Two Birthdays!

Last Monday, Marshall officially said good-bye to his twenties, and Allie officially said good-bye to having her age measured in months. Big milestones for the both of them! Since it also happened to be Memorial Day, we celebrated by having lots of friends and family over for a backyard barbeque. A great time was had by all, and we were so happy to have so many of our loved ones in the same place at the same time. Thank you to everyone who attended and brought food, and made this such a fun and memorable event!

We started off the day as per our usual birthday tradition- an early morning trip to Krispy Kreme clad in our pajamas. We love it!

She was mad because this was all that was left of the pinata.

We had a pinata for the kids at the party, however, Allie could not possibly understand that the donkey was for disemboweling with a bat, and not for sitting upon...

...which resulted in this darling little tantrum. Ah, the glorious age of two- I had almost forgotten. Almost.

Drew and his best buddy, Ethan.

Swinging with cousins!

This is Marshall's older sister and her family, who were thoughtful enough to stop by the party oin their way home from their weekend camping trip. It was so nice to have them there.

My mom and I made 2 different cakes for the birthday crowd.

Enjoying some b-day cake with daddy!

It was kind of windy and so we had to light the candles several times. Allie knew just what to do, though!

The birthday royalty.

For my birthday gift to Marshall, I had all of our friends and family write him a little something and then I took their picture, and put it into a little keepsake book for him. It turned out great- thank you to everyone who helped me out.

Allie has been asking me for a bike- "My bike, too?" Whenever Drew is riding his bike. How can you say no to that? She loves her little tricycle.

Allie was showered with many gifts from our friends and family. Thank you so much to everyone. You are so sweet to her!

I guess the consensus is that Marshall is destined to become a golfer in his thirties- he got new golf shoes and clothes, a golf glove, a golf bag, ball retriever thing, among others. He loved them all. Now I will just have to convince him it is ok for him to spend the money golfing! Can't let all this great gear go to waste!

This is my mom and my nephew Zack (my brother Matt's oldest boy.) The rest of his family couldn't make it because they have relocated to Pittsburgh for the summer. We sure missed them!

Marshall's older brother Darren was kind enough to take over the grilling duties at the party. Marshall outfitted him with my girly apron. He was a good sport.

Thsi is Marshall's younger brother, Spencer, his wife Kristen, and their daughter Emma. They live super close by- we were so happy they could make it.

Marshall's parents are awesome. We have gotten to spend much more time with them
now that they are home from their mission in Texas. They have been so nice to offer to spend time with our kids so we can go out lots more. They are great, hardworking people.

These are our neighbors, the Nelson's. We are blessed to have them next door- they are the best.

These are our good friends, the McCulloughs. They had to come and leave early. (Actually, they left before Marshall even got home- in true Marshall form, he was late to a party at his own house. He likes to be fashionably late.) But it was nice to see them for a little bit.

Licking the bowl with daddy! This is a great tradition!

G-pa and G-ma Chamberlain.

Marshall's brother Darren and his family. We are so lucky to live so close to lots of family.

Drew the party animal.

Tiny the birthday girl.

We had such a great party- thanks again to everyone who came and helped. And for those of you who missed it, we sure missed you, and hope you will be able to make it next time!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

It is hard to believe that is has been six years since we were married. It seems like such a lot has happened since then, with so many address changes, a few job changes, and adding our two beautiful children into our family. We have been so blessed, and it was fun to be able to go out together on Saturday to celebrate putting up with each other for 6 whole years! The traditional 6th anniversary gift (yes, we do those- they are fun!) is candy, so I scored a box of hand-picked See's. (He also got me a new watch, which I also love.) Thanks! I love you, Marshy!

Poor Bubba!

So we spent most of the day yesterday at the Instacare, Pediatrician's office, and hospital...the night before Drew took a flying leap off the top of our swingset playhouse and injured his ankle pretty bad. We decided to wait and let him sleep it off and see how things went the next day, but he still was in a lot of pain and not able to bear any weight on it, so we decided we needed to take him in. We suspected it may be broken, but after some x-rays and a special brace it was determined that it wasn't broken, just a bad sprain! Which is a bummer; Marshall and I have both suffered sprained ankles and they are so painful- we really feel for him! So now we have a crab-child that crawls and scoots on his bottom around the house. He has been such an amazingly good sport about everything. Kids are so incredibly resilient. Hopefully things should be back to normal in few weeks- his little friend has no one to ride bikes with! For now, he comes over and they play trains in bed. How sweet!

Springtime Fun!

We spent some time in Cedar City last week visiting family! The weather wasn't great, but it didn't stop us from having a bonus "week-after-Easter" egg hunt!

Allie has discovered the joys of playing in the sprinklers.

I love my spring flowers so much. Allie has been really good about not touching, stepping on, or picking them. What a relief!

The kids always have so much fun playing at Nana's house!

What a Difference a Year Makes!

I was just looking back at the pictures I took last Easter...can't believe how much Allie has grown in the past year. I wish I could keep them little forever!

Easter Sunday 2009...

Easter Sunday 2008

22 months old...

10 months old!

Now...

Then!

Easter 2009

Nana bought Allie a cute pink Easter dress!

I am so happy my children love each other.

With the victorious egg after the rolling-egg-cracking game (Does it have a name? It was one of Marshall's family traditions growing up.)

Eggs in action.

I must admit this was my first time ever dyeing eggs that I can remember...sad! But better late than never...

We had fun dipping the eggs and then decorating them with stickers!

Love this girl.

Tried to get the front porch shot- too much sun.

He was telling me to take a picture of our flowers. I took some last year, and, lets face it- the pictures would be identical. (They are truly beautiful though. Something about red and yellow tulips that just makes me feel happy!

I promised Allie some M&M's if she kept her pigtails in all through church...and it totally worked! (But shh!...don't tell her it's a holiday, which means the candy is pretty much free-flowing around here anyway.)

Gotta have the Peeps! (Shudder...nasty little things!)

We had a fun Easter party with Marshall's brothers family on Saturday- don't the kids look thrilled?? Don't let the picture fool you- we had a ball.

The classic fake smile.

Allie caught on to the plastic egg=candy concept pretty quickly.

We had a great Easter filled with fun traditions, family, and lots of treats! We were mostly thankful for an opportunity to reflect on the Savior's resurrection and what it means to us personally, and to take the opportunity to teach our children more about why we celebrate this special day.