Kylee's Birthday

Kylee is 5! I can't hardly believe that she's getting so big, but at the same time, it just fits. :-) Kylee turned 5 on August 10, and we were able to celebrate that day with a bunch of her friends. She was so excited about her birthday, and now that it's done, all she can do is tell everyone she sees that she's 5!

Here are some pics of her party. Thanks to all our great friends who came to celebrate with us!

Ice cream is a hit! This is Kylee with her friends Kiera and Zion.

Kylee, Kiera, Zion and Caleb (hangin' with the girls) :-)

Kylee doesn't just make friends with kids her age...she makes friends with the whole family! ;-)

We celebrated briefly that evening after Brett got home. Kylee was so excited for more presents, it took her about 1.3 seconds to open them all...thus the crappy pics! Aedan bought some watercolors and an art pad for Kylee. Brianna gave her a Littlest Pet Shop...Mom and Dad gave her a boring shirt for school...but her BIG birthday gift is that we're enrolling her in dance for the year! Yep, it's a pretty stinkin' expensive birthday gift! She's going to be learning Jazz, Ballet, and Tap, and she should have 3-4 performances throughout the year, so we'll let you know. She was super excited when she got to pick out her dance clothes with Grandma Kathy (with Hallie's expert opinion as well!) and try on her ballet slippers and tap shoes...so CUTE!

Can you see all the makeup on her face here?

I Need Your Help!!!

It's that time of year again...time to decide what to enter into the fair! I LOVE the fair, so this is one of my favorite times of the year. But now that I've started entering photos, it always creeps up on me!

So, here's where you come in, because I need your help! I have a few photos I definitely plan to enter, but there are several more that have been suggested, but I'm not sure of. So I'm going to post them here, and I want to hear your opinion whether any of them are worthy of enlarging, matting, and entering in the fair!

Don't hold back...I can take it. Even if that means you have to tell me I stink and to keep my day job (which would be a problem, since I don't have one). :-) Just let me know if any of them scream "Pick me, pick me!" and you'll save me a lot of anguish and self-doubt! ;-)

Brianna's Blessing

Yesterday was a special day for our sweet Brianna. We had many of our family and even some friends join us at church for her blessing. Brett's a busy guy on Sundays. He gave Brianna a beautiful blessing, then hurried and brought her back to mom before blessing the sacrament. :-)

Brianna was so beautiful in her gown that Grandma McDermott bought for her. Grandma found the dress at a little store in Blackfoot, and called to ask me to come down and help her pick one out. When I got there, she had a stack of dresses set aside that she liked and wanted me to see. I went through those, then probably every other dress in the room. Finally, I settled on one of the original dresses Grandma had picked out. :-) Now, every time someone would compliment Brianna's dress, Grandma "Dermott" would tell me how I did good picking out the dress. But she forgets, she picked it first! Thanks, Grandma, for buying Brianna such a beautiful dress!

Along with the dress came the most beautiful bonnet. I've never been a huge fan of bonnets on my babies. In fact, I didn't even use the bonnet that came with Kylee's blessing dress, and opted instead for a small white bow. I didn't think I would use a bonnet this time either, especially because Amy and I have been having so much fun making bows! I thought for sure we could come up with a beautiful headband for the blessing, and even made a flower out of the lace on my old blankie! When we found the dress, however, I decided to use the bonnet, partly because the dress I chose was an antique white and it just seemed to fit, but also because it was too pretty not to use!

After the meeting we invited all the family back to our house for a lunch, and it turned out great. It seemed like everyone had a good time, and I KNOW everyone got full, because there was SO much food!

As I was doing the dishes last night and thinking about the day, I realized I had learned a few things, and I thought I'd share them.

Family pictures don't have to be formal.

Even crying babies are beautiful.

Moments like this are worth all the shouting, time-outs, and frustration.

Sometimes old-school is so much more beautiful than what's "cool".

And a few more things I learned, without photos:

• You don't have to have a camera stuck to your face at every party.
• When entertaining, everything does not have to be prepared before the guests arrive. It's okay if they have to wait a few minutes for dinner.
• The house does not have to be sparkling to have a good time. If the floors don't get swept, the laundry not quite finished, or the junk mail not quite sorted, the party will still be a success.
• If you don't have the perfect shady yard to offer guests, they'll find a patch of shade and be perfectly comfortable without your help!
• Accept offers of help...whether it's handing someone a knife and a cutting board, or letting them go in your daughter's messy room to get some clothes for the kids to play in, it's okay to say "Yes, Thanks!" Even if that means your son will be playing all day in a t-shirt, shorts, and a cummerbund. ;-)
  
• Life is too short. Some things are better enjoyed than stressed over.

Well, that's enough from me! We had a wonderful day and thoroughly enjoyed the company of our family and the friends who came over after church. Brianna is a very special little girl to have so much family who love her, and great friends who will be a good example to her as she grows! Thanks to all who were here with us on her special day!