A Tea Party... For Moi?!

For my 31st birthday, my sister, Cindy, invited me to a birthday tea party--in my honor! It was incredible. Beautiful. Amazing.
I must share.
It was a very, very special birthday, indeed.
Two of my friends came to the tea party--we all had so much fun!
(Bec & Charity, thank you so much for coming! It was so fun to see you!)

The invitation I was sent ...


Beautiful decorations with white daises (my favorite) and butterflies...


Delicious teas (Black cherry herbal), Lavender (blooming tea) and Wassail.


Wonderful food (quiche, cucumber tea sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, chicken salad in pita bread).... Can I have "thirds"?


A beautiful table setting, unique place cards, fine china, gold pumpkin candles, a bouquet of daises (which she went to the ends of the earth to find for this late November birthday)...


31 mini chocolate cupcakes...(I love, love, love cupcakes!)
My beautiful sister, and event planner...


My wonderful mom and co-hostess...
and the guest's party gift (a giant chocolate cupcake with a flower stick/sucker on a gold plate).

It was such a fun, unique, special birthday party! I loved it!! Everything was just beautiful and so fun! Thank you so much, Cindy!
So, Cindy, are you busy next year?

Ho Ho Ho Santa's Workshop

Santa was in Old Town yesterday! After we went iceskating, we stopped at his little workshop/cabin and the kids got to talk to him (we were with some friends of ours). Mcayden immediately showed him his cool shark and checked out his beard.

Next, Addison got to sit on Santa's lap for the first time. She didn't seem to think anything of it, until she got a good look at him. I had just said, "Addison is doing so well", when she burst into tears.
Sweet Santa felt bad she started crying, but I still had to grab the camera and take a picture. It was really cute and funny (as insensitive as that may sound, it was. )!

Iceskating in Old Town

We took the kids iceskating in Old Town yesterday and had a great time! Rick and I hadn't been iceskating for years. Ooh, scary.

Old Town is so awesome. It's only $3.00 (including skates) to skate for as long as you want! How great is that?!

At first he was unhappy about being forced onto the ice.

Whoever the smarty was that thought of flipping garbage cans upside down for the kids to hold onto, while they skate, is a new hero of ours.

Mcayden got a little more comfortable and skated around with Rick.

Addison and I "skated" along the wall. I say "skated" because it was more like making baby steps/glides as I held onto the wall. I didn't want to chance falling with Addison strapped to me.

Ooh, look at our little man, venturing out on his own (with Daddy close by). Mcayden skated a bit with only the help of the garbage can. Wahoo!

Oops! Mcayden had his first (and only) spill, or "crash" as he would say.

Daddy brought "Sharky" out of his pocket and told Mcayden he could show "Sharky" how to iceskate. Immediately there was a renewed enthusiasm for iceskating and he took his little shark for a ride atop the garbage can.

There is definately not a shortage of things to do with our family here. We are so excited for the Christmas season. In Old Town they have decorated ALL the trees with beautiful white lights. The entire main street (College) is lit up. It feels like a winter wonderland already. I will try to shoot some pictures of the lights, but for now I have added a picture I found on Flickr from 2007.

Nothing is Better Than a Long, Restful Sunday Nap...

...Except, waking up to freshly baked, homemade rolls. Rick makes awesome, delicious rolls (yes, from scratch). He is all around amazing! I'm so lucky!

Where Does Mail Go?

Today we went on a tour of the post office and the kiddos (and us moms) got to learn all about what happens to mail. It was really fun and the lady who took our group around was great at keeping the kids' interest.




We got to see where the mail (letters and packages) is received, how the mail is sorted, etc. The kids even got to go inside a semi trailer, that takes mail to Denver. They loved that.

Would You Like Some Salt With That?

A couple of weekends ago, Rick and I went to dinner at the Melting Pot and we bought some of their Garlic & Wine Seasoning. It's kind of like a "Season All" that goes well on salad, potatoes, etc. Well, to make a long story short, Mcayden was having dinner after Rick and I had finished. Rick and I were both upstairs and then I heard Rick walk downstairs followed by, "Oh, no. No. No." He came back upstairs and asked, "Do you remember the bottle of seasoning we just bought at the Melting Pot? ..."(See picture below.)

Yeah, it's all gone. Mcayden decided to try some and ended up dumping the entire bottle on his dinner. We actually thought it was pretty funny. This is a picure of exactly how much Mcayden had poured on his plate.

A Girl After My Own Heart

Out with the girls tonight, at the Chocolate Cafe.
I enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate.
Rich. Creamy. Delicious.
And a couple bites of pumpkin cheesecake.
I couldn't make any more room.
Arrived home late and handed over the cheesecake.
Rick grabbed a fork.
And handed me the camera.
He showed me pictures of our little girl.
And explaining he let her try some Peppermint Bark tonight.
We both laughed at her deliriously happy smile.

She is a girl after my own heart.