Sammi set the table with a cute bouquet of flowers and decorated daddy's newspaper with stickers and stuffed animals.
And yes, the frosting is a bit lop-sided but it tasted GREAT! 
That's the new warming shed in the background. It's a big building with a wood burning stove in it.
I love this picture!!
Man, I remember hiking up lots of sledding hills.
The kids are out of school for a few days for parent teacher conferences. Beau has been dying to get out into the snow before it's gone and so they all took off for the mountain. We have lots of snow parks that are groomed for cross country skiing and sledding. Beau said this one was great because there were no trees and the kids could just fly down the slope. They did a couple "triple deckers" were they all piled onto the same sled. Sammi said she almost broke her arm (she's our "1/2 empty" child when it comes to being hurt. Always looking on the bright side.) she hit it on the ground when they were going down and she hyper extended it. She showed me how she had used her scarf as a sling. They stopped for hot chocolate at a little local store downtown on the way home. 
This is what the girls did as they arrived. They all got to help make Sammi a birthday banner. While they were coloring I painted their faces. 
I didn't plan very well because I found out Kyle had a game right in the middle of the party so one of his friends from his team picked him up. That meant it was just a house full of girls.
These are some of Sammi's friends.
They all couldn't wait to have her open their gifts.
Last but not least, we got the mail on Sunday night and it was full of cards from Great-Grandma Lambert and Grandpa Taylor and a package from Grandma and Grandpa Eastes and Grandma Taylor. She was so excited about the money in the cards. She is not a saver so she yelled out, "This is more than all the money I have!" She loved the movie from Grandma Taylor and watched it while she tried on all the clothes from Grandma & Grandpa Eastes.
Sammi was so excited for her birthday this year. She started waking up at 4:00 am to see if it was time yet. We kept telling her she had to go back to sleep and after a few more yells from her room at 5:00 and 5:30 saying, "Mom, is it time yet?" we finally made it to 6:30. I was sooo tired because I was up wrapping presents and getting it all ready for her to see in the morning when she woke up and also trying to get the house cleaned up so the landlord could show it to some people that want to rent it when we move out. I just wanted to sleep but Sammi was giddy! We got up and she opened her presents. It's so fun to wrap presents for a little girl who appreciates how cute things look and how many curly strings I put on the package. For breakfast she picked pancakes, eggs, and sausage. 
You can tell she's excited to open these presents. They are from grandma and grandpa Lambert. Grandma Lambert sent them a couple weeks early and they have been sitting on the counter waiting for the big day. She couldn't wait to see what she got.
All ready for school with a little of everything from her birthday. She has wanted one of these lunch boxes for so long and I finaly found one that was a little smaller and didn't look like a construction cooler. She loves to take a home lunch and her and Kyle make themselves lunches in the mornings if I don't get them done the night before. Beau went to school and had lunch with her there. She wouldn't let any of her friends sit by them so she could just have some daddy daughter time. 
She picks a different face paint every year.
Jared's package came in the mail after school and she got a really cute dress with matching shoes, headband, earrings, and necklace (and some other jewlery). She put them all on and then climbed in the box. 
Sammi chose her favorite dinner, Crepes. Yum!! We ate a whole carton of strawberries and about 7 bananas. 
She really wanted a cake on her real birthday. (I was just going to make one for the party.) Beau came home with flowers and rootbeer from him so they could make rootbeer floats. But, I was feeling amitious so we decided to make a cake. Sammi helped make the whole thing. She decided how she wanted it to look and when we were at the store the night before she wouldn't let me buy the regular food coloring. We had to buy the exact colors individually so that they were perfect. 
Sammi put on all of the little dots herself and she designed the cake.
After a long day of cooking breakfast, going to work, baking cakes (I baked the ones for her party too), and making dinner we finally blew out the candles. Beau got plates and Sammi and Kyle announced that they didn't want cake. Kyle said he didn't want anymore sweet stuff and Sammi said she was to full. Beau and I just looked at each other. I was like, I just spent 3 hours making a cake that you Had to Have! I told her it was OK, making it with her was fun. (I did make them try it though.)
Yes, Beau's birthday came early this year. He really needed a new SUV that was big enough to haul the whole fam damly + the dogs. We've decided that we do pretty good for our 30th birthdays. I got the scooter and he got a Trooper.
Sammi wanted to help out. 
I have to admit, it melts my heart to see her with a power tool. :)
I love this cute picture. It's the day of the kids Valentine's Day parties at school and they wanted to look nice. Sooo, we got up at 6:30am to give Kyle a hair cut and then braid Sammi's hair. I thought they both looked great. They are quite the pair. 
This might not look good but the kids love to have this and they expect it every year. Sammi asked me if I could do green clover pancakes for St. Patrick's Day. I'm not sure I could eat green pancakes or if they would look anything like clovers. I think I'll stick to heart. Thanks mom for starting this tradition with our family. We've had pink heart pancakes every year since I can remember.
Later we went and walked around the Old Mill for awhile and they had these cool ice sculptures out on the sidewalk. 
Sammi and I got out all of my make-up and put it on each other. She got to do all of mine and I got to do hers. We had a lot of fun. I think Sammi tried it all. She would ask what something was and then on it would go. It took me awhile to scrape it off later.
What would Christmas be without a little gingerbread house decoration. The kids look forward to this every year. I haven't decided whether it's because they get to sit and eat candy or they like to make the houses. It's fun to see what everybody does.
The kids were in the Christmas Eve play with Graydon, Hunter, and Dillon. They sung and had a visit from Santa. Sammi took a good long look at Santa trying to figure out if he was the real thing or he was just one of his helpers. 
On Christmas morning everyone opened their own presents at home and then made their way to grandma and grandpa's house. It's a good thing they have their new house done because we filled it up. It was really nice to have the big play room upstairs for the kids to play in. Grandma and Grandpa Eastes sent presents from our family in Kansas so we could open them Christmas morning. I took a picture of the kids opening the Wii but I can't find it. 
The adults had so much fun with the Wii it's a good thing the kids had other toys to play with for awhile. Lance got a dodgeball game that we could play with four players and we played that and tennis all day! I didn't know you could be sore from a video game.
It was good to have Chad back for Christmas. It's been way to long for him to be gone.
