A Very Fairy Affair

before we left St. George we had one last order of business.

we couldn't very well move without allowing ali the chance to celebrate her entrance into her 3rd year of life with her gal pals.

so a few pixie pals had these show up on their doorsteps...

with an invite to attend a

Very Fairy Affair

dressed to the nine's they arrived in style to celebrate with al.

(and don't worry the mom's were smiling just as big as mila due to the fact that this gathering meant one more bonding session for them as well.)

the attendees were greeted by these...

sitting on this...

(believe me I wanted to do more, but with the boxes piling high and check lists being compiled, it was a miracle we got a party in at all!)

as you know, every fairy needs a wand...and a bejeweled wand at that.

so the fairies got to work!

constructing your perfect wand is serious business.

it takes lot's of help from senior fairies

tons of jewels

and lot's of concentration.

and after all of that concentration fairies are bound to need some nourishment.

(usually I go all out and make the kiddos cakes...ok I have grand designs and then becca, jen or justin save me...but mid move there was no way that was happening, so we cashed in on the cake we purchased from Amy at the YW fundraiser...a few picture ideas and presto she came up with this! SHE IS AMAZING and it even held up in the freezer for a few weeks after the original party plans were cancelled due to some serious food regurgitation curtousy of the birthday girl.)

now...

fairies are very good at granting wishes...

but equally as good at making them.

thanks go out to all our little fairy friends and their fairy-godmothers for making all of her birthday wishes come true.

special K.

it came...the day I have been preparing myself for.

my baby started kindergarten.

He was so ready, I was not.

but then I saw this face this morning and couldn't help but be excited for him.

we had already gone to meet the teacher night, so he was excited about his teacher. (He told justin that she was pretty and had pretty hair, what else could you possibly want from a kindergarten teacher?)

then we got to the mad house that was the school this morning...good thing I left my house so early...sheesh it was a zoo! full of crying parents. which is why his initial face looked like this...

don't worry it quickly changed to this mr. confident look.

I was able to hold back tears and only get a bit misty as he rounded the corner into the classroom. I was proud of myself.

and proud of my incredible son who walked in like a champ.

what a stud.

now I am counting down the minutes until I get to pick him up....love that kid.

Boise Shmoysie

we have moved.

I have put off writing this post for as long as possible, but alas I have other things to blog about and so in an effort to keep this in a semi chronological order the time has come to bite the bullet and come to grips with the fact that we have moved. moved to Boise, Idaho.

I will be honest cows and poo were what first popped into my head when visualizing our new home. turns out it looks a bit more like this...

Justin was promoted to the Boise airport. he has MUCH better hours. We now live in a house with a garage and gorgeous backyard. our neighbors had us moved in in about an hour and then fed us at the block party. that was my attempt at being positive...

because, I miss St. George like CRAZY!

as usual the Enterprise move was quick and crazy. 2 weeks in total from finding out to moving in. during which we managed to squeeze in ali's birthday party, a final in person ASL class (we will continue them online), Justins trip to San Diego with the young men, a jewelry party hosted by myself for my friend, a goodbye party, a million play dates, a flu bug, packing a house and cleaning it, a trip to Boise to find a house, and I am sure I have left something out. It was a insane.

It would have been absolutely impossible to move with out the help of our amazing friends. So many helped us clean, pack, watched our kids, seriously it was humbling to have so many come through for us. The Dutro's deserve a special shout out, they were there from sun up to sun down on both moving days. They even provided food for all those who helped us move. It would be one long post if I listed all those who helped and I am afraid I would mess up and forget someone, so I will just say that we were completely spoiled. like beyond words spoiled.

Katie heard about us moving and immediately got to party planning...thank goodness, I needed a good distraction!!! how cute is this invite?

a bash complete with yummy food (potato bar in honor of Idaho), good friends, and crazy kids all over. They even gave us the most tender scrapbook. They had the kids in the ward fill out pages in it on the sly during primary and then our friends all wrote notes to us. It even had a 40 things we love about the Maddux family page. I was a gooey mess one page in, so you can imagine how the tears were flowing by the end.

I can't go too deep into how much I love these women (and a few not pictured) or I will start to bawl. So I will just say that some of my favorite people in this world are back in St. George. Women that I admire, adore spending my time with, and just plain love. kindred spirits. I will know you girls forever.

if nothing else we will be reunited when these two are teammates at BYU.

Justin and I both consider St. George to be home for us. and as such we will be visiting our family often. In many ways I feel like not even trying to be this close to people again because after all can you really strike gold twice? Cause pure gold is what these people are. (as Justin pointed out I have been blessed with wonderful friends my whole life so I guess there is hope.) I am sure I am way too social to actually give up on a social life, but still, I will be in mourning for a while. I said in church (when the Bishopric so cruelly made me bear my testimony our last Sunday there) that I had heard the quote "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." So I am going to try and smile, with only a few tears mixed in because I am so very happy it happened.

goldie (and some new) locks

'lil miss ali got a much needed haircut today.

from this amazing lady who just happens to be her FABULOUS nursery teacher.

crazy as it may seem this was ali's first hair cut EVER.

so we decided to document it with a photo shoot.

which ali totally rocked.

thanks in part to her red boots her daddy (who is wrapped around her little finger) decided she just had to have.

the baby fine hair on the ends had to go and it looks so much better.

thanks to Ann it was a fabulous experience.

Ali loves her. and rightfully so.

the whole hand.

when you are five it takes the whole hand to tell people how old you are.

you are mature enough to know that your friend that's a girl probably wouldn't feel comfortable at an all boy buzz party...

when you are five you are sweet enough to invite her for an afternoon lunch.

you are funny enough to tell jokes that make people laugh.

and tender enough to make sure she has a pink cupcake, cause it is after all her favorite.

when you are five, it's still ok to believe that super hero's are real.

and that you just might grow up to be one.

when you are five it's ok to be tough as a gun toting buzz one minute, and still want to cuddle with you mom the next.

when you are five anything is possible...

anything...from infinity to beyond.

happy birthday my five year old little man. you are sweet, thoughtful, hilarious, obedient, considerate, smart, kind, tough, huge, and adorable. we love you more than you will ever know.

"star command, prepare for launch of a 5 year old!"

a few days before coles party, these arrived on some doorsteps...

with this inside...

on the day of the party cole was so excited for his fellow space rangers to arrive!

we had it all set up and ready to go. complete with goody buckets,

treat jars,

and one very intense banner made by one very crazy mother!

we were all set for an infinity and beyond of fun!

first the space rangers decorated their rockets.

while mom and dad put buzz a' top the cake!

(a HUGE shout out to Jen who taught me how to make fondant and made this all happen...she is the only reason this cake was able to come about...and how about those planets and stars? that was all justin folks! as well as the piping along the bottom.)

feel free to ooh and awe...esp after the hours we all spent on it!

but it was worth all worth it when we dug in along with these cute kiddo's!

rangers mckade and kody

ranger matthias

ranger michael.

and rangers carter and max.

(these party favors became swords...of course!)

we even had a few jr rangers and big sisters tag along for the ride!

after pizza (from pizza planet), cake, and a lot of play space ranger battles, it was time for gifts!

and boy was he spoiled...thanks guys!

think he had fun?

thanks to all our friends he sure did!

he got to open one gift from mom and dad after the party, since his actual b-day was not until the next day. he choose to open a pirate gift (his other obsession besides buzz).

what a fun day! thanks for partying with us guys!