Allyse's friends came to the party dressed in their pajamas, and they brought their favorite pillows and blankets. The party started with the girls using fabric markers to decorate tiny pillows Grandma Alice has made specially for the party. Then, the girls decorated their own sleepy flip flops with jewels and feather boas.
They painted their fingernails using their new manicure sets. They ate pizza and had root beer floats. Of course, they had a pillow fight and read a bedtime story.
The girls patiently waited for their turn to have Allyse open up their present.
Allyse opened up Lindsey's present.
Allyse opened up Abby's present. (Notice Angelina had to be in every picture.)
Joshua wanted a marshmallow party for his 12th birthday, so Julene put together a bunch of marshmallow activities for Josh and his friends. After building things out of marshmallows, they had a contest to see who could stuff the most marshmallows in his mouth. Instinctively, I knew going into it that the best photos would come from this contest.
Joseph gave it his best effort.
Josh's friend Devon has an innovative way of connecting the marshmallows into a large mass without actually having them in his mouth.
The undisputed largest mouth went to Josh's friend, T.J. Little wonder since he is nearly as large as me, and he is only 13.
The highlight of the party was making a playing with marshmallow guns. On the previous Saturday, I cut enough PVC to make about 15 guns. The kids assembled their guns, picked up bags of ammo and went outside for an old-fashioned shootout. The party might not have been very politically correct, but it was a lot of fun.
Ethan and Joshua looking for more marshmallows to shoot. Joseph shooting Josh's friend at point blank.
Allyse joined the marshmallow mayhem.
Angelina was the only one who figured out that the real fun was in eating the ammo.
Another highlight was the S'mores cake that Julene made. I'm not quite sure what was in it but it was pretty good. Mixing chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers can only be good.
Allyse recently took after her father and was prescribed vision correction. I took her out to some stores and found her some frames. Allyse chose the above, which I think look rather smart.
Allyse loves to create lessons and plays for Family Home Evening. One recent night featured a puppet show.
She got quite animated during the show, as she has really learned how to play to her audience.
The children were quite captivated by Allyse and her production. Angelina could hardly get any closer to Allyse's "stage," and all of them were laughing heartily at her jokes.
Allyse graciously posed with her handmade puppets for a photo when she completed her show.
All of the following were taken by Allyse with our old digital camera. She took it to school on a field trip last week, and then continued taking pictures when she got out of school. I have cropped and cleaned up some of the photos, but she was the one who engaged the subjects and framed the shots. This appears to be just a typical afternoon with the Ballards (and especially with Benjamin).
On the first day of school, Allyse was given an assignment to write her life story. I have pasted a draft of what she has written, so far.
My name is Allyse Ballard and I was born on April 15, 1999, in Las Vegas, Nevada.My family has lived in Las Vegas for almost eighty years.My great-grandfather, Joseph Thiriot, who just turned 102 years old, was the first member of my family to move to Las Vegas.
My parents are Brad and Julene Ballard.My father is a Clark County Deputy District Attorney and General Counsel for UniversityMedicalCenter.My mother is a retired elementary school teacher who taught for the ClarkCountySchool District.
I am the second oldest of five children in my family.I have an older brother named Joshua and he is almost twelve years old.Last year, Joshua was Student Body President of his elementary school.He is very smart, he likes to read and he really loves Harry Potter.Joshua is a good brother and he helps me when I am sick.
I have a younger brother named Joseph who is seven years old.Joseph is diabetic and I pray every day that doctors can find a cure for diabetes.Joseph is very good student, and he is courageous and brave.
My younger sister’s name is Angelina, and she is three years old.Angelina has long, beautiful light brown hair and pudgy cheeks.She is very girly and loves to wear anything pink. Angelina is my best friend.She loves to play with me and wants to be just like me.
Benjamin is the baby of the family.He is only nine months old.He has light brown hair and a beautiful smile. Benjamin is usually very happy.I love to hold him and take care of him, and I adore him.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.I was baptized when I was eight years old.I go to church every Sunday and I read the scriptures almost daily.
When I am not doing work, I either play with my brothers or sister, or I watch television. In our family, the older children are required to help around the house.I help with laundry, sweeping the kitchen floor, babysitting Benjamin, and cleaning the house.I really don’t like house work that much, but I do like watching after Benjamin.
I really like going to school.I like writing, mathematics, science, humanities, P.E., making projects, eating hot lunch and playing at recess with my friends.
I am learning to play the piano.My grandmother has been teaching me to play for two years.I play in piano recitals two times each year.
One night, we sent the kids upstairs to change into their pajamas. Julene and I were busy, so we asked Allyse to help Angelina get changed. Soon, the children were back downstairs. I noticed that Allyse was wearing pajamas, but something wasn't quite right. Then it dawned on me that Allyse was wearing a pair of Angelina's pajamas.
This is another photo from 2004 that I love. This was taken on Memorial Day at the cabin at Mt. Charleston. Allyse, Joshua and Joseph were sitting on the sofa with their cousins, Corbin and Ethan, when I encouraged them to be silly. They are all growing up too fast! Josh and Corbin start middle school in two weeks! AAAAGGGHHHH!!!
I was going through the old photos today and found this one from an Easter Sunday morning a little over four years ago. Allyse was coming up on her fifth birthday, Joseph was a bit over three and Joshua was nearly seven and a half years old. This is the very reason I keep taking photos: to be able to look back and recall memories that have faded with time.
Our local JDRF chapter organized a family fun day at Jillian's, a small bowling alley at Neonopolis in fabulous downtown Las Vegas.
Joshua rolled a mean game of bowling. His form, and his score, dramatically improved after he stopped trying to bowl with a 12 lb. ball.
We had a hard time finding a ball that weighed less than Allyse. Once we did (and once we added a ramp for the ball to roll down) she was as pleased as punch.
Angelina was just happy to hang out and watch the bowling balls return. I couldn't get her to part with her bowling ball shaped lollipop for this picture.
Likewise, I couldn't get Benjamin to part with his pacifier for this picture.
Brad took Joshua, Joseph and Allyse to the BYU football game against UNLV. They all wore their BYU t-shirts and hats.
Go Cougars!
They went to the pep rally before the game and met Cosmo.
Brad saw some of his friends: Ben Bateman and James Harper.
Joshua loves BYU and couldn't stop smiling!
Brad bought Joseph a Go Cougars Claw.
BYU fans through and through.
Uncle Jonathan bought the tickets, so the family could sit together: Grandpa Wendell, Stephen, David and Spencer.
BYU's band played during halftime.
BYU won! At the end of the game, Joseph, Allyse and Joshua headed to the field to meet the BYU football players.
