Happy Birthday Owen, Gabriel, & Julia!

I think this picture of my boys looks so, so funny!

Here they are at the ripe old age for four & two,

and yet I can look at this picture

and easily fast-forward to when they're forty-four & forty-two-

and get a good idea of what they'll look like then!

I dearly hope they continue to be a little GOOFY...

...a WHOLE lot of fun...

...and the very BEST of friends!

How is that they're so nice and composed for a picture with dad...

 ...and so silly and squirmy with mom?

The waiting is finally over...

 C H E C K  I T  O U T !

Superheros in the house!

We HIGHLY recommend this set from Amazon-

which is very reasonably priced!

If you're interested,

check it out here!

Since the boys birthday's are in the summer,

or in our house,

- C A M P I N G  S E A S O N -

s'more's are the way to go!

Yup,

that's all that were left,

and even these last morsels were snatched up by sticky fingers!

We're so fortunate to have both our families in town,

so we celebrated yet again with even more grandma's!

Aunt Julia turned sweet-fourteen!

H A P P Y  B I R T H D A Y,  B E A T I F U L !



Sigh.

Another year has come and gone.

Owen & Gabriel,

You are,

and always will be,

my "two boys!"

We love you both so much,

and it is a joy to watch you grow.

All our love,

Mom & Dad

(...and your three other little momma's too!)

What a little white paint can do...

Going through the blogosphere

in search of how to make a zipper-less pillow cover,

I hit upon a great sight,

Vintage Revivals,

and fell in love with this mural tree tutorial!

I had a total

"I can do that!" moment,

and yes...

...within minutes I was on a ladder!

Check out the blog for details,

including how to project the image on the wall to

get the tree just right.

As for myself,

I'm a wing-it kind of gal

and chose to tackle the project free-hand style.

Either way,

the finished project is spectactular!

We added a few simple touches to personalize her space,

{ Don't you LOVE printers? }

and...

Ta-da!

Not bad for a few hours of work!

...

Now back to those pillow covers...

{ Smile }

Park Days

I love when they wear themselves out!

An American in Paris

To celebrate the last day of school

we dined 'al fresco'

and presented them with a surprise:

We were all excited,

and everyone could hardly wait for the sun to go down!

All nestled in...



We ate TONS of caramel corn & cherries and

by night's end were ready to sleep under the stars!

Heaven!

...

What a great school year, ladybugs!

We love you so!

XOXO

Mom & Dad

School's Out...

With the onset of the last few days of school we

celebrated some milestones!

Owen completed his first year of pre-school with

a bash at the park!

He loved his classmates,

and with the exception of getting spit on,

it was a great experience!



 Way to go, guys & gals!

 

Moving on up,

Iris Luciana advanced from kindergarten to the first grade!

That's no small feat and we are so proud of our Duck!

She had a wonderful year with a great teacher and

something I will never forget is seeing her postiviely

rocket into reading!

Iris, you are amazing!

Celebrating with a little graduation cake... 

...which isn't easy to do with these guys hanging on every bite!

Thank goodness she's wonderful at sharing!



Next up, Ava!

My new big bad third grader!

I was able to swap babysitting with a sister in our ward

so I could help out at her end-of-the-year field day. 

What a blast!

I was bummed I left my camera at home,

but seeing her and her classmates run around and

getting drenched to the bone was pretty funny.
...

Ava,
we love you, girl!

How is that you are growing up right before our eyes?

You did great this year and we are so proud of all your acheivements,
especially your progress in math!

Bella ended her fourth year with a Heritage Lunch!

She was all gun-ho to make mole',

but I talked her into a spicy dessert instead:

Cinnamon & Cayenne Brownies with

a rich Chocalate Ganache 

She made them all herself,
and to my dismay,

brought home an empty plate!

...

Come fall she'll be entering her final year of elementary school!

Yikes!

I'm choking up as I type...

sigh.

This is what's supposed to happen, right?

They grow up,
get bigger than you,
leave home...

Well, we're not at THAT point yet,
but the fact that we're anywhere CLOSE
to any of the above is startling to me.

Deep breaths...

Enjoy and savor the now...

...

It's been a few weeks now and all of the hoopla

has officially come to an end. 

I have ALL of my babies with me

every single minute of every single day now
and I'm loving every minute of it!

{ Note }

We've come to the mutual understanding

that asking me the same question over and over again

will result in a chore!

Hence the abilitly to love "every minute"!  

...

H A P P Y  S U M M E R !

Memorial Day: Hidden Falls, Sticky Ribs, & Many Thanks

One of our favorite things to do on a holiday is to

 G E T  O U T S I D E !

And at the recommendation of our neighbors,

we visited Hidden Falls Regional Park in Auburn, California.

It's a super-easy hike

-absolutely perfect for beginners or

those interested in something leisurely.

We noticed some families on bikes,

and made a mental note to come back with our wheels! 

Eureka!

The Hidden Falls are not so hidden anymore!

All the girls-

including my little sister, Julia!

She's so BIG now!

The girls secret spot!

My boys!

It's a miracle they didn't fall in.

Gabriel could see the rock continuing on under the water

and couldn't understand why he couldn't keep going!

My boy being a boy...

...and my girls being BEAUTIFUL!

As usual!

Can you see what their looking at?

B U T T E R F L I E S !

Later my parents and Grandma came over for a feast!

{ Note:  The Deviled Eggs }

If Samuel didn't have any manners,

he'd eat them all!

Luckily,

he does,

so he ate only two!

Ava, apparently has no manners!

She triumphatly grabbed the last one and

stuffed it in her mouth

while confessing that she had eaten a total of five!

F I V E!

Samuel was beside himself!

A favorite with the kids

(and dental floss companies):

Sticky Ribs!



My personal favorite:

Samuel!

But only if he's holding a

Blackberry & Nectarine

Chocolate Shortcake!

...

In short,

this was a day filled with fun and family.

Two things that are very easy to take for granted.

Thank you to the many men and women who have died serving in

the United States Armed Forces.

We are so very grateful for your sacrifice in our behalf.

Love,

The Samuel Elmers

In-house Sleepover

Sweet dreams!