The Ellie-bration

Ellie's birthday was the day after Dallin's blessing. Grandma and Grandpa were anxious to get back to Utah and left with Kaiti at 3 a.m. (Buddy obviously does not like to be away from home for long. That is a subject for another post.)

We wanted everyone to be part of her birthday celebration, so we had birthday cake with everyone who came to the blessing.



She wanted a white cake with red and blue fireworks on top of a white background.

Our honored guests could select Dryer's "red, white and no more blues," Safeway Select rocky road ice cream or - much to Bill''s chagrin - FDD (frozen dairy desert) to go with the vanilla cake and vanilla frosting.

. . . and There's More!

On her actual birthday, we had a small family dinner. Ellie chose tater tot casserole, green beans and jello for dinner. Can she have a birthday without a cake? Of course not.

This time she asked for yellow cake with vanilla frosting (and the same fireworks decorating scheme).

. . . But Wait! There's More!

Her party didn't take place until a few days after her birthday.

She invited the five friends who were in town for a slip 'n slide extravaganza.

. . . and a lunch of hot dogs, watermelon, grapes and carrots.

As we already know, birthdays must include cake. This time, she decorated chocolate cup cakes with M&Ms and marshmallows.

After all of the celebrations, I needed a rest . . .

Happy Birthday Elbow!

A Blessed Occasion

Grandma Kathleen and Grandpa Buddy drove from Utah (with the boys) to attend Dallin's baby blessing. They even supplied the adorable blessing outfit.

Dallin was very good during the blessing. He was wide awake, but didn't make a sound. The rest of the children were also very quiet and I was able to hear what Bill said.

We were very blessed to have friends and family members celebrate this occasion with us.

The Parry family came with baby Jill who is only 5 weeks older than Dallin.

The proud fathers with the napping newborns.

A Spectacular 4th of July

Independence Day in Tucson can be an interesting experience.
Some years it is unbearably hot.
Some years it rains.
This year, we had both the heat and the rain - in the same day.
The unusual weather produced this:


This was taken in our cul-de-sac while we were on our way to the ward party. This ward has an awesome party at our Relief Society President's home. They have a fantastic back yard that includes a pool, a guest house, a basketball court, a trampoline and enough grass for 150 people to dine in comfort.

Kaiti and Ellie participated in the entertainment. Ellie sang "You're a Grand Old Flag" with gusto. Kaiti sang "Proud To Be an American" with the rest of the young women (we missed the photo opportunity because the baby needed a diaper change). They sounded fantastic.


Independence day would not be complete without our traditional 'fireworks' cookies. (spritz colored red white and blue). Bill loves spritz cookies. So I make these every year for him. Unfortunately for him, it takes about 360 days for me to forget how much I hate making these cookies. So I only makes these once a year.

We rounded out our celebration at a barbecue with friends and family and watching the local fireworks . . . from a comfortable distance.