Posts tagged friends

“I be 2!”

January 4th, 2012 | birthday | friends | Hazel

This is overdue. Our sweet Hazel did have a birthday party…a while ago :) She still talks about it. Anytime she hears the word party “I be 2!” (which has been often with Christmas parties “I be 2!” and a New Years eve party “I be 2!”), Hazel shouts “I be 2!” and she flashes her two fingers in the air. It’s pretty funny…I have yet to get that on film.
Here are some shots of her party!

It was really great having so many friends here! We all had a great time at the party (“I be 2!”)

Time

Wow, I can’t believe how fast things have been happening around here. I’m thinking I’ll try to just do a quick re-cap of the last month and a half…we’ll see how it goes!
Ok, back in the beginning of June some friends and I took all of our kids on the ferry to Bainbridge Island to have lunch and ice cream! It was really fun and so worth the messed up nap schedule!

Then we had swim lessons.

And we have had 2 camping trips, 2 weekends in a row…one was sunny and one was rainy.

But we did get to celebrate our great friend Asher. His awesome Mama put together a scavenger hunt! When the kids all returned there were dirt cups with worms in them! This was so fun!

More to come….Raven’s first time to VBS! She loved it…pics are coming.
And on a sad note…my engagement ring was stolen. I had put it in my wallet when we went camping the first time and forgot to put it back on when we got home. Then, when I was dropping off Raven at VBS someone broke the window on my car and stole my purse (which had my wallet and my ring in it). I am still praying it gets recovered from a pawn shop or that some other miracle happens….and I swear, if I ever get it back…it will never leave my finger ever again!

PURPLE

There is a whole lot of purple around here. Raven’s current favorite color. …and since we are celebrating our big 3 year old this weekend, we are just going to roll with the purple thing!
She has really been loving her birthday this year! A lot of anticipation beforehand, and a lot of disappointment when the party was over.

(i just can’t get her to look at the camera)

On her actual birthday we did the traditional singing with cupcake in bed…only this year we had to tell her to go back in her bed so we could sing to her. (she was coloring downstairs at 6:20 am! ..and who knows what time she really came downstairs. 6:20 is the time that Matt thought he was sneaking down to get things ready. Our 3 year old does not like to sleep.)

Later that morning we had a visit from Grandma Virginia! They played and read Raven’s new book!

Then Raven’s friends came over! Pure excitement!

We played games and sang “Happy Birthday”

(she got a little close to the flames there…but she is fine, and she did blow them out)

My girls like cupcakes if you can’t tell by looking at their faces :)

The other kids like cupcakes too…see all the smiles?
Raven had so much fun! She was so excited to have her friends over…and the fact that they sang “happy birthday to raven” is something that has made her so happy, we have been talking about it all week! She has been growing up so fast! It is incredible to see her growing relationships with friends and with God (who apparently talks to her in a deep voice). She is so smart and loving and shy and sneaky and busy. She is a big girl now!

SUCCESS!

Leading up to our trip, I honestly thought we might not be going on our much anticipated trip to our beloved Sayulita. Hazel had a ear infection a week before leaving. Raven had pneumonia two days before leaving. The power of prayer (and powerful antibiotics) got her feeling well enough to fly….and although we were all sick before, during, and still have runny noses and coughs after…we had a great time!
Raven had been talking about Mexico for weeks (“Is Mexico over there?” pointing left), and we loved the build up of excitedment! (This is the way I typed it and I decided to leave it this way…it just seems appropriate :))

Day 1. at the beach!

sand chairs made by daddy!

Day 2. at the beach!

…and swimming with the daddys! (the water was too cold for the mommys)

swim lessons for the big girls

daddy swim for the little girl

Day 3. more fun in the sun! …and carnival!

jumping on the trampoline!

Day ?. The rest of the days are blurred together…all I know is that is went way too fast. Here are other highlights from the week…

family photo

group photo

the Daddys with the kids

…and there were a few peaceful moments like this…

It’s sad that we will not be going back again next year, but Sayulita will always be a special place in our hearts (we love the beach and the food and the sea glass and the smoothies!)…and we will be back again someday!

Christmas is coming!

With Christmas coming, our calendars are filling up fast! This past weekend we had our 5th annual Christmas pj breakfast! We are at 9 kids now…but there will be more next year! (don’t get any ideas…I’m not having another one by next year) The kids love running around, playing with toys, and having tea parties…while the adults eat lots of yummy food and drink mimosas…good times had by all!

all the little kids

all the little kids with the big kids

Later that afternoon we headed up to Swansons. Its a garden center nearby where they bring in a live camel and reindeer for the holidays. Raven was mesmerized…and Hazel was grunting with excitement! (at least thats what we are going with…)

Most of our photos are of the back of Raven’s head…she never wants to miss a thing! I think this will become a holiday tradition..it was so fun (plus we had dinner out afterwards. I like eating out.)

Willis Family Adventures