Camille's Baby Blessing -- and other cute pics of this girl!

We had some glamour newborn pics taken of Camille a long time ago. Here is my favorite one...

Ah, Camille's Blessing Day... This was one of my favorite days. Ever. The sun was shining, the day was warm and bright, our house was clean, we were surrounded by so many people that we love. It was truly one of those days that will always make me smile whenever I think of it.

First, some cute pictures of the day, then details.

Here are cute girls adoring the blessing baby...

 Her "Welcome" cake. (Chocolate inside, and those little booties are plastic, supposed to be a keepsake.)...

Grandma and Grandpa Hone with Camille...

Four adoring Grandparents -- Grandpa Dennis, Grandma Karen, Grandma Susan, Grandpa Dale...

Tired parents and sleeping baby girl...

 I tried to get a few pics of her that afternoon, but she wasn't really thrilled. And, I can't get this one rotated, sorry...

 Instead, you get some cuter pictures I took of her the next week, when she was happy and ready to "perform" for the camera...

And one funny one of Natalie, who also wanted a photo shoot...

I decided to take some more of her in her dress this morning, before she grows out of it...

Isn't she just a dolly?! She got to wear the same gorgeous dress that Natalie and Samantha wore -- Aunt Lar made it, and it is now a family treasure!

 Camille's blessing was very special. Brian gave the blessing, and the priesthood holders who stood in the circle included: her Dad, Grandpa Dale, Grandpa Dennis, Uncles Lance, Blaine, Trent and Mark. She was blessed to recognize her great potential as she grows, to be a blessing to her parents and siblings, to have faith in Heavenly Father in her life, to have a desire to live the gospel of Jesus Christ, to have firm and steadfast righteous desires, to aspire to the blessings Heavenly Father has in store for her and for all of His children, that her family will be a guide and protection to her and that they will be able to help her as she progresses on her path to return to our Father in Heaven.

So, here are my specific memories of the day, with no pictures (unless I can get them uploaded from my phone... later?)

My parents called a few weeks before Camille's blessing day, and told us they were going to come, but they planned to stay in a hotel this time. Then, my mom said they had tons of Marriott points, so they were going to offer to "pay" for any of my brothers' families to come stay in the hotel with them. And then... she invited us to also stay in the hotel with them, and make it a family party! So, that's what we did. And, it was a really fun family party. 

All the kids got in the pool when we first got there and swam for a nice long time. (We won't mention the annoying birthday party with 19 10-year-old girls splashing around in the tiny pool and hot tub, making our time a little less desirable, ahem.) Then we all got dressed and went to dinner at Pizza Hut. Not the most glamorous place for dinner, I know. But when you have 16 little rowdies along, options are limited. ;) After dinner we went up to my parents' room and chatted and had goodies together... chocolate bars, mint brownies, banana bread, cake, etc. 

Afterward, the older cousins went swimming again with Lance and Jen, and Samantha got to join. Then she had a sleepover with Anna and Sara in Lance and Jen's hotel room. The rooms were very nice, spacious suites, actually, with king-size beds in the bedroom, and queen pull-out couches in a large living room/kitchen area. Fun! Our kids were exhausted and slept like champs all night. Even Camille gave me some pretty good sleep, only waking once, around 5 a.m. to eat. Brian had to leave early to go to church meetings, so we had separate cars. I stayed with the kids and went to breakfast in the lobby with everyone -- waffles, hard-boiled eggs, toast, yogurt, cereal, fresh fruit... the kids thought it was heaven, especially Samantha who LOVES hard-boiled eggs. :)

Then we came home, put lasagnas in the oven, got ready for church, and headed over for our 1p.m. Sacrament meeting. It was sweet to me to watch grandpas and grandmas hold Camille most of the meeting... she slept and slept all the way through. yay! Afterward, everyone came back to our house for a fun dinner of lasagna, french bread and rolls, and fun salads that everyone brought -- Dalana's grape/cream cheese salad, Susan's broccoli salad, a creamy jello salad, and a big lettuce salad with homemade ranch (made by my mom). Cake and Melissa"s homemade cookies for dessert, and punch in the fountain punch bowl. The kids ate outside on blankets and played in the back yard. And there was actually room for the adults to sit around the table or at stools pulled up to the breakfast bar.

Everyone visited for a nice long while before they all headed home later in the evening. It was just such a pleasant, fun time to be together with family I missed Wade, of course. I hope he was there for a bit, maybe? (He would have taken some better pictures than I was able to get, I'm sure.) :) I just felt very loved and at peace all day that day... so grateful to welcome our new little Camille baby. We are so blessed to have her in our life!

