Nora Boo’s 10th Birthday

 Nora also wanted a Bluey birthday party like her sister Reese. But she wanted me to make a "duck cake" just like the duck cake episode of Bluey. It was a little tricky but I figured it out and put at least 87 toothpicks in it to keep it from falling apart- hahaha. 

For her birthday party we played all the same games- keepy uppy, charades, sticky gecko, etc. Then dessert and gifts and watched some episodes of Bluey. It was great fun! Nora invited about 10 friends from school and one best friend from the neighborhood- Lucy Swan. 

Nora is becoming a rock star on the violin. She has now played for over 3 years. She has had frustrations and lessons she hasn't enjoyed but has pushed through and is getting really good. Nora is such an important part of our family. Everyone wants to play with her and spend time with her- especially her little brother, Benson! He is in love with Nora and wants to play with "Ora" all the time! Oh, speaking of nicknames...Nora has gained quite the list of fun nicknames- Noral (Lucy's baptism program), Norma, Nord (from getting ski rentals, apparently I don't write very legibly), Nordal, and of course the best, Nora Boo. 

We love Nora so much and the young lady she is growing into. She never complains when I ask her to help me. She LOVES food as much as I do and likes to be in the kitchen cooking and baking- especially when she and Lucy Swan make up their own food creations. That's their favorite. She is an amazing daughter, friend and sister and we love her!

California- Great Start to the New Year

We had the BEST time in California with the Young's. 

Day 1. We got there Saturday evening so the Sunday we went to church and then celebarated Ashur's birthday with tacos and a piñata. We also celebrated New Year's by drinking sparkling cider and going to bed early hahaha. Since we were tired from the drive and had a bid day at Disney the next day. 

Day 2. Cade and I took Lucy and Nora to Disney's California Adventure! Since we took Emma and Reese to London back in October, we told Nora and Lulu we would do a couple days at Disneyland with them. We had the BEST time! The girls loved the jumping jellyfish and golden zephyr that we had never even been on. The first ride we went on was the Carsland one and I didn't think Lucy would ever forgive us for making her go on it :). Then we did the Spiderman ride and Lucy was not a fan of so many new things. But she asked LOTS of questions before we went on and survived just fine! We were proud of her for tryin g so many new things because we know that new sometimes provokes some anxiety. She did great. 

Nora was just getting over a sickness so she was pretty spent by mid afternoon. But a nice worker found some Ibuprofen for us and that kept her going for a bit longer. It was a full day with lots of fun!

Oh, I didn't mention but since it was New Year's morning there were hardly any people in the park for the first 3 hours. It was so great. Everyone else had stayed up the night before, but not us :). 

Day 3. Just random beach and play day. The kids even went swimming even though it was only high 60's outside. They were frozen by the end but had fun. Cade took the older 4 kiddos to the Newport temple to do baptisms. 

Day 4. We took Grandpa and Shepherd to Disneyland with us. We had a great time at Starwars land and all the things. Unfortunately Lucy got a fever that afternoon so she ran out of energy and fell asleep on the sidewalk just before the parade started. 

We loved the time with our girls though. So much fun. 

End of the trip. The last day us ladies went out to a fancy restaurant and walked the shops and beach. It was so nice to go out with just us! That evening we also had a glow dance party and had a blast. We always have so much fun with this side of the family! And we also love that we have a giant van that gives us space on our road trips. Makes us look forward to lots of fun times ahead!