Chase's Princess Party

The morning of Chase's party couldn't have been more lovely.  It was a cooler autumn morning as it had rained a few days prior.  The grass was a bit squishy, but overall, COULD NOT have asked for a better day!

The setting was gorgeous.  We actually found this little grove of trees covering picnic tables 2 blocks from our house.  We'd walked by it for years, but never thought twice about it.  It was perfect.

Great Grandma Heinkel's beautiful pom poms really made it look special!

Sweet little brudder along for the ride...probably not the last time he's at a princess party!

When the girls arrived they could decorate a painted picture frame... 

...then Princess Belle arrived!!!

First she crowned Chase as Princess Chase...

...and then she was able to introduce all of her friends and they were part of the Royal Court...

but she was a little too nervous to do this, so Belle did it.

Next she read a story to the little girls about her life and while that was happening, her assistant started to do each of the little girls' hair...

YOU COULD HEAR A PIN DROP HERE FOLKS!

...then they were able to get their make up done (some of the daddy's were not too pleased!)

This is what Brudder was up to at this point...

After make up, the girls ate a snack and Belle sang them some songs.  Her voice was awesome!

Then they could each get an autograph picture of her and their picture taken with her...

All of the sweet little Princesses...

Next we sang to Chase and ate cupcakes

Then came some running around and playing...

...and at the end of the morning, family photos...

:Four generations:

Good-Bye!  Thanks for coming...See ya next year!

{this moment}

A moment I want to pause, savor,  and remember.

Chase's 4th Birthday Week

It's hard to believe that our little baby girl turned 4...

John & I were remembering when she was a baby and those first few months and it felt like time had stood still.  The months couldn't go fast enough to get out of that "newborn" phase...

but here we are, four years later.  And we're all well and even have a new little guy in the mix!

I think we're a bit amazed that we made it!!

 We were really excited that my mom and grandmother were coming out to celebrate.  My grandma had been out here last about 7-8 years ago, so she hadn't even seen our "new" house!

I happened to mention it to her while talking to her about a month ago and she said she would come!!

They immediately played a card game!

 And then the next day I put them to work!!  If you come to one of my parties, you get to contribute to it!

Mom worked on cupcakes:

And Grandma worked on making the 30 pom poms:

The next day Chase had her 4 year old well check, which was going to include getting her Kindergarten shots(she took it like a champ):

We even got a little rain...it was WONDERFUL!!

 Chase's actual birthday was on a Friday and that was also her special day at school where she could take in cupcakes and they would celebrate her.

While Chase was in school we visited a Farmer's Market near her school:

Chase had asked if we could go to Red Robin for her birthday dinner, so the three of us went there while Beck stayed home with Mimi & Great Grandma Heinkel.  We had a very long wait, then a yummy dinner that concluded with her being sung to by the servers which totally freaked her out!  She refused to eat her birthday sundae. Strange child.  Then they gave her a balloon upon leaving and that really freaked her out - too much responsibility not to let it fly off.

Chase loves playing with her babies so we got her a stroller from us:

Chase being sung to by her cousins...

....that's all for tonight...I'll post the princess party next time!