Saturday was a very special day for our family!! One we have been looking forward to for a long time!!! In our church "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" when you reach the age of 8 you reach the age of "accountability" (able to choose between right and wrong) and you are able to be baptized and become an official member of our church. Lys turned 8 in January and has been so excited for her special day. Almost all of Ryan's side of the fam were in attendance (including his parents and brother who drove from Cali) along with my brother Justin, her school/church teachers who she adores and friends from church.
Found this cute invite on pinterest and lys loved it right away!
I love this sweet girl and her testimony of Jesus Christ.
And when I saw these two loves of my life coming down the hall in their baptism jumpsuits I lost it, like I knew I would (i'm a crier). I have never seen my daughter or husband look more amazing than at that moment (other than the day she was born). It truly was the best day ever knowing that my daughter was taking such a huge step in her life and grateful my husband is worthy and able to baptize her and is such a great example/father to her. We enjoyed lunch with family and friends afterward at our home which I failed to take pics of but it was a lot of fun and such a great, special day I will never forget it. As a baptism gift we bought Alyssa her first full set of scriptures which she chose a small blue set with her name engraved in gold lettering! She was given a journal by her aunt which she is already making good use of and received a beautiful baptism book from her Grammy Marty!! We are so grateful for her example to her sisters too. Melayna walked into her preschool class on Friday and announced to everyone: "My lyssa's getting baptized" with a big smile on her face!!!!
This is my beautiful 1st born Alyssa, she turned 8 (can you believe it?!?!?) on Thursday. In our church, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" turning 8 is a big deal because you have reached the age of accountability. You are able to be baptized and become an official member.
Anyway, I really wanted this to be such a special, memorable birthday for her so we pulled out all the stops, thanks in part to my new addiction Pinterest. My first sweet idea was to start a new tradition of a new birthday outfit which she is wearing in this picture. Who doesn't like a brand new outfit especially on your birthday. She was so excited to open this and wear it to school!
Very first thing she woke up to tho was a balloon avalanche which I failed to take a picture of but was something like this, and Mr Loftin and I were laying in bed and heard her say "Whoaaaaa that was awesome" along with giggling from her and Bells!!! Which in turn made us giggle with excitement!
And I wish I would've captured it on camera as well but with two littles in tow sometimes you just forget. She has been dying for Mom to come have lunch with her at school for some time and I finally decided what better time would there be than her birthday, so that just what I (We) , Melayna, Sam, and I did! We offered to take her to lunch when we got there but she wanted Mom to stay and eat at school and let me tell you I felt like a rockstar I loved it. Apparently kids think you're really cool when your not at home, I don't know, because all my primary kids were coming up saying hi, giving hugs it was quite nice actually. If you ever need to feel good about yourself go eat in the cafeteria its very cool and strange how cool they act like you are. K, I'm way off subject but seriously tho it was a lot of fun and I will be eating there more often now!
Then came the preparations for the party. We (I) should've started this at least a week before but you know how things go. I decided kinda last minute I didn't want to do the party favor we've mostly done before which is candy and trinkets of some sort crammed into a bag and send you on your way, thanks for coming! Which btw is totally fine and good. but like I said I wanted this one to be extra special, so Lys and I got onto you guessed it.... Pinterest and found the cutest Gumball Necklace for our party favor @ itswrittenonthewalls we wanted to make and it looked easy enough so we got to it! And this baby girl of mine was such a great helper!
Who knew right? Gumballs and Ribbon and wala!
Models
turned out kinda cute!!!
Here is the assortment!
Found these cute