12 year old birthday girl

Avery is officially 12 years old now!  Here are some snippets of her day.  She opened presents when I got home from my run.  She loved clothes and she definitely got some, as well as some earrings, spiral hair ties, and an "A" necklace.

With early release and postponing her piano lesson we had time to get some Joe's BBQ and pazookies at Oreganos, some of our favorite birthday freebies.  That mac and cheese is soooo good! and I tried the pork and beans for the first time and it's a winner for me.

I love that these sisters have built in BBF's for life.  Especially Avery and Zara, but Bea will catch up and I hope they stay close friends in their adult years.

Downtown Gilbert is such a popular area with lots of cool restaurants and murals.  We couldn't resist taking some photos.

The balloon is from the Young Women Presidency.

The water is still cold but that hasn't stopped the kids from getting in the pool next door.

We love our Avery!  She shares our anniversary but we do what we can to celebrate Avery on her day and often have a special date on another day.

Sunday cake

Twelve is a big birthday so we're celebrating as much as we can!  We had birthday cake at Avery's party but wanted to have one to share and sing with family Sunday night so here's birthday cake number two!  The design is dill weed blossoms, inspired from a cake on Pinterest. Simple and cute.

I hope my kids remember these times.  All the noise of all the family gathered around to celebrate them.  These are the people that will always be there to love, support, and cheer them on!

party time

 

Avery really wanted a birthday party this year (it wasn't an option last year with Covid) so last Saturday we threw her one!  She wanted lots of school friends, plus we had Lexie Weber and Natalie, and of course Zara and Beatrix!  I whipped up a cake for her which is messy and so much fun, just like Avery! ;)

We started off playing the monster drawing game, ate pizza and snacks, and answered fun questions to get to know each other better.

Beatrix was in heaven at this girls party.  Don't be fooled, she was not interested in pizza, only Doritos.

We had to get some group photos with everyone under the balloon garland.  This is our first attempt of a balloon garland and it's not terrible.  Zara and Avery helped and we learned as did it.  Blue and teal are her favorite colors.

The party was pizza and movie night.  We let the girls choose the movie; either Parent Trap with Lindsay Lohan, or Yes Day (a new family movie with Jennifer Garner).  We went for Yes Day but wished we went the other since a few of the girls had seen it already and weren't that interested. It was still a good time.

After the movie we sang to Avery and shared some cake, everyone had some! Then Avery opened her presents and gave one big group hug.  So many fun and thoughtful gifts!  What a fun group of girls.  So glad Avery got to have the party she wanted and felt special.

Baby Sabrina Lynn Opie

On Tuesday early morning my new niece Sabrina was born! She’s grand baby 32 on my parent’s side. 

We got to meet and visit Sabrina the last two days, and once again uploading photos on my phone got them all out of order but it’s easier to just leave them. :)

Love that swaddle!

 

Ruth sent this photo to the group text from the hospital. She actually didn’t have a hospital delivery. She didn’t even make it to her car. Super mom.

All those stretching faces!🥰

Another one from the hospital. ^ ^ All those little rolls. She is Ruth’s biggest babies at 9 lbs. 2oz.

Ruth looking like a champ one day after delivery!👊🏻

 It’s so good to have a little baby in the family again! We’re just going to soak it up for as long as it lasts! Congrats Opie family on baby #5!

Easter Sunday

 

I uploaded the photos from my phone and they went out of order and I’m just leaving it. ;)  We had such a wonderful Easter Sunday this year. I got from my Sunday morning walk and was braiding Bea’s hair when the Weber family showed up on our doorstep! They are visiting from New Mexico. We just spent spring break with them so this was a surprise. 

They ended up staying for both morning and afternoon conference sessions. The contributed snacks we got to char in between. Not sure the kids got much out of conference this time 😂 but everyone was happy.

And now for egg hunt photos. Rupert was up well before 6:00am trying to get everyone up for the egg hunt. Asking him to eat breakfast gave us a little more time in bed. :) 

Elliot is getting old for the hunt but he helped Bea before finding his eggs and then happily ate his candy after, just like the other four.

 

We ended the day with a family Easter dinner potluck at my parents and the day couldn’t have ended better. We brought the ham, rolls, and some brownies with Cadbury eggs in them and everything tasted so yummy. Love living near family!

dying eggs

 

Last Saturday we did our traditional egg dying. With general conference, priesthood session, rerunning errands between, and ice cream sundaes at Sara’s that night we almost didn’t squeeze it in. Elliot left right before these photos so all five did it.

Bea kept using her hands to fish out the eggs so they turned an interesting color by the end.

Everyone picked a favorite for their picture.

It is always extra special when general conference and Easter coincide. So many good conference talks, and it’s easier to make our focus on the Savior Easter Sunday.