Mama and the Littles. . .

. . .splash at the Crown Center fountains.





Ok, so Mama didn't bring her swim suit. But she sure wished she had!











Cause by the end, this happy baby made sure she was plenty soaked.

Oz Luvs. . .

Yo Gabba Gabba. It's his favorite show by a long shot. Funny thing is that the first time he saw it, when Sable was watching and he was just innocently sitting in the living room, I heard a scream of terror followed by crying come from him. Turned out he'd been scared by DJ Lance Rock after he first walks on and then pokes his head slowly up the screen. Now Oz can't get enough.



A few of his other luvs are in the background, his tunnel and the kiddie dustpan (which has a matching broom and is another luv). There is also a lone puff on the ground behind him. Oz is addicted to puffs. We may have to get him into puff rehab soon. Seriously, I don't always buy them because when they are around he wants to eat them constantly. He can find the container in any location as long as it's not high in a cabinet. And even then, he knows which cabinet is the right one and will point vigorously at it. Pointing is yet another love, as he is a master pointer.



PS - Oz does NOT luv. . . his eczema. You can see him scratching behind his knee in the video. Poor baby, he gets it bad and has had it since he was born. None of the other kids have it, nor do me or Jeff. Certain foods make it flare, certain weather makes it flare, and just about anything else can make it flare. It's a big pain in the kaboose. And a big pain for Oz.

When Gramma and Papa Come to Town

My parents came into KC for their annual visit after living in DC for the summer. They go from DC to KC to Cali and sometimes throw in a trip to NYC and/or Vegas in there!

We are always so excited to see them and this time it was extra special because they were here for Capri's baptism.

They flew in on Friday the 19th and went straight to their hotel, the Westin at Crown Center. We all love to go to their hotel and check out the amazing view so we wanted to go meet them there. (I'm really frustrated because I thought I took a flip video in their room and of the view. I REMEMBER taking one, but apparently it doesn't exist. That does not bode well for my memory.) After playing in their room and getting tons of awesome souvenirs and gifts from DC we went downstairs to have lunch in Crown Center and visit the Rainforest Adventure exhibit.

Saturday was the baptism and fiesta. My Dad gave a talk at the baptism (as I previously wrote) and was a witness. They were both a huge help for the party. My Mom cooked and chopped with me. My Dad wrestled with and generally amused the kids. It was so great to have them both there.

Sunday we went to church and then hung out at the house. We also had the chance to drive out to the KC temple construction site. It was awesome to get to share our temple with my parents.

Monday, we had made detailed plan and doggone it we did everything in it! First we went to the National WWI museum and Liberty Memorial. We've lived here for SIX years and never gone. For some reason both Jeff and I thought that it was mainly just the memorial and then just a room with some exhibit stuff. Boy were we wrong. It is an amazing museum, AMAZING. It's huge, beautiful and so well done. I actually learned about WWI, which sadly I knew very very little about. Schools just do not teach that war, and it's really a shame. It is so historically significant and there are so many amazing stories that came out of that war. Like my Mom said, "WWI still affects everything that goes on in the world today."























For those wondering, that black hanging thing is the lens cap for the camera. Yes, people always offer to take pics of me but I'm stubborn and like to do it myself.

After the liberty memorial we headed to The Plaza. We had lunch at Panera, one of everybody's favorite places to eat. We started walking and soon found ourselves in the Apple Store.



The kids LOVE the Apple Store, it's pretty much their favorite place on earth. So while my Dad perused and then finally bought an IPad the kids got to play with gizmos to their hearts content. Oz was content to hang in his stroller and eat snacks till I realized his diaper had leaked. So I whisked him to the sidewalk outside for a very public and quick change. Gramma and Papa, with the help of Uncle Spencer, gave Oz this awesome Ovechkin jersey.
My Mom said that my Dad has been in different Apple Stores 3 previous times only to walk out without an IPad because they never had them in stock. Way to go KC with actually having what you display in stock!

