Angelina's Fairy 4th Birthday Tea Party

Angelina woke up and found her presents on the kitchen table. We decorated the kitchen in pink, of course.

Her favorite present was her Thumbelina Barbie doll.

For her birthday she wanted a Fairy tea party. Julene had her little friends decorate their wands when they arrived. They made flower head wreaths. They went on a treasure hunt to find the rest of their fairy items: fairy skirt, fairy wings, and fairy dust. Here they are dressed up as fairies.

They danced around because fairies love to do that. Benjamin helped Julene with the music while the fairies continued to dance.

Our little fairy birthday girl!

After the fairies danced, they were hungry. We had a little tea party with tiny foods: pink marshmallows, pink cookies, strawberries, tiny sandwiches, pink tiny cupcakes, and a strawberry cake with strawberry ice cream.

Grandma Kathleen and Allyse enjoyed munching on the goodies.

Our little birthday girl is now four years old.

Allyse's 10th Birthday/Pajama Party

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.)

Annual Summerlin Easter Egg Hunt

A beautiful day for an Easter Egg hunt.

Benjamin couldn't wait for the festivities.

Allyse and Benjamin were ready to go.

Angelina lined up for the hunt. She waved to her family who was giving her some pointers: "Run down the other children and get as much candy as you can!"

The pointers didn't work, so Julene decided to help Angelina get has much candy and goodies as she could.

Angelina was pleased with the results of the Easter Egg hunt.

Joshua and cousins Corbin and Ethan lined up. They surveyed the field to see what spots had the most candy.

Allyse watched Joshua as he ran down the field in search of lots of goodies.

Joseph relaxed afterwards and nibbled on some of his candy.

Allyse, Joseph and Angelina were happy!

Julene is unaware of Brad taking a picture of her.

She was looking around to see if she knew anyone.

She finally realized what Brad was doing and started to smile.

Julene finally smiled for the camera.

Joshua was very pleased with himself and what he found.

Another great picture of Julene and Joshua together.

We stopped by the petting zoo for Benjamin. He loved grabbing the goats and touching the little baby rabbits.

Angelina wanted to take home one of the rabbits. Julene said, "No, I have enough babies at home!"

Benjamin saw a rooster and didn't understand why he was in the cage and couldn't hold him.

Joseph's Baptism

Our Joseph was baptized on Saturday, January 31, 2008. Brad baptized and confirmed Joseph. The witnesses were Grandfathers Wendell Waite and Vern Waite. Those who helped with the confirmation were Grandfathers Wendell Waite and Vern Waite, Uncles Blake Ballard and Jonathan Waite, 2nd Counselor Cody Okuda, and Hometeacher Michael Ulshafer. It was a beautiful day for all of us. I am so proud of Joseph and his decision to follow in Jesus' footsteps.









Brad and Joseph all dressed in white.

Healthy Habits Plate

I love these plates! I thought I would mention them because every mother wants their children to eat more vegetables. What a great idea to motivate children to eat more fruits and vegetables?! If you are interested in getting one for your family click here. If you go to simplyhealthful.blogspot.com, you might win a free plate. Good Luck!

So You Think You Can Dance?

Whenever he hears a good beat, Benjamin loves to get his groove on. The kids were playing the soundtrack from "High School Musical 3" and Benjamin couldn't help but boogie when he heard the music. The only challenge is for me to grab my camera fast enough to capture him. Angelina is his elegant dancing partner at the start of the video.

Christmas with the Ballards - 2008

Joseph, Allyse, Angelina and Joshua in front of the Christmas Tree.

Benjamin wouldn't sit for a group photo, preferring his solo shot on his new train.

Angelina loved anything that has to do with High School Musical.

Josh got a thrill out of the Indiana Jones Lego set.

Benjamin had fun climbing all over his siblings' gifts.

After the thrill of it all, Angelina just wanted some love from her new Care Bear.

The hit of Christmas for Benjamin was clearly the train.

Angelina posed with her Christmas haul.

Joseph was very pleased with his Lego set, swords and armor. If being a knight were still a job, I would expect him to be one when he grows up.

Allyse immediately changed into some new clothes she received. She was very happy with all of the pink gifts.

Josh had his presents organized for his picture. He seemed to really enjoy the fun things he received, especially the Legos and a Weird Science set.

Julene was very surprised with her new bicycle. She especially likes the color.

Since we don't buy sugary cereals but once a year, Angelina wanted Lucky Charms for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snacks.

Benjamin was a very happy boy.

Angelina loves having her picture taken.