Pat turned 10!

We know summer is over when Pat has his birthday. This year before we left Provo, Kellen took Pat and a friend to play unlimited Lazer Tag. We only do friend birthdays ever other year (on the even numbered years) and since we knew he wouldn't really know anyone here in Michigan yet we decided to celebrate early.
When his birthday came around, he told me he wanted an ice cream cake and cheesy chicken for dinner. That is easy, right? Well...
I got ready to make the chicken and remembered that the blender we received for our wedding and have had all these years broke right before we left Provo, so I didn't have a way to blend up the ingredients for the breading on the chicken.
THEN Patrick went to football practice and he was overheated and dehydrated so he threw up at practice and we brought him home early.
SO, that night he got to open his presents and then went to bed.

The next day we got his ice cream cake and sang to him and with no blender we are still waiting for that chicken. (Kellen is ordering me one, this appliance discount is pretty awesome!)

I think the best part of Pat's birthday was a face time call from his friend that is a girl back in Provo.

The smile on his face is priceless...
I sure love this boy!

Her mom sent me this picture from their chat.

All in all it was an ok birthday Pat says. But I am sure glad he is my boy!

30!

I turned 30. It was a hard day. I am not in my 20's any more, I have 5 kids and I am 30?
Wow...
But Kellen gave me a great party. We had it in my in-laws yard and all my siblings were able to be there along with Kellen's sisters and his grandparents.
 Kellen gave me a crown, and decorated and I even had a huckleberry ice cream cake from the best dairy in the world: Reed's Dairy!
Here are some pictures of the big day!

 In this picture above you can see my dad taking pictures. Steve and Geri often joke that he has more pictures of their family than they do, and I think they are right! I guess that is where I get my love of photography: my dad has always taken so many pictures. He has a camera with him at all times! :)

 I think that if you went back to all of my adult birthdays, you could find a picture of me like this. I don't know why I do it... maybe now it is a tradition...  :)

 Caitlin and Jake, aren't they cute?

 Emma was feeding Ellie. they became best friends on this trip!

 This handsome man was so great to throw this party. I warned him that he had a lot to live up to, but he did. He threw a great party! I love him!

Jenna has always taken care of my kids! She is a great aunt who we love dearly!

So, I am 30, flirty 30? I think not. But I am blessed to have a great family, and to be a mom to great kids. I have no regrets going into my 30's (well maybe the weight) but I love my life!

26

Well, my birthday has come and gone. My sister and her family were here for some work- so it was great to spend it with them! We went bowling, and out to dinner, then the next day we went to Chuck E. Cheese! :)
But, for the best part: Saturday a co-worker of mine had a bbq at her house. After we had been there a while, Kellen said he didn't feel well, and we should go home. Of course I started mumbling to my self that he was being a party pooper- but little did I know that when we walked into our house, someone would have broken into it. That's right- Kellen had planned a surprise party for me!

All this after I talked all week about how he can never surprise me with gifts. I always know what he and my mom are getting me! :) (I figured out that I was getting a patio set, and I opened it about a week before my big day!)
I have the sweetest husband, and the best friends. It was a great night- Kellen even hired a babysitter so only the littlest ones were here!
What a great birthday! I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to the best man in this world!

My husband

Reed is a great photographer. He is fascinated with my camera. I get a lot of random shots of toys, the t.v. the computer and of Kellen. But this picture, I love. It shows the wisdom of a father. It shows his beautiful blue eyes, and his faint smile. I love this guy!
Kellen had his birthday up at the cabin. It was also Valentine's day. He is the best V-Day present I could ever ask for! I made him a cake early that morning, then we drove up to Island Park. We were waiting for his sister to arrive, so we waited until very late to celebrate the birthday boy.
I couldn't ask for a better friend, or a better father for my children. I love him more than I could ever imagine. For his birthday, I bought him Rock Band. I think he loved that present more than me that day! :)
This was the first birthday he has been with his parents for over 4 years. It was great to be with family to celebrate Kellen!

Reed is 3!

