Ava's 4th Birthday and Party

Ava celebrated her 4th birthday while Grandma Robison was visiting.  She woke up to a brand new "Big Girl" bike complete with tassels, basket and helmet.  

She thought it was super cool but was timid to ride it out in the street.  I went out and helped her feel more confident.  Every little girl needs a basket on her bike to take her "best friends" for a ride.  

There were so many awesome presents to open.  With Ava's birthday so close to Christmas, present opening is a month long event. She even had the chance to celebrate with her friends and teachers at pre school.  They sang the birthday song and ate cupcakes.

We had cupcakes on her actual birthday and 

saved the big cake for her party.

Cheeky girl licking off the icing first

I thought I had everything under control.  My plan was to have Owen, attend YW In Excellence the following week then finalize all of Ava's birthday party details just in time to have a great party!  How was I to know everything would crumble and I would be sitting in hospital with baby Owen and get none of that done.  My worst fear was that no one would show for her party and I would have a broken hearted little girl.  Thanks goodness for the Dean's, Meeker's, Barrett's and Lake's. Four is a big year, every child should celebrate with friends and balloons and cake! 

We had a Looney Toone bouncy castle (Ava loves Buggs Bunny)

Ava playing Power Rangers with the boys

Snowman fridge magnet crafts

A treasure hunt which all the kids went crazy over

(Thank You Pops)

And balloon swords.  Well the boys wanted swords and the girls followed suit.

A terrific cake which left everyone's mouth bright birthday red.

A little girl excited for her birthday presents

And hugs to go around

Owen was exhausted and so was I.  Happy Birthday Sweet Ruby!

Christmas in London

With Owen still so small and new we decided to stay close to home this Christmas, but we wanted to see some new things, so we ventured out into the cold and visited London's Christmas Market in Hyde Park.  There were a ton of people!  So many in fact that you could hardly walk through the market chalets.  We ate and shopped and rode a few rides and by the time we left they had shut the front gates and where only letting people in a few at a time.

The Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square

Olympic Count Down

Making our way to Hyde Park and Christmas Chaos

There were long ques for all the rides so Ava chose her favorite 3 

View of the Tube Train as we cross over the tracks
at our final stop, Epping.

Christmas at Blackthorpe Barn

We all went to see Father Christmas (as they say in England) at the Blackthorpe Barn. They have crafters, cider, evergreen wreaths, and Christmas trees every year. Sadly the day we visited there was no reindeer and the mistletoe shipment hadn't arrived yet. They did however have the best Santa set up I have ever seen. You get a show time and once it's your turn you are called into a fun waiting area. There is no standing in line or rushing through your visit. You have a one on one chat with Santa himself.

Santa's elf greets you and takes you through the North Pole, then you ring the bell on Santa's cabin. And wait for it. . . Ta da

Father Christmas even had a wrapped present for her. It was a darling little stuffed teddy bear. No 2 cent, tiny candy canes here.

Even Owen kept his eyes open for his first picture with Santa. This precious Christmas memory sure beats the busy shopping mall Santa that I grew up with!

Holidays with Grandma Robison

My mom came to visit for the holidays, and of course spoil the kidos rotten! Ava was so excited to see her and had counted down the days for over a month! We told her that as soon as Grandma was here we could put up our tree, and that was the very first thing we did together. Ava was great at making sure all the bottom branches were evenly decorated!

These clay gingerbread cookie decorations were her favorite. Her teacher at pre school said it was all she talked about for days.

Last year we set up our tree but weren't able to enjoy it for very long because we spent the holidays with the Miller's in St George. This year I taught Ava the Robison tradition of laying under the tree and looking through the branches at all the lights while daydreaming about what Santa would bring on Christmas morning.

Then we made Gingerbread men. Ava had a blast with Grandma rolling, cutting, baking and decorating all the men. Mom loved my apron so much that she bought all the sister in-laws matching ones. So twinsie. . .Special moments in the making

Ava decorated and redecorated this lower half of her gingerbread man about 8 times.

Thanks mom, for sharing these memories with us. It means a lot to have family for the holidays!