Nieces Sleepover in pictures

It's 12:30, and our little nieces just left about an hour and a half ago from our third sleepover.  I've got a busy day today (and tomorrow with a bunch of Stake Primary things), so thought I'd better hurry and get this post written before I get so busy and don't get around to it.  But, warning--I think I'm going to get the award for the most pictures in one blog post.  With nine little girls staying over, there were so many cute things going on that I just had to take tons of pictures.  So, here is the nieces sleepover in pictures!  I'll put the description above each picture:

We have 10 nieces, and all but one of them was able to come (we really missed little Dannan, who got H1N1 at the last minute).  We had pizza when they first got there, and while I didn't get a picture of them eating pizza, here are their cups that we labeled for them.  It really shows how many of them we had there!

After pizza, I told them that I had a present for each of them.  We sat them down on the floor and I talked to them for a few minutes...

I showed them the presents I had wrapped for them in gold wrapping paper. We talked about how gold is beautiful, precious, and special, and that they are also beautiful, precious and special too.  I gave them each their present, and got a picture of them holding them:

 Just like the for the boys sleepover, we got them pajama bottoms.  They loved them! I especially loved Sabrina's reaction--she looked up with such an excited look in her big blue eyes and said, "Oh, pajamas! Thank you so much!"  We had them all put their pajamas on, and then got a few pictures:

Then we did a craft where they were each able to write a thank you note to their parents.  They sure had fun!

After the craft, we had to get the obligitory picture of each of them sitting by the tree.  So here I present nine of my ten nieces in order of birth:

Holly, age 11

Kate, age 7

Jenni, age 6

Brianna, age 5

Lizzie, age 5 (it was crazy hair day at school)

Annika, almost 5

Emma, age 4

Sabrina, age 4

Dannan, age 3, is the one who was sick, so since she coudln't come, I put in a picture of the card the girls made for her.  We missed you, Dannan!

Mieka, age 2 (sorry about the pizza sauce on her face Melissa!)

After the crafts and pictures, we lined the girls up on the counter, and they helped us make cookies.  They had so much fun, and were so darling! Here are some pictures.  The one of Emma standing in the sink is  because she spilled flour on her leg, and Jan didn't want it to spill all over.  :)

Aren't they cute!  Then they each got to decorate their cookies with whatever they wanted in them.  Here are pictures:

We got all ready for bed, and got them settled on the air mattresses to watch a movie as they fell asleep (or so we thought...)

After this picture, we had the curse of the girl's sleepover--which is that they are so cute and giggly they just can't fall asleep (or focus on a movie, for that matter).  The picture above was taken at around 8:30.  It wasn't until about 11:10 that they finally all looked like this (and actually Kate and Jenni are still awake):

 Thankfully they all did relatively well sleeping, although I had to take Lizzie to sleep in my bed in the middle of the night. 

This morning, they all came and piled on my bed and I read them stories from a book that Annika had her Mom buy to leave over at our house (thanks Melissa!).  The girls were so cute, listening intently--although please note that we had just woken up, so no hair is done, including mine! I'll put some of those pictures in (we really are almost done!)

Then we made heart shaped waffles for breakfast.  The girl's loved them!

Finally, we deflated the air matresses, cleaned up, and watched our 32nd birthday video, which the girls love as much as the boys.  Here are the last two pictures:

Well, you've finally made it to the end of this post.  Congratulations!  Let me just end by saying how incredibly grateful I am for my nieces and nephews, and that Jan and I have such a close relationship with them.  I've said this so many times before, but one of the heartbreaks of my life, to quote Sheri Dew, is that I've never had my own children.  I am so grateful for these sweet children who help fill the void in my life, and who give me so much love and happiness!

Nephews sleepover in pictures...

Last night we had our third nephews sleepover! It was so fun.  This time we all of them come, except Logan, who got strep throat at the last minute :(, and Camden, who wasn't quite ready to stay with us yet. (Make sure to check out Jan's new blog she just created at: threesacrificesaday.blogspot.com for her account of the sleepover). I just love our sweet nephews, and it is so fun to have them come over. They were so good, and we had such a great time together. I have lots of pictures, so I will tell the story of the sleepover in pictures...

When they first got there, while we were getting things ready, they had a pillow fight. Boys are so fun!

After we had pizza for dinner, we did crafts. The boys each made thank you cards for their parents, and we did a turkey craft by tracing their hands and feet. The boys sure had fun!

