few days before we left, and Grandma Di taught her some things. Cal also loves the water and is fearless and will try to jump in all by himself. Lucy gets so excited as well and doesn't ever want us to take her out of the water!

Here's Uncle Dave giving the kids chips to snack on in the water. Soggy sour cream and onion, anyone?

Kyle, Morgan and Emma in the raft.

Lucy with Morgan. These kids love Lucy!
Cal and Morgan splash away!

Dave started school last week and has officially put in a full week! The work load is crazy, which is expected for graduate work, but it's a lot! He has had three interviews, and a second interview for full-time work, but he's not sure if he'll be able to work full-time. He's now looking for a part time job. He's really liked it so far though! They had a "Bring the Kids to School Day" event this past week for the HPA (Health Policy & Administration) program, where they had big jumpy houses and blow-up toys and slides for the kids, and pizza and drinks right on the lawn at Dave's school. They loved it! And it was fun to meet some of Dave's cohorts and their families.

After the first week of school, the WSU HPA students and alumni held a picnic we went to. The south hill playground and park was a great one where they held it, and again, it was fun talking to the cohorts in the program, and those who have graduated already. There are a few guys and their families from Utah, and one from Idaho that are LDS, so that's been kind of fun. When the rest of the people in the program went to go drinking Saturday night, we did some more sober activities instead. (: Drinking and coffee are huge around here...there are billboards all over, and ads on TV, and it seems that's half of what grocery stores carry! One day, we were passing the Big Foot Bar, and the kids love it, because they have a Big Foot sign on it that's pretty cool they like to spot. We were talking with them about bars, and how they serve drinks like wine, liquor, beer and other drinks that we don't have because they aren't good for our bodies and Heavenly Father doesn't want us to drink it because that would be breaking the word of wisdom. Cal got a funny look on his face and said "But I like root beer!" It was pretty funny.

So that's about it! Thanks to all who've called or e-mailed, our family and friends mean the world to us. And though we're having good experiences up here, we miss you and love you all and think about you often!