Wonderful Weddings

We happen to be the current, lucky residents of the exact city that one of our cute nieces chose to be married in this past Saturday. It was an amazing weekend filled with a large number of the Ballard family gathering to attend Keri and Skyler's wedding in the St. Louis temple, which also happens to be conveniently located just minutes from our home. It was a beautiful ceremony for a wonderful couple. In addition, the kiddos were given a full weekend with numerous cousins, and, Grandma and Grandpa Ballard. Honestly, under those circumstances I'm pretty certain that no weekend could get better than that! Alright, I know it could get better if we had every Ballard in attendance. You know what that means don't you? One word............... REUNION!!!

Primping, Parks, And Princesses

Last week was spent preparing for the wonderful gathering of family scheduled to take place the following weekend. First item on the list...haircuts! Since this was Haley's first, I made certain to seek out the funnest, most "princess" like hair salon I could find, and boy, did I score. They had video games, movies, and pink, pink, pink everywhere. It was almost as cool as our dentist's office...at least that's what Thatcher said. As he climbed in a blue chair to receive his haircut, not taking his eye's off the screen in front of him he asked, "Did you guys put this here to distract me from the fact that your about to cut my hair?" The beautician smiled and answering honestly said, "yes...yes we did." Thatch shrugged and sat back to enjoy his movie. Since Haley's goal is to have hair like Rapunzel she only allowed a small trim, however, Ryley and Kadyn were more than ready for a new look and gave the beautician permission to trim right above their shoulders. All of their cuts turned out fantastic and we left with happy kids, prizes, and balloons for everyone.

We also had the chance to finally stop at a park we had spied numerous times on our way to music lessons. Now that it's staying lighter later, we stopped and enjoyed. The fact that it was 70 degrees at 5:30pm didn't hurt either. The pictures of this particular park visit are cute, but they are also perfect exhibits for exactly why our kiddos needed haircuts!

Princesses...well, just enjoy the pictures below and know that if I could freeze time at any point in life...I would press pause now. It's truly a gift to spend my days with these six special individuals.

P.S. That wasn't a pregnancy announcement....I'm including my dear husband in that figure.

Valentines Week 2012

We started with PINK chocolate chip pancakes and PINK scrambled eggs. Thatcher gave it his best shot, but colored food is apparently a bit too much for him to handle. Dinner consisted of normal colored hamburgers, RED jello, and PINK smoothies, all served on RED heart plates and PINK napkins. We also had RED chocolate covered strawberries drizzled with white chocolate (which by the way are SO simple to make - so don't buy them and I'll post how to do it). I believe Azure enjoyed those chocolate strawberries to the fullest (see pic below). Steven has always been in charge of Valentines and has never failed to impress. He returned home with double chocolate ice cream and the newest (and funnest) member of our family...Uno Roboto. We also had some lovely days at the park and squeezed in a great movie, "The Secret World Of Arrietty".

Valentines has and always will be one of my very favorite holidays. I LOVE the love and kindness that you see and witness all throughout the day. I was reading various quotes that morning and one in particular stuck out in my mind. It was shared by Thomas S. Monson who I believe read it on the wall of a relatives home. The plaque very simply stated, "Choose Your Love, Love Your Choice". I thought about that throughout the day, and while Valentines is a sweet holiday of kindness and love, my deep hope is to create a home in which that same mindful and abundant love is present in each and every day.

Kadyn's Baptism

Our sweet Kadyn was baptized on Saturday. It was a very special day for her and our whole family. Kadyn does not enjoy being the center of attention and thus was very apprehensive to have a large number of individuals staring at her. Knowing this, we planned a very simple, very sweet program that included a few of the amazing friends we have had the great pleasure of meeting here in the area. Kadyn is an amazing young lady that Heavenly Father has graciously sent to our home to bless and enrich our lives. It truly was an amazing day that turned out just as it was planned.....simply sweet.

Kadyn's Big Birthday

A week from Friday we had a birthday bash to celebrate Kadyn turning the BIG 8! With each move we've made the kids have always been blessed with one of two situations. They either meet one terrific kid to enjoy and hang out with, or, a whole handful. For Kadyn and St. Louis, the latter has definitely been her experience. Ryley and her friend Julia were my helpers at the party and they did a terrific job running things and tending to the baby. We played tons of games and ate way to many sweets and goodies. The only thing I felt bad about was sending them all home with that much sugar in their systems! It was a great day for a great girl. Happy Birthday Kadyn! We love you tons kiddo!

Ballard Boy Bonding

Two words, "Car Show".

Need I say more?.....

"I'll say more. This was such a fun day. I have fond memories of going to a few car shows with Dad when I was younger. The cars were cool, but just knowing I was out doing something with just my Dad made it more special. Hopefully Thatch thinks the same someday. Of course, from my perspective, it was awesome to hang out with him! Loved every minute of it :)" (Steven)

Random In January

January never fails to be a random month for the Ballard family. We're all coming down from holiday highs, and yet, excited for the brand new year that lies ahead. Due to this, the month flies by and our activities within that time make for a very sporadic post. So, without further adieu...

RANDOM #1

The weather.

It's warm, it's cold, it's snowy, it's dry?

We're not complaining though!

We spend warm days at the park and cold days enjoying games and hot chocolate,

(after the first snowman is built of course.)

RANDOM #2

We have spent multiple days in Puerto Rico!

(Alright, we of course don't actually go there)

It's a fantastic game of trading, buying, and selling - we highly recommend it!

The older girls caught on quickly and play with us into late hours of the night.

It's been great bonding time with the girls, but destroys any hope of Steven and

I being social with other couples. Oh well, we now have "built in" game players!

RANDOM #3

A great check up for our rapidly growing baby.

8 months old already! What is going on?

For "stat" purposes Azure is....

80 percentile weight, 80 percentile head circumference, and 60 percentile height.

We're lovin' her chubbiness!

RANDOM #4

We had "girls day out" last weekend.

After visiting the local animal shelter for our hundredth time,

(the kids know we can only window shop right now)

we stopped in at TGIFriday's.

Haley was enjoying her ice cream to the extreme.

They are ALL growing too fast!

RANDOM #5

You know that "growing too fast" comment above?

Here's more proof!

Kadyn lost her first (THREE) teeth during the week of Christmas.

Number 1 came on Monday, number 2 Christmas Eve,

and number 3 just a few days later.

For Kadyn it truly brought new meaning to the song, "All I Want For Christmas."

Good thing the tooth fairy doesn't take off for holidays!