My BABY turns TWO!

A few days before leaving Arizona for our new home in California, my baby girl turned two! So sad, but true! It makes me so sad thinking my baby isn't really a baby anymore.  Through all of the struggles she has had the past year and a half, she is now thriving and we are so thankful.  We HAD to have a party for her too....it was great, another good excuse to get family together.  Aside from our tradition of getting "birthday donuts" we also decorate the house for the kids.  Being at Grandpa and Grandma's house we just decorated one room. :)  The kids love this and it is fun for us as well.  I love seeing their eyes light up and seeing them so excited about celebrating their birthday.  

The birthday girl making her grand entrance! 

Once wasn't enough so she had to do it again and again. 

Opening presents! All I can say is SPOILED little girl. 

Kinsley also had fun with all the birthday decorations. 

Modeling her new swim suit.  

Bubbles from the best oldest brother. 

I LOVE these little feet. The shoes are pretty cute as well. 

Birthday hugs from Grandpa Egnew. 

"Most" of the cousins we spent the summer with at Grandpa and Grandma Egnew's house. 

Our crazy family! 

She started the summer out hating the water and ended it with jumping in to mommy.  She has no fear now. 

Her favorite present from Grandma Eileen,  a baby and a stroller. 

Birthday donuts are the BEST! 

No one around here was excited for donuts.  ;) The perfect way to end our summer in Arizona! 

Manti is 4!

This past summer, while in Arizona, Manti had a very special day.  He turned 4!  He missed his friends from Cheyenne but made up for it by having a party with all of his cousins.  Since we were there with family I thought it would be fun to throw him a surprise party.  We started the day of with our traditional birthday donuts.  A little later Troy took the boys out for some fun.  They went to lunch, a movie and got hair cuts.  Emree and I stayed behind to get everything ready for Manti's BIG surprise.  Being in Arizona, in July, left one option for a party....a WATER party! We made an obstacle course, sponge relay, splish, splish, splash (aka duck, duck, goose), water balloons and water guns! We topped off the party with a big pinata, cupcakes and presents.  It was great day and the kids all had a blast together. 

(I do not have the time or patience to put the pictures in order but enjoy!) 

The first picture was when he peeked through the streamers and everyone yelled "surprise". The second, tears and fear! Wasn't quite the reaction I thought we would get. 

We let Uncle Hiram finish breaking the pinata due to cousins needing to leave.  I think he liked it!

They picked up every single piece! 

Manti using his shirt for the candy loot. 

Grandpa Rob came to the party and Manti was SO happy. Birthday hugs. 

Loving all the presents he got....such a lucky boy.

No fancy cake this year...just cupcakes as he is NOT a fan of cake, just frosting.

HE IS FOUR! (enter tears from Mom) 

This picture is perfect! This is how my day is 24/7 with these two.

All the kids played a few rounds of "Down by the Banks"

Splish, splish, splash....They used a little spoon for the "splish" and then dumped the rest of the bucket of water over the person for the "splash".  So funny!

Emmers soaking up the sun! (Believe it or not, she has grown so much since then)

Poor Kylie took a water balloon right to the head and didn't even cry. 

WATER FIGHT!!

Sponge relay....boys vs. girls....girls won of course. 

The water guns were a hit. 

The birthday boy taking a swing at the pinata. 

Part of the obstacle course. They started off by sitting on a water balloon, shooting down a tower of cups with the water gun. hopping over the noodles, carrying a bucket of water on their head and finishing off down the slip n slide.  All while being sprayed by the hose.  

Manti is such a people person.  He loves to make new friends and reunite with old ones.  He loves to make people laugh and is very tough.  The funny thing is that he can be VERY sensitive too.  Every birthday I reflect back on the day he was born and feel so blessed to have him here.  Our families made the party a big hit.  Even with their busy summer schedules, they took time out to come celebrate Manti.

Preschool Graduation

The end of May was not only a crazy time because we were trying to figure out moving plans but also because Sebastien graduated from preschool! After being so hesitant about being away from home and having to go to school, he had an amazing year with an amazing teacher.  Thank you Miss Ashley for all you did for our sweet boy! 

Sebastien's turn to be the spotlight.  He had some very funny responses to the questions he was asked and because I am so late in posting I cannot remember them for anything.  Oops! 

We are proud parents of our newly graduated preschooler! Bring on kindergarten. 

Sebastien with two of his buddies that he loves, adores and misses like crazy, Ryan and Mikey. 

Miss Ashley put together a book of things Sebastien did over the year.  I loved seeing the progress he made from the beginning to the end.  Even more, I LOVE the picture book she created individually for ALL the kids.  A true treasure for him to always have to look back on. 

I remember one funny thing he did in preschool....their morning routine was to come in, sit down and begin writing their names.  A lot of the kids had short names (Max, Ben, Ryan, Zac etc...) and my poor boy was always struggling to make it through his whole name.  One day while he was writing his name he got S-E-B-A-S and then said, "teacher can I just be done"? Oh Sebastien, I am so sorry you got such the long name to write. :) 

T-Ball

This was the beginning of the summer and the boys were thrilled to embark on a new adventure....T-BALL!! Sebastien has been begging to play baseball (other than at home) for over a year.  When I went to sign up they told me Manti could play too....AWESOME! They were ecstatic to get their own gloves, baseballs and bat.  Plus they got these groovy bright orange shirts and hats and still wear them at least once a week to play outside or for bed.  There were two other kids, Ben and Ryan, from preschool on the boys team and it was nice to see them form a bond outside of preschool.

My little t-ball players showing off their sweet uniforms.  Go Orange Crush!

 Sebastien is our little lefty and rocks at it! It was beyond hilarious watching the boys "warm up" for the games.  I think there was more chatting and comparing who's gloves were better than warming up. Boys will be boys... 

Sebastien was an awesome 1st baseman. 

I just LOVE the action shot of him running to 1st base.  He had a pretty good hit too. 

Manti was NOT going to let the other kids get the ball first.  It it meant he had to throw himself on top of the ball, that's what he was going to do.

My little cheese ball! He is such a ham.  He was getting ready to hit is big home run. 

I was not thrilled about paying $100 for t-ball but after seeing how much fun they had I think we will definitely be doing this again.  They miss it and were actually upset that they had to miss their last two games because that was when we moved.  I know this was just the first of MANY sports to come.  

P.S. I have no idea what happened with the layout of this post.  So I apologize for it being all over the place.  I have tried fixing it with no luck!