After The Plaza we drove to the nearest Payless shoes where Gramma and Papa bought the girls new tap and ballet shoes. Gramma & Papa also had given the girls dance classes for the year at Diane's School of Dance for their birthday presents. Capri was beside herself with joy when they told her at her birthday party. Literally, she screamed! I knew she would be excited, she wanted to take dance last year but couldn't because of school (schedule wise it was going to be too hard). This year we're doing home school for all the kids (more on THAT later) so dance class will work. She talks about it on a daily basis and can't wait for her first class.

Our next and last stop was to Arthur Bryant's. Funnily enough, my parents had been before and we had not! It was really good food and quite the KC experience.



After dinner it was time to say goodbye which was hard for us. It was a great visit and we already can't wait to see them at Christmas time.

We really do love when Gramma and Papa are in town!

Baptism

Capri was baptized on the 20th. It was a wild and crazy ride to that baptismal font I'll tell ya!

Jeff and I stayed up late the night before setting up, preparing for a big birthday party to take place after the baptism. At about 1:30am a HUGE storm suddenly started. Very high winds and tons of rain poured down. Soon the power began to flicker. That's happened before, but this time it flickered on and off at least a dozen times before going out for good. In the 6 years we've lived here, we've NEVER lost power without it coming back on in a few minutes. There was still lots to do to prepare for the next day and some was stuff I definitely needed power to do! Capri woke up about 30 minutes into the storm. The kids usually never wake up during storms but I think Capri was already on edge, nervous and excited about her baptism. Jeff and I worked on what we could by candle and flashlights. Then Jeff headed to bed. I did the dishes in the dark, with Capri holding a flashlight as best she could. Then I had no choice. I headed to bed too, hoping the power would come back on in the night.

It didn't.

In the morning I did my makeup next the the kitchen door for the light. We all got ready as best we could, there would be no flat ironing my or Capri's hair! And then we were off to the church. We prayed on the way that the power would be on at the church so that we could actually go through with the baptism. Thankfully the power was on, but NOT the air conditioning. We got everything set up and started right on time.



Capri was beautiful and SO excited.



Like Sable's shoes? I didn't notice she had flip flops on until we were walking into the church. Way to go Sable!



With Gramma and Papa (my parents, more on their visit later).



Baptized and the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.



The baptism went so wonderfully. Except for it being hot, everything went just as planned. The Grandpas gave the talks and both were exceptional. Capri sang the song "When I am Baptized" and sounded wonderful. She was nervous and a little shy, but did an amazing job.

When I went into the changing room to help her, she proclaimed "I did it! I'm baptized!" They were the words I'd been longing to hear.

Congratulations Capri! We are so proud of the wonderful decisions you are making every day!

Fiesta!

Capri and Sable had a joint birthday Fiesta after the baptism. With the power out when we left the house I was praying that it would be on when we got home. The whole house had already been decorated, everything was there. Moving the party would not be possible. We needed to do a bunch of cooking for the taco bar and with all the people coming we really needed the air conditioning. Driving home from the church all I could think about was how much we needed the power to be on. But I was trying to tell myself to roll with the punches if it wasn't. As we pulled on to our street I was scanning for ANY evidence of power. Glory be, the neighbors had a porch light on! We opened our door and felt the AC. That was it, the tears started immediately and I made a beeline for my bedroom. I fell on my knees in thankful prayer. Honestly, I was beside myself with joy and thanks.

The fiesta was ON!




Taco bar! (Mostly consumed by the time I took this picture.)



Cupcakes!



Friends and family!




Pin the tail on the donkey!



Presents!





It was a massive unwrapping with presents everywhere. Even Rome and Oz got a belated b-day present each. Uncle Jon, Aunt Katie and their kids picked out such fun stuff for them both.



Adorable kids!




















Pinata!



This is our "super duper safe" (I say that as sarcastically as possible) solution to not being able to do the pinata outside because of all the mud and sticks in the yard from the storm.



It actually worked really well and was HILARIOUS to watch. Luckily nobody got hurt and everybody had fun. You can't see it in the pictures but all the kids and adults were instructed to stay behind a coffee table I'd moved to behind "the hitters". But try and imagine keeping 16 kids and 12 adults back at a safe distance. Honestly it's amazing nobody got smacked!



Singing!







All done! (And tuckered out.)

We successfully made it through "birthday party season". Phew.

Till next year!

No more exclamation points.

I promise!