Traevn's Day!

Okay, so after the friend party we had a couple of hours to get ready for the family party.  Traevn wanted to have a Star Wars Clone Wars birthday so we decorated the house like that for the party.  He received his 7 balloons, his favorite of course being the Yoda balloon.  The guests all arrived, we opened tons of presents, ate Star Wars cake, had yummy sherbet punch, and partied into the night.  Traevn had sooo much and totally scored with presents.  He has been wanting a Nintendo DS and he finally got it, as soon as he opened it he jumped up and down and was so excited!!! He also scored 5 cool games for it, accessories for it, clothes, money, outside play toys, swords, candy, more star wars lego toys, shoes, art supplies, and so much more.  What a spoiled boy!!! He kept saying, "This is my best birthday ever!!"  So cool to make him know how special he is to us and to our family and to celebrate a day all about him!! After the party, we went and ate at where else but Texas Roadhouse!! He proudly got up on the horse and yelled "Yee-Haw"  We love you so much Traevn and glad that we could be a part of your day.  

I forgot to do this on his actual birthday so here goes:

7 things about Traevn:

*He is very, very smart and LOVES school!!  (He won a prestigious award last year in Kindergarten for being the best reader!)

*He is very creative and loves art and to create things.

*He is a perfectionist.

*His handwriting is so precise and perfect and does not look like an elementary age kids handwriting. 

*He has overcome so much and continues to overcome so much on a daily basis and endures through the trials that have been handed to him!(He was diagnosed with mild Aspergers disorder when he was 5!)

*He has strength, courage, and faith that is unbelievable.

*He LOVES with every ounce of his being!!! He is such a good example to me and to our family!!

We love you Traevn and wouldn't be complete without you in our family!!! Hope that you truly had "the best birthday ever!"  You have made the last 7 years "the best ever."

LaSeR MaNiA

Make a Smilebox scrapbook Saturday was Traevn's 7th birthday!! He had his friend party first..... He had decided that he wanted to take his friends to Laser Mania!  When we got to Laser Mania we decided to do Laser Tag first.  If you have never been to Laser Mania, it is all in the dark and they have black lights so you can see a few things.  Well after we chose our red and green teams it was war!!! Tag was a blast!!!! It was hard to keep up with those 6-7 year old boys but I wasn't going to let them defeat me:)  After Laser Tag we split up and most of the boys did bumper cars and those that didn't want to played miniature golf (which of course is in the dark).  That was also fun and crazy!!! When that was done we all met up in the arcade to play our tokens and win some tickets!!!! The boys had a blast trying to see who could win the most tickets....when the tickets were all won the boys went and bought prizes with them.   Next it was PIZZA  and CAKE time.  Traevn opened presents after eating too much cake and pizza.  He scored with some cool gifts!!! Traevn had so much fun with all of his friends!!! Thanks to Dawson, Cooper, Jaxon, Treylin, Andy, Jace, Wesley, and of course Trae's brothers for making his party so much fun!!!

Happy 7th Birthday Traevn!!!! We love you!!! 

*More to come later......

Gramps gets HeArT AtTaCkEd!!!

Last week for FHE we talked about love and showing love to others and how important it is to let people know that we love them.  Well since it was the week of Valentines we decided that we should "heart attack" someone who needed it for Valentines Day.  Well, the kids decided that they wanted to "heart attack"  their Great-Grandpa Pugmire since this would be his first Valentines Day without Grandma.  My Grandpa has been through a lot (and that is quite the understatement) since the accident that killed my Grandma and injured him badly last May.  We knew that he needed a little extra love this year so last Friday (13th) the kids decorated hearts with meaningful notes, colorful drawings, cute sentiments, and messages for Gramps!  Later on that night we snuck into the assisted living where he has his own little apartment and quietly went to work decorating his door.  We left and couldn't wait until the next day when Gramps would see it.  When Gramps showed up to Brynlei's party on Saturday morning he was telling everyone about his door.  He was sooo happy and touched!! It made the kids day to know that they made their grandpa happy!!  I think it's in the little acts of service that really teach and make it more meaningful for my kids to learn just how important it is to give of ourselves and in doing so become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I pray that we can have more opportunities to serve others together as a family!!! 

The door up close.

Trying to fit all the kids in and be quiet at the same time.  

(Not an easy task)

The kids with their finished "heart attacked door".  

I {HEART}.......

We used to use Redbox, but Netflix is 100 times better if not more.  For cheaper than what we were paying at Redbox a month (remember we love to watch movies and we do have regular family movie nights) we can rent from Netflix with no late fees ever, get up to 2 DVDs at a time (you can choose different plans), have a much (and I mean much) larger selection to choose from, and keep them as long as we need (no rushing back for a certain deadline.)  And on top of all that they let you try them out FREE for two weeks and if you don't like it you just cancel before the two weeks.  So really you have nothing to lose.  I am not trying to "sell" this onto anyone (this is just my personal opinion after all), but I am just glad that we finally found something that works for our family and DVD needs.  :)

Okay so I admit that Thankful Thursday was MIA last week so I knew I couldn't put it off again this week.....

*Being a mom

 (I am truly grateful that my Father in Heaven loved me enough to do this)

*For sweet valentines written from the hearts of my little boys!

*Seeing family members who don't live here

*Parent's Picnic at the boys' school 

(it's fun to have the whole family eat lunch in the middle of the week together)

*My dad's thoughtful email he sent yesterday.....

*Trying to live in the moment!!

*Watching my kids grow up beyond all my capability to keep them small...

*Doing service projects as a whole family!

*Brynlei's independence

*Brekken's giggle

*Traevn's caring heart

*Karter's willingness to be such a good big brother!!

*Peyton's tenderness

*Family time

Brynn's Family Party

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I am way behind on posting..... On Saturday, Brynlei had her family birthday party!!!!  She was so excited and couldn't wait for everybody to get there.  She got all dressed up in her new Barbie Thumbelina dress (that Grandma & Grandpa Abbott gave her), got her hair done up, put some glitter on, and waited until she could party.   When the guests arrived she opened presents, blew out 3 big candles (all on one blow:)), ate cake, had punch, and played, played, played.  She scored with tons of new clothes, more dress-ups, a Barbie cash register, new sandals, money, a new barbie, and so much more on top of what she had already gotten on her birthday.  What a spoiled little girl!!  Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate Brynlei's 3rd birthday with her.  Grandpa Pugmire was able to come and enjoy the party (Brynlei LOVED that he was there!)  We also had a few special family members there who had been in town visiting......Uncle Mike from Oregon was there, Cathy and Shad came down from up north,  it was so much fun spending time with each one and even though Brynlei was being shy, I know she was grateful that you came.  Wow, after a week of celebrating Brynn's birthday, I need a break...... Ha Ha..... Now on to Traevn's festivities this week......   

*We missed Grandma & Grandpa Abbott, Jamie, Emalee, Scott, Braden, Jeremy, Shannon, Drew, Tollie, and Morgen who were all out of town.*

I still have Valentines Day, Basketball games, Thankful Thursday, etc to post about so hopefully I can get it on here before I get even further behind :)