Alivia's Party!

We had the most fabulous time yesterday celebrating Alivia's first birthday!  We had a bunch of family come over after church for some dinner and cake!  We had some bbq pork sandwiches, with some yummy salads, and chips.  We had fun helping Alivia open a few presents, including a new play cell phone from Gma Karen, some books, an outfit, and a new play water/sand table from us.  Gma Joy also gave her some money to go find a new swimsuit for her.  It was such a fun day and she was so fun to watch because she was just so happy!  

 Grandma Karen made this beautiful cake for her!  I made the tutu that went around the bottom.  It turned out even better than I cold have imagined!  Alivia loved it!  It actually was on a turn table so Alivia  had a ton of fun playing with it!

 Of course, we let her have a piece of the cake!  She actually ended up eating two pieces!  It was so funny to watch her eat it.  She just held the whole piece of cake up to her mouth and wouldn't put it down.  It was hilarious!!

 The cake tasted even better than it looked....it was delicious.

Right before everyone left, Gpa Brower was working on getting her to walk, and actually did a good job!  She took at least 4 or 5 steps on her own!  I am sure she will be walking any day now, but it is fun that she took steps on her birthday!  Once everyone left, we put Livy down for a nap and the two older kids laid in our room and watched a movie while Nick and I cleaned everything up.  It was a nice quiet evening and the kids had fun playing with Livy's new water table.  I started putting together a video of Alivia's first year and it was so fun to go back and look at pictures of her.  It is amazing how much they learn and grow that first year.  We feel so blessed to have Alivia as our daughter.  It has been such a great year, and I can't wait for many many more fun years of watching her grow!  We love you Livy!!!

Seeing Green!

We had a great time celebrating St. Patrick's on Saturday!  Nick only worked a few hours, so after he came home, the kids did a fun treasure hunt that the leprechauns had left for them!  They started out by reading clues that led them to the next clue.  I was impressed with how well Carson could read the clues!  He did a great job!  They went from the couch, to the hall, the tub, Alivia's crib, our closet, the tv, the table, and then finally ended up finding their treasure in the fridge!   

They got some fun puzzles, jump ropes, and coloring books!  We played most of the day around the house, and then we had a babysitter come over for a few hours while Nick and I went to dinner with our friends, Randall and Virginia at Little America.  It was a fun evening.  Overall, it was an enjoyable St. Patricks Day!

Happy 1st Birthday Alivia!

A year ago today, we were blessed with one of the most precious spirits, Alivia!  We had a great afternoon celebrating her birthday! (See future post when I have time to go through the million pictures we took!).  A few days ago, Jana came over and helped me take pictures of Alivia for her Birthday!  Check them out!

I loved how they turned out!  I love that she has blue eyes and it is so fun to take her picture!  I can't believe she is ONE!  She actually took some good steps today, with Grandpa Brower's encouragement! So I know she will be all out walking any day now!  It was so fun!  We love you Livy Lou!!!

Let's go fly a kite!

We had a great Sunday yesterday.  We made it on time to our 9 O'clock church meeting, even with the daylight savings time change.  Whew!  Carson was asked to fill in for the opening prayer in primary and did a great job filling in.  Kaylee was asked to sing a song for the Family & Marriage Sunday School class, so she sang "Teach me to walk in the Light".  She did great and it was really cute!  She is so brave and is not shy at all and loves to sing in front of people!  After we got home from church and had lunch the kids were able to go outside and fly their new kites they got from Gma Karen.  It was nice, but breezy weather.  So it was perfect for flying kites!  

We then enjoyed a walk around the block and a delicious turkey roast dinner with garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, and glazed carrots.  The kids both cleaned off their plates, it was that good.  It was so cute, as we went to say the blessing on the food, I told the kids to fold their arms so we could pray and Alivia folded her arms.  It was so cute and the kids got a kick out of seeing her do it.  She did it again tonight when we said the dinner prayer.  She is so smart and she is getting really good a mimicking what everyone else is doing.  Tonight I got her out of her high chair and I had a napkin in my hand.  She took the napkin and started wiping my face.  It was hilarious!  She is also SO close to walking!!  Any day now I think it may happen!  But it was such a nice Sunday spent with our family....just the way they are supposed to be!