farewell kindergarten...

well, it flew by, but it was fabulous. 

yesterday Cole graduated from kindergarten. 

the class sang 2 ADORABLE songs, received a diploma, and then we watched a slide show. 

then it was party time back in the classroom.

his teacher this year, Miss Clements, was fabulous.

 he loved her. we loved her.

I can't believe we have a first grader...

we could not be more proud of Cole. 

He is hard working, compassionate, and strives to do his best always.

he is one easy kid to raise.

so goodbye kindergarten half days and hello first grade...I hope mom survives being away from her little man that long daily...this could be rough...but he is so ready!

MY HERO!

Our little hero turned 6 this month! Can you believe that? 6!

He has been asking for a superhero party for about 6 months now. 

He is slightly obsessed with the avengers...like can quote the movies for you. So it was the perfect fit for this year.

Welcome to the 

Avengers Training Camp

We decided to have his party a bit early this year so that baby excitement wouldn't over shadow his big day. 

They built their own HERO sandwiches.

and depending upon what they chose with it, they got certain super powers!

Justin found this cute super hero sucker idea online.

Now usually I feel the need to make our own cakes...and Justin ends up saving me, or one of my amazing friends. This year, being large with child I decided to take that off my plate. Good thing my friend/hairdresser/talented visiting teacher just happens to make cakes! We gave her the toys to put on top and she did the rest. It was chocolate snickers layered cake...soooo yummy!

check out the forks, they are wrapped with napkin capes!

Cole wanted HULK juice...

and we threw these together...

thank you walmart for deciding to carry Avengers Pez for super cheap!

when the kids arrived they were adorned with super hero capes (which I made out of plastic table cloths), Avengers masks, and the girls got Captain America headbands. (thank you 4th of July section in target dollar spot!)

and speaking of girls...here is Cole with Sydney...does he look happy she is whispering sweet nothings in his ear or what?...every super hero needs a love interest.

in the picture above we are playing an x-ray vision game...cause that is an obvious super hero must have! 

and in the one below they are practicing accuracy by pinning the star on the Captain America shield.

several more games were planned...but the rain pouring outside kind of put a halt to the water games...oh well, two games turned out to be plenty.

then it was time to build their own HERO sandwiches...again outside was off limits so they planted themselves in the kitchen instead.

now onto the cake!

think he looks happy?

super hero's have excellent lung capacity, so blowing out 6 candles was a breeze!

then it was time to be super spoiled!

Porters mom Kayla even whipped up a cole the crusader cape, and deemed him the newest Avenger in town. 

It was a cosmically cool party and cole had a super good time thanks to all his friends who came and helped him celebrate!

I can't believe my little man is 6. He is one amazing kid, a super hero party kind of fit this awesome boy.

St. George!!!

we decided to take one final fun trip as a family before the baby comes and we have to pack everything in the house to go on a trip again! Coming up with a destination was easy...ST. George...oh how we miss you!

Our trip was jam packed. We visited friends (sorry if we missed you...we wish we had a day to spend with all the people we love down there...but then we would be there for like 3 months, which doesn't sound bad to me:), saw all the babies that have been born since we last visited, celebrated birthdays, cooled off at the splash pad and pool, and Justin even squeezed in a second father and sons camp out! 

these pictures were taken the day we headed to the city center. We visited Judd's first.

how tender is this old fashioned store?

the kids got old fashioned soda's...

gee ali, tell us how you really feel!

she cracks us up.

then we went across the street to the carosel! 

I so miss this town.

  then we walked down the path to the splash pad and cooled off.

one of the highlights of the trip for miss ali was seeing her baby sitter extrordinare, Maddy. Who she still prays for (as well as the rest of her family) at night. Maddy was such a good sport about ali's obsession.  and I am obsessed with her mother, so I was happy to make the jont over to their house to play!

seriously, they LOVE her.

We got to stay with our friends the Wood's and they were nice enough to let us extend our stay a few days when we just couldn't stomach leaving as scheduled.  kim and I have birthdays close together and she made a YUMMY german chocolate cake to celebrate!

We also got to go to the temple and the wood boys watched our kids for us a ton. My kids LOVED them and ali cried as soon as we pulled into the drive way...like burst into tears..."I miss bishop brocks house. Can we Go back?"


don't worry ali, we all feel the same way.

can't wait until the next visit!

showered with cuteness!

My friend Ja'nette decided that even though it was my third baby I still needed to be showered or at least sprinkled. and my goodness can that girl throw a shin dig!

I know, it makes your mouth water just looking at it huh?

 and please note all the cute tags, they are replicas of the invites she sent out.

and then there was the cutest drink idea ever!

is it weird that I have an obsession with these straws?

my friend Jackie made the cupcakes which were delish, and how cute are those mini fruit pizzas?!

in all I was spoiled by about 18 friends. 

how lucky can a girl get? 

I didn't get pic's of everyone...

but I won't soon forget who was there and all the fun that was had!

these are some of my cute YW...how darling are they?

after 2 entertaining games that we could do while chatting, which is perfect in opinion, it was onto the

 gifts...

now if you know me...you know I am a bit, well, animated in my facial expressions.

it started out tender...

moved to scandalous...

and then it got interesting...

it looks like I am giving Sarah the evil eye, but look at that darling dress...how did this face emerge when looking at that darling dress?!

and then it got all out crazy. Sadly there were more like this...and it was too hilarious not to document. apparently I need to tone it down a notch. not easily done. and why did no one tell me I still had my sunglasses on my head?

Ja'Nette even planned a raffle for those who brought a pack of diapers along with them. she thought of everything...even these cute thank you notes that coordinated with the invites and shower decor. 

Seriously, she was out of control with cuteness. 

I felt so spoiled, esp the 3rd time around, bonus!

Thanks to all who came and helped us celebrate this little lady who is soon to arrive!

I felt absolutely showered with cuteness!

dancing through life...

ali has been in dance for several months now. It's a ballet class, with some cute creative stuff thrown in. Now if you know ali, you know that hip hop is much more her forte, but alas I can't find a hip hop class that will take anyone younger than five. So, she had to settle for ballet...or her version of ballet at least. 

 (at some point we will blog her hip hop moves...and you will pee your pants)

so the night of her recital she got all dolled up.

and waited.

until...ready...

  

set... 

go! oh wait....

that's better.

the video's are taking forever to upload. but eventually you will see the footage. let's just say she added her spiciness to the show... it was hilarious.

after the performance she ran up to me and with the proudest expression ever boasted

"Mommy I made good decisions!" 

her teacher, Miss Amy, gave them each a little gift and a certificate.

ali asked "hey Miss Amy, do you have another one where you spell my name right?" 

nothing get's by her...

Poor Miss Amy dealt with a lot of per-son-al-ity! 

and ali loved her.

tons of parents brought flowers and ali asked me when her flowers were going to show up under my chair.

uh oh

I didn't even think about flowers! way to drop the ball mom.

 (she doesn't look too sad right?)

but luckily dad's exist.

(poor Justin had a work training that he had to teach, and due to a number of circumstances it was impossible to get out of. I don't think I have ever seen him so sad to miss something.)

she went running to the car when she saw him.

then Justin hooked the camera up to the TV and ali sat on his lap while they watched the "Movie" of her performing. 

she ate up every second of that...as did daddy.

over all it was a great night. she is every bit as at home on a stage as I would expect her to be...and it was so fun to watch her shine. 

she was simply Tu-Tu cute.