A Time for Birthdays

We had a wonderful time celebrating Maisy's birthday with a Pajama Party!

She had a donut cake (very easy to assemble.)

Her friends all came dressed in pajamas and some even wore slippers.

We had pancakes and played games.  One of the games involved pillow cases and hopping around in them.

Then we headed over to Austin to celebrate my grandmother's birthday.  This picture is for posterity.  It's not as good as my other "for posterity picture" otherwise known as "the grandma picture."

This is my Grandma Judy with my mother (her daughter.)  We had a great time!  The best was when I found out that I am related to the principal (his boss, basically) at Brett's school.  We are 2nd cousins once removed!!  Isn't that just the best!  So totally random.  Gotta love families.

Turtle Ride

This is a random post. I'm throwing in a highlight of our adventure to the Texas Rangers game. We had a blast. Maisy loved eating the food. Ace loved throwing things over the balcony. And Wilson loved the whole experience.

Wilson's favorite player, Ian Kinsler, hit a home run that night. They shoot off fireworks when a home run is hit.

This is a random little video of my dad--otherwise known as Pop--giving the grandkids a *TURTLE RIDE.* I loved this because my sister, brothers, and I use to get turtle rides when were children. Good times!

Fashion Show! Fashion Show! Fashion Show for Mom!

Sunday Sept. 13th was Brett's Birthday.  We had a BIRTHDAY FASHION SHOW!  It was fabulous!  Brett's Mom had bought him some new clothes that a very innovative and talented teacher would be proud to wear.  He looked SO handsome and VERY professional--well, I guess he tried to look professional.  You know Brett.  So take a look and tell us which look you like the BEST:

The *There's No Twinkie in My Lunch Today* Look

The *Prancing Pony* Look

The *Can You Shake It Like This* Look

The *Teacher of The Year/Most Studly Teacher of All* Look

The *How Do You Say Oompa Loompa In Spanish* Look

The *I Am Normal* Look

Thanks Ace for giving the final approval!  Happy Birthday Brett!  We love every bit of you and your *looks*

BYU Cougars #9

That's right.  This entry is all about celebrating, bragging, gloating or whatever you want to call it!  Before you even ask--yes, it was a glorious event.  Just being in the brand new and one-of-a-kind Cowboys Stadium was an experience all in itself.  But match that with an incredible and exciting display of the beloved game of football by our very own BYU Cougars and well, it was an athletic fusion that literally moved me to tears!  Never in my life did I think I would cry over football.

The new Cowboys Stadium is absolutely incredible.  Our seats afforded us a great "overhead" view of the field, and a beautiful look at the biggest TV in the world.  160 feet long, 72 feet high. Wow.

 

There were LOTS of rows in fornt of us, and only two rows behind us.  If we were back any farther, we might have fallen out of the stadium.  That's okay, though.  We could still see everything just fine. 

As the first half ended with the Cougars only down by three points, we realized there was a chance of something special happening.  We started getting pretty excited and anxious.  

 

Then, when the Cougars put up a ferocious goal line stand, followed by Max Hall's brilliant touchdown drive, we went CRAZY.  The Cougars held on to win, and as the Sooner fans filed out of the stadium, the BYU fans stayed and celebrated one of the BIGGEST WINS IN BYU HISTORY!!

 

In the polls the Cougars are up to #9, but in our hearts they will always be #1!!

First Day of School

Yes, yes--its' the "First Day of School" blog post.  It was a happy and successful first day for everyone (including mommy--my first day with a couple hours of free time in years!)

Maisy started Pre-K at the school and Wilson started 2nd grade.

It was even a first day of school for Daddy.

When I asked Maisy if she liked her teacher she enthusiastically said yes.  I then asked her what her teacher's name was--pretty easy question, right. 

She paused.  "Hmmm...Ms. (pause) Wobbly?" 

I started laughing.  "Oh, Ms. Swobbly!" she replied.  I laughed even harder. 

"Okay, I don't know."

"It's Ms. Gr-am-ly," I told her.  So, we are working on that one.

Memphis Zoo

On our way home from Alabama we discovered a gem! If you are ever in Memphis you must go to the zoo.

Ace was totally wrapped up in the milieu of the zoo and he engrossingly pointed at all the animals, then ran around and giggled. I think maybe he was just happy not to be strapped into his carseat.

The penguins were charming as always. We were very close to them which enabled us to see their funny personalities up close.

This is were we met the Gibbeons Monkeys. They were by far the most entertaining animals of the day! Also, in the same habitat were the River Otters (one of our families' personal faves.) The monkeys and otters were interacting and being crazy. Very memorable, indeed.

As we entered the Asian Animals section of the zoo they had a statue of a Buddha. So here we are making friends with Buddha. Wilson is doing his best impression and Ace is just too mesmerized with his bald shiny head. He couldn't stop patting it!

But by far, the HUGE highlight for me was seeing the Panda Bear. Ya Ya was incredible to see and she was having lunch when we met her. Apparently Panda Bears are endangered and it is actually quite rare to ever see them outside of China because the Chinese government doesn't let them out of China very often. The Chinese Ambassador for the U.S. is from Memphis and so that is how their zoo is lucky enough to house a panda bear.

Overall we had a most adventurous time at the Memphis Zoo. It was a great end to our family trip.