Jace's birthday/Weekend in Idaho

I really should make this multiple posts, but I am just too lazy for that right now, so just to forewarn you: there are A LOT of pictures coming! It was hard to narrow it down.

We had a really great weekend, starting with Jace's birthday on Thursday and then our trip to Idaho Saturday and Sunday. We like to drag birthdays out for as long as possible in this family, so Jace had a second birthday party in Idaho and we also celebrated the blessing of my sister Jennifer's baby girl Brooklyn. Of course all of these events were also excuses for everyone to meet Flor as well. 

So without further ado, we will let the pictures explain themselves! (Okay, I will do the explaining). 

Jace's birthday (the first party):

Mr. Birthday and my cousin Sarah. We basically owe Sarah our next two kids for all she did for us during our time in Ecuador. She is a saint.

Devin's brother Shane and his family with Flor. Flor got to meet A LOT of relatives at this party and handled it all like a champ. Of course she found a few select men to become best friends with and that kept her quite happy.

The downstairs crowd. Kids galore! Half of these are cousins and the other half some neighbors that our kids just love. Their family also helped a lot with the kids while Flor and I were still in Ecuador- we are very grateful!

Aunt Alisa and baby Reese. Alisa is going to have a baby in one week! Wahoo for another cousin! (Reese is Kirston's by the way, lest you think Alisa has children impossibly close together. I know you were worried...)

One of Flor's favorites for the evening was Uncle Travis, Devin's other brother. She made quick friends with him and rarely left his lap during the party.

We learned from a neighbor that Macey's will give a free 8 inch cake for any baby having their first birthday, so of course we jumped all over that so that Jace could have his own cake. Everyone else enjoyed delicious Costco cake (except Devin- he hates frosting. Weird, I know) while Jace dove into this handy dandy cake.

Dang cute picture of Flor and Aunt Kirston. Just don't mind the milk dripping down Flor's face. No worries.

Yum, yum, yum! It's safe to say it was a hit.

Birthday boy and mama. So happy I made it home for this birthday. I don't think I will ever take birthdays for granted again.

One of the neighbor girls sewed this cute dog pillow for Jace herself! She is only 9 years old- super impressive, right?! Jace really enjoyed reading the card too, as you can tell. :)

Kirston, Travis, and their cute kiddos with Flor and Jace

Travis, Jenny and their equally cute kids with the birthday boy and the new addition. We just missed getting a picture of Flor with Alisa and Ren. We missed Devin's sisters Mesha, Shawna, and Jana at the party, but forgive them for not coming given that Shawna lives in Russia, Jana in St. George, and Mesha has four boys who are crazy busy with activities. We are excited for them to all meet Flor later.

Idaho Weekend:

Our first stop was lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Strobel and then to their house so that Jace could open his present from them. They were happy and excited to meet Flor, too.

Uh, I mean Hallie opened the present....

But Jace didn't care as he had the paper to keep him occupied! He loves his little bike-we set it up when we got home and let him ride all over the upstairs. He can only go backwards so far, but I am sure he will master going forward in no time!

Next we headed up to good ol' St. Anthony to my Aunt Sue's house (and she wasn't even there but still allowed us to congregate at her house! Thanks Suey!) to have a 2nd party for Jace and to celebrate baby Charlie's latest accomplishments. Charlie has really defied the odds and is now drinking from a bottle and eating solid foods! Doctors didn't know if this was ever going to be possible, so we are so grateful for the continued miracles in her life. She is being weaned off of her feeding tube and Brad said that he hopes to have it removed all together here soon. So miraculous, I tell you.

There's the cute girl herself! She is so beautiful. I love seeing her, though I can't lie- it is sometimes hard too, because she is such a reminder of her mom.

We also finally got to meet our newest niece!! Hallelujah! This is sweet Brooklyn, who is now 2 months old. She is so darling and so, so sweet. She has such a great temperament and is happy and content all the time. I want 10 just like her. Okay maybe not 10...

Yeah, we have a lot of babies. Brooklyn, Charlie, Hudson, and Jace. We decided to line them up by size instead of by age. Hudson is 2 1/2 months older than Jace but is a tad bit smaller (okay, Jace is fat, let's face it...)

Flor's favorites were Uncle Mikey and Uncle Landon, first and foremost because they are men, but also because they both speak Spanish. She was in heaven.

My awesome sister was kind enough to make this adorable cake for Jacer for his party. She has some serious skills, right? I wouldn't even attempt something like this. With everything else going on, she took the time to make this cake for us. I have the best sister ever.

Jacers was spoiled with birthday gifts. He got this cute puppy from Che', Landon, and Hudson. They programmed it so that it sings his name, favorite food, and favorite color in songs. So cute! He loves it already. New favorite toy? Yes, I think so. Grandma also got him a whole new wardrobe, which is awesome.

This is legitimately the fourth outfit Jace wore this day. Poor baby has some of the big D. It's bad.

We got a few little things for the kids. Carter and Mason showing off their cute Ecuador soccer jerseys.

2nd round of cake. The train was not only adorable looking, it tasted delicious! Jennifer made chocolate chip bunt cake as well as pistachio bunt cake for the parts of the train. Yum, yum.

Jace really wanted to share with his buddy Hudson. Good thing Hudson was a willing participant!

 

Look at that girl drinking her bottle! You wouldn't think that a baby drinking a bottle would be cause for such excitement, but believe me, IT IS!!!!! This is so huge to us.

Flor and Landon...again refusing to participate in pictures.

Sunday morning we all gathered again for Brooklyn's blessing. Jennifer's church starts at 9 am and I am proud to report that we all made it in a timely manner. That's also a big deal for this family. :)

Steve gave Brooklyn a beautiful blessing. Devin was honored to participate as well. After Sacrament meeting, we all headed to my dad's office building for a luncheon. All of these following pictures were taken by my sister-in-law Lara, who should become our official family photographer. She is really great at picture taking AND really great at sharing her pictures. 

Grandma, Popp-E (Dave, my mom's husband) and the two littlest grandchildren.

My mom, my sister, and me. Jace didn't get the memo that this was a girl's only picture.

Just cute, that little stink!

Lara was present at all events, but rarely in pictures because she is always taking the pictures. But, here she finally is with Sadie-Lady.

Che' is Hallie's favorite for many reasons, but one important reason being that Che' lets her skip the lettuce she is eating and go for dessert instead (Hallie's choice, by the way, to eat nothing but lettuce and tomatoes for the lunch. Weird child, I know.)

Jen, Brooklyn, and Steve. Don't know where Sadie is for this picture, but imagine her there and we have a complete family photo. So cute. Brooklyn's dress is one that my mom made and the same one that Sadie wore when she was blessed.

Mikey kept Flor entertained, which was so great. Keeping track of three children is hard work!

I love this little stink. I know there are a lot of pictures of Charlie on here, but we don't get to see her as often as we would like, so when we do, well you know. Lots of pictures ensue.

Better view of the dress!

Jace and his Grandma

These are some of the best women in my life. I love having such a wonderful and supportive family.

Um, alright. That's quite possible the most picture infested post to ever hit this blog. Please email me for your prize if you made it to the end; you definitely deserve it.