 

After the crafts, we lined them up and gave each of them a pair of pajama pants that I found on a really good sale.  They were so excited!

Then we had them put the pajama pants on, and they sat on the couch together show them off. I love how their shirts totally don't match with their pajama pants!  Joey is the most hilarious--red plaid shirt with blue smiley face pajama bottoms.  So cute!

We got a picture of each of the boys individually holding their crafts that they made.  Here they are, oldest to youngest:

Ethan, 8 years old

Joshy, 7 years old

Brendan, 7 years old

Truman, 5 years old

Joey, 3 years old

 

Brayden, 3 years old

Matthew, 22 months old (with Ethan peeking behind him!)

After the crafts, the boys blew up the air mattresses (I love that they are old enough to help with that), and then jumped on them (because they are boys...)

Then we made cookies and they each got to decorate them. 

After that, we watched "Up," and then went to bed.  Brayden and Brendan went home, so we only had four boys sleep over--but they were so good. We told them stories and sang them to sleep, and they actually went to sleep (unlike our giggly nieces, who take forever to fall asleep--but we love them too!) 

This morning, I woke up to boys talking.  They came into my room to see the kitty (they all love Fluffy).

Then this morning we had the first real snowfall of the winter.  I had to snap this picture of them looking out the window:

Then they helped me make waffles (no pictures of the waffle making), but they were so good to help.  They each learned how to separate the egg white from the egg yolk, and did great!  Once the waffles were done, we let them decorate their waffles.    I love how Truman is pouring a whole bottle of sprinkles on his!

Finally we did our traditional watching of the 32nd  birthday video that Dave, Dan and Ems made for us (the boys love it because all of their father's are in it), and it was time for them to go home.

We sure had a great time at our nephews sleepover, and we are so grateful that they all live close by and love us so much.  They bring so much joy into our lives.  Next weekend we will have the nieces over, so watch for another long picture post about that one!

Two good quotes

It's been way too long since I posted.  As usual, I've gotten busy and haven't taken time to keep this blog up to date.  I need to get to bed, so I won't take time to do a whole update (not much is going on--just busy at work and looking forward to the holidays).  But I read some good quotes today that I thought I would put in. 

The first is from Elder Holland.  This morning I was thinking about all of my little nieces and nephews who are growing up so fast.  I started feeling worried about all they will encounter in this evil world as they grow, and prayed to know what I could do to help them and influence them. Then today I was working on a project at work and no one was around, so I decided to listen to an Elder Holland talk.  I have done a compilation of many of his talks, but haven't finished it yet, so I picked the next one on my list to listen to, and it was his "A Prayer for the Children" Conference talk from April 2003.  It answered perfectly the concerns I was feeling this morning.  Here are the parts that really touched me:

I too pray for the children.  Some days it seems that a sea of temptation and transgression inundates them, simply washes over them before they can successfully withstand it, before they should have to face it. And often at least some of the forces at work seem beyond our personal control.

 Well, some of them may be beyond our control, but I testify with faith in the living God that they are not beyond His. He lives, and priesthood power is at work on both sides of the veil. We are not alone, and we do not tremble as if abandoned. In doing our part, we can live the gospel and defend its principles. We can declare to others the sure Way, the saving Truth, the joyful Life. We can personally repent in any way we need to repent, and when we have done all, we can pray. In all these ways we can bless one another and especially those who need our protection the most—the children. As parents we can hold life together the way it is always held together—with love and faith, passed on to the next generation, one child at a time....

Be believing. Keep loving and keep testifying. Keep praying. Those prayers will be heard and answered in the most unexpected hour. God will send aid to no one more readily than He will send it to a child—and to the parent of a child.

Isn't that great?  There is so much hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I am so grateful when I find little answers like that. 

The other quote is just a short one that I had in my journal from a year ago today.  I'll end my post with it:

 “I express gratitude for the Lord’s hand upon me through the years. He has answered all of my prayers—even though at times I had no idea what His purpose was, nor perhaps still do. He has blessed me with many wonderful days—more of those than of difficult days of suffering and despair. And yet even in those difficult days I have felt the Lord reach out to me, felt the darkness disperse, and felt His personal love fill my very soul. I bear witness that He is a God of love. He does love His children...(Gene R. Cook, BYU Devotional, February 1, 2005)