Emmett's Lego Birthday Party

After waiting three weeks, we hosted Emmett's birthday party today with ten of his friends.  Emmett agreed to go with a Lego theme for his party which I was so grateful for as this meant that I could use all of the decor and ideas that I had left over from Logan's party seven years ago.  We spent a fun-filled two hours hosting Emmett and his friends this morning.  We played several games, opened gifts, and finished off with cake and ice cream.  Emmett received a giant stuffed shark which he LOVES and several Lego sets that he has already started building.  I am so glad that we were able to find a Saturday during this busy month to celebrate Emmett's birthday with several of his friends.

Emmett posing for me on the front porch next to the Welcome sign and balloons.

A close-up of my cutie and the sign that he and Ella drew.

The kitchen table all decked out.

Emmett's Lego-themed cake.

Emmett and his friends coloring at the beginning of the party.

William, Emmett, and Raylan coloring their Lego pictures.

The first game we played was drop the Lego in the jar.

The second game we played was "Hot Lego."

We then divided the children into two groups to have them build the highest, standing Lego structure in five minutes.

We then played Lego Twister before finishing off the games with several rounds of "Hide the Lego."

Emmett holding up the massive gift bag that Cameron gave him with the stuffed shark inside.

Emmett and his dear friend. Clara.

Emmett holding up Raylan's Lego sets.

Emmett waiting to blow out his candles.

A group picture of the all of the kids enjoying cake and ice cream at the end of the party.

Ella Competes at the PDX Invitational

Ron and I drove to Portland on Friday afternoon with the three youngest children so that Ella could compete in the PDX Invitational in Portland on Saturday.  We were able to get there in a little over two hours which was lucky considering the fact that we were driving there during rush hour.  We checked into our hotel in downtown Portland and then walked to Smash Burgers for dinner.  We then had enough time to enjoy an hour at the hotel pool before heading to bed.  After a slow morning that included breakfast at the hotel and a little more time at the pool, we checked out around 10:30 and headed to Ella's gymnastics meet at the Oregon Convention Center.  We spent the next four hours watching Ella compete in her four events.  The judges were tougher at this meet than normal, so Ella did not score as high as she usually does.  She earned an 8.95 on bars, an 8.425 on beam, an 9.175 on floor, and an 8.35 on vault with an all around score of 34.9.  She earned a medal for her performance on floor and did a great job overall.  As always, we are so proud of Ella's hard work and effort she puts into every meet that she competes at.

Ella and Emmett standing behind the Oregon sign inside the entrance of the convention center.

Ella posing with the balloons before heading into the meet.

Ella's first event was vault.  Here she is doing a squat on.

Ella on the top bar.

Ella doing a tap swing.

Ella looking directly at us after finishing up with the bars.

Ella's second event was the beam.  Here she is getting onto the beam.

Jumping in the air.

Doing one of her two cartwheels on the beam.

Ella's third event was floor.  Here she is starting her routine.

An awesome action shot of Ella doing her front pike.

A cute shot of Ella doing a shimmy in her routine.

Doing her tuck jump.

Doing a handstand.

Ella's final pose in her floor routine.

Ella's fourth and final event was the vault.  Here she is jumping on the springboard after running down the runway.

Going over the vault.

And landing it!

Ella smiling at us after finishing vault.

Lia Competes at the South Thespian Competition

Lia's new theater director organized a Thespian Troupe at her high school this year.  Lia is the Vice President of the Thespian Board and has been given several new opportunities due to the implementation of this program.  One of the great opportunities that she was given was being able to go to Olympia today with her teacher and entire troupe and compete at the South Thespian Competition at Capitol High School.  She was gone all day long and performed a monologue and a Two-Person Scene (from her "Almost Maine" play) in front of a panel of adjudicators.  Although she was recovering from the flu and still had a horrible cold, Lia received a "Superior" rating on both of her performances which is the highest score given out.  Only three students in her troupe received this rating and Lia was only the only student to receive this score twice!  I am so proud of her for doing such an incredible job, especially while still being under the weather.  Well done, Lia!

Lia and her troupe on the drive to Olympia.

The Rogers Thespian Troupe.

Lia with her friends, Abby and Isabelle, in the school auditorium for opening ceremonies.

Lia and Joe performing their two-person scene for the adjudicators.

Emmett's 7th Birthday!

We wrapped up Emmett's 7th birthday last night after a few fun activities this weekend.  By coincidence, he was "Star Student" this past week which meant that a family member of his choice could come and eat lunch with him on Friday.  He chose Logan, so I checked his big brother out of school for an hour on Friday to join Emmett in his classroom which was just the sweetest thing.  Since I couldn't host Emmett's friend party for three more weeks due to two gymnastics meets and going out of town, I told him that he could invite one friend of his choice to join us at Catapult Friday after school.  We invited his good friend, Clara, from school and enjoyed spending the afternoon at the indoor park.  After devoting most of Saturday to Ella's gymnastics meet, we celebrated on his actual birthday yesterday, starting off with our traditional waffles with whipped cream and strawberries for breakfast.  My parents came over in the evening for the actual party where we ate a dinner of Emmett's choice (including ham and homemade mac 'n cheese), opened gifts, and finished off the evening with a cherry cream pie.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate our little boy who has brought such joy, laughter, and happiness into our home these past seven years.  We sure love you, Emmett!

 

Emmett posing with Logan during lunch time at school on Friday, January 9th.

Emmett receiving a treat from his beloved teacher, Mrs. Brown, after the class sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

Emmett smiling from way up high at Catapult park after school.

Emmett carefully walking his way up the poles.

Clara and Emmett smiling for the camera after climbing around.

The two children enjoying one of the large jumping inflatables in the park.

Clara and Emmett "fighting" each other with the padded, jousting sticks.

Emmett waiting to blow out his candles on his birthday waffles on the morning of  January 11th.

Blowing away.

Ella and Logan joining Emmett for his birthday breakfast before church.

The family gathered around the dining room table before eating dinner.

Emmett posing in front of his gifts before starting to open them.

Emmett showing off his line-up of "Palm Pals" stuffed animals.

Emmett getting ready to open another present.

Reading a card from grandma and grandpa.

Emmett posing with all of his Palm Pals on and around him.

Since I didn't know which Palm Pal Emmett would like best, I originally bought four of them with the intention of returning three of them after he chose his favorite one.  However, after he opened up the gift and saw all four of them, he immediately wanted to keep them all.  After he finished opening gifts, Emmett quietly pulled me into the laundry room and closed the door ajar to discuss the possibility of keeping all four.  He began this conversation with the hilarious phrase, "Now about the Palm Pals..."  What we didn't know was that all three of his siblings were listening through the door.  The second he said that phrase, all three of them burst out laughing and fell into the laundry room.  It was so funny that I had to talk a picture of the three of them.  Needless to say, I gave in and allowed Emmett to keep all of the stuffed animals.  It's hand's down his favorite gift from his birthday.

Ella and Emmett posing with grandpa and the Palm Pals.

Our family standing around Emmett before singing "Happy Birthday" to him.

The four children taking a picture with the grandparents at the end of the evening.