Happy Birthday to our Spencer!

It's been awhile, and I've had several things I'd like to write about. I guess I better start catching up, so I can move onnn....

So, Spencer's birthday was the third weekend in February. If we remember back to then, I was just recovering from that dumb surgery, and Camilley baby was just three weeks old. I felt so cooped up and stir-crazy, and Brian did too. So, we decided to take a spontaneous trip to my parents' house for the weekend. Fun!

And, we got to celebrate Spencer's big day while we were there. Our boy turned SIX this year! What a handsome kid...

He was a very lucky boy, who got to celebrate his birthday with chocolate cake, a huge chocolate chip cookie, and cupcakes! Wow!! He was sure to sample all three desserts, of course!

We decorated the house for his special day, with lots of balloons and some flags and banners. He was smiling very shyly as we put up different decorations, but then he kind of "froze" when I pulled out the camera...

We invited all the cousins from the Hone side, since everyone was in town for the weekend. These girls could hardly wait for the party!

I love this one of Spence, studying his cake and candles while everyone sang to him. So cute!

Time to make a wish and blow...

Let the sugar fest begin!!!

Funny thing about those Curious George cupcakes -- the frosting was VERY bright, and DID NOT come off easily! Here's M, displaying a very red mouth...

 We played one game. (Yes, only one -- keep in mind the party thrower had a newborn and a sore tummy!) We'll just call the game "pop the balloon race..." you know, they raced to sit on a balloon and pop it? It was a hit!!

Even the "big boy" cousins who first claimed to be "too old" for silly games really got into it. Looks to me like BT won, heheh...

Aunt Jen held baby Camille and covered her ears during all the balloon popping and rowdiness. She seemed unfazed...

And the guys sat back at the table, snitching at cake leftovers (see my Dad cutting himself one more little slice in this one? ha!)...

PRESENTS!?!?! It was mad chaos, watching all the kids watch Spencer open his gifts. He got some new clothes, Legos, a "money" set, a Hotwheels race track, and a very cool dinosaur dig set...

 Here are the boys, checking out his dinosaur dig set. Cousin Bryson also got a dinosaur dig set, since his birthday was the week before. Thanks, Grandma Karen and Grandpa Dennis!!

 Little did we know,the dinosaur bones are buried in something similar to graphite. And it smears and smudges EVERYWHERE! Grandma's counter was filthy, and so were the digger boys. Here's B, modeling his safety goggles, so funny...

 And Spence, performing "delicate surgery" on his bones..

It was a fun trip and a great birthday party for our boy. He seemed to really enjoy all the attention. And then, he got ANOTHER party the next week with Seth, his Bishop cousin. Lucky kid! I'll have to upload some of those fun pics and add them here. More presents, a pinata, a fruit pizza with kiwi (his favorite fruit), etc. Too much fun!

And last but not least, a sweet picture of our darling Camille baby...

Don't be too fooled by that super innocent little precious face. Yes, she was super cute and very adored that weekend. BUT... she gave us the two VERY WORST nights of sleep while we were there, back to back. I'm talking about 1-2 hrs of sleep one of the nights, maybe 3 1/2 hrs the other night. ROUGH, baby!! Brian and I took turns rocking her, holding her in awkward positions, changing her, singing, feeding her (well, Brian didn't take a turn on that, actually). It was especially hard being in a house with lots of people trying to sleep -- finding a place to let her fuss and cry, etc. Whew! Glad we made it! And, she made up for it with super cute cuddly afternoons and a nice car ride there and back. :)

Anyway, just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our Spencer boy! He's our sweet, wonderful six-year-old and we really love his so much. He is kind and gentle and speaks with such a soft little voice. He is very thoughtful and loves to figure out how things work. He likes Hotwheels cars and building "Lego creations." And he loves "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" on Netflix. When we go to the library, he picks out books about geography, space, and science. But he also loves to be read to -- any kind of story. He loves to go places with his dad, and he really loves riding his bike. He is taking piano lessons and has a beautiful singing voice. He is Natalie's best friend and playmate, and also enjoys planning adventures with Samantha. And, he LOVES holding baby Camille and giving her kisses. Most days after school he quickly washes his hand so he can hold her or touch her face. We sure do love our boy!!

Happy Birthday, dear Spencer boy! Have a wonderful year ahead!!