This is what I found this morning, Madalyn and Reed eating chocolate chips :)!
And this is Patrick the Pilgrim at his Friendship Feast. They all brought a can of soup to mix together in a pot, and made honey butter for their rolls! It was fun to see him with his classmates! I also wish I would have gotten a picture of the girl pilgrim's hats, they were adorable!

Finally, after a week I am posting Reed's birthday celebrations!
I won a cake kit from Cakes By Me, and Reed chose Spiderman and Friends- also his cake had to be orange, inside and out. We went out to our favortite place: Wingers for lunch and ice cream, then we had a family celebration that night for Reedy, he could not wait to open his presents! He is absolutely in love with Power Rangers, so that is mostly what his presents consisted of!
We love having Reed in our home, he makes us laugh and gives the best hugs and kisses. He loves his brother and sister and is always willing to help me make anything in the kitchen!
Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving I just wanted everyone to know how thankful I am for my family. My husband works so hard for us, and is studying non stop for the LSAT (the law school test). We are trying to figure out what to do with our lives, and it isn't easy for him, but he works so hard and is such a great example of strength for me. My kids are the joy of my life, I can't believe how blessed I am to have such great kids. They light up my life and I am honored to be their mother.
Well, I am off to finish packing, then I am working for a few hours. Kellen is packing the van, and picking up his sister's boyfriend to ride home with us. I hope we can get out of here early! We are so excited to spend the next few days with famiy!
I can't wait to eat a big, fat, juciy turkey and some pumpkin pie. I hope you all have a great turkey day, and maybe I will see some of you on Black Friday!

My Princess is ONE!!!

Madalyn LOVED her purse cake. She loves purses (or just Kellen's scripture case). She also loves little figures, so we found her the Disney Princess figures. She lined them all up and played for at least an hour! She also loves her princess phone. Hopefully now she wont try and take my phone! We have loved having Mady in our house this past year, and I can't believe she is 1!! She had a great birthday, complete with talking to Grandma and Grandpa Zollinger, Aunt Megan, and aunt Jenna on the webcam. What a great 1st birthday! :)

Pirate Party

For Patrick's birthday we had a pirate party, complete with a pirate ship cake. Although by the time we cut into it, it looked more like a sinking ship! We had a pin the tail on the donkey (Pat snuck it into the cart while shopping, he wanted it that badly!) Pirate eye patches and earings for every guest, yummy pizza, and a treasure hunt to find the pinata. Everyone had a turn beating the pirate(some with swords) and when the string broke, Kellen threw it up in the air a few times to break it asking the kids if they had ever seen a pirate fly. The door had and "X" on it to mark the spot for the party, when I put it on the door the boys knew what it was!
I think the kids had a great time, they were all very well behaved and we would love to have them back again. Reed wants to invite the same kids for his party! Kellen and I have decided there is NO WAY we are doing a friends party every year- it is a lot of work but this party was way worth it! I love making and decorating cakes so I love birthday parties!! :)

First Day of School

My boy is in kindergarten! He absolutely loves his class and comes home every day with a new song that they sang and teaches it to Reed. He has a friend from our ward in his class and he told me he likes to play with everyone! When I asked who he played with at recess he said "No one- they all wanted to play with me!" We got to go and meet his teacher the day before school started so he was not scared at all the first day. We are all adjusting to getting up earlier which is getting easier. The bus didn't start picking him up until this week and he was so excited. I was a little worried he wouldn't know where to go but we tried to explain it to him, I guess we didn't do a very good job because he followed some kids into the cafeteria, then proceeded to sit down and have breakfast. They were late that day, but he said someone told him he could finish his cereal before going to class. He then told us he didn't know where to go, and all the kids had left so he got sad (that means he cried) and a teacher helped him. I think it is great that they give free breakfast to all the kids if they want it- they catch the bus so early that sometimes they don't want to eat before school! He absolutely loved eating in the cafeteria!
I am so proud of my boy, and I can't believe he is 5! His birthday was the first day of school, so we had cookies in class- VERY EXCITING!