river's first birthday party

we had river's birthday party on saturday the 28th. we also celebrated my mom's birthday and my younger brother ryan's birthday. we had it at the clubhouse and river had a ball.

she got her very own smash cake.

happy birthday mom.

she was sharing a nice moment with grandma...

...then decided to grab a handful of grandma's arm. not nice. great picture though. ;)

happy birthday ryan.

this is the face she makes when she's doing her fake coughing sounds.

let's open gifts!

she fell in love with this box!
she had no idea there were cool things inside the box!
ryan, amanda, and lorelai gave her a great set of buckets that can stack or nest.
they have letters and numbers.
they also have shapes that fit inside the lid.

sandee, gregg, spencer and kas gave her two hard books.
perfect.

great grandma jensen gave her a $1.

we love money :)
this will be the start of her money bank.

grandma and grandpa madison gave her a baby doll and crib.

the crib can also be turned over and used as a stool.

my uncle bob made it.
she thinks it's pretty great to sit her little tushy on that stool and read one of her new books.

she has been carrying the baby around and loves it.

all the ladies love kg.

kris and jerry gave her an mp3 player.

it is so fun.

she carries it everywhere and dances...one of her favorite things.
and now she's dancing with the mp3 player in one hand the baby in the other. so cute!

they also gave her some two piece puzzles that are great!

time for singing and cake.

she wasn't too sure what to think of the flame.

daddy came to her rescue.

flower helped her blow out the candle.

kris helped her dive into the cake.

mmm, just a little taste.

but not for long!

yum-o!

she had no problem polishing off almost the entire thing!

she was trying to lick the plate clean.

we had a great time and she had an excellent first birthday. she got the best gifts! it's hard not to get a bunch of repeat toys when you already have a 4 year old but our guests succeeded! all original to what is already in their bedroom. I'm grateful for those that came to show their love and support to miss river. thank you everyone.

thanksgiving.

thanksgiving was nothing short of perfect. we all slept in till 10:00 am!!! just let that sink in. children sleeping in until 10 am!! my kids have always been rock star sleepers and will sleep for 11-12 hours regardless of when they go to bed. i am extremely grateful for that. we all laid around most of the day. i got to lay in bed with kg and watch a couple of our favorite tv shows. kg also willingly changed river's poopy diapers. two of them to be exact. then he let me take a two hour bath. i read and slept and it was heaven. i then returned the favor and allowed kg a two hour nap.
finally the hour around to go to kg's grandparents for our feast. we had excellent food and enjoyed the company. we talked and laughed and played a game before calling it a night.

grandma jensen and river

river was being very entertaining while dancing and jumping around.

these are the best deviled eggs you will ever eat. they are justin's specialty. grandpa hunter decided to make a smiley face out of the food to show just how much we love these eggs. :)

i made that chocolate pie. it was ok. it was a recipe i have never made before that i found online. it was way to dark for my taste and not one i'll likely make again.

adam looked like he was having a seizure in that massage chair. :)

tired justin.

adam and grandpa playing chess.

the girls loved playing with this trax set.
it was hilarious to watch river try to grab the car as it went by. just a little too slow every time!

i'm really thankful for his family. i'm thankful that we all get along and it's always low drama. i love each of them.

family. friends. our jobs. my girls. my really cute husband. happiness. the gospel. love.

just a few of the things i am incredibly thankful for every single day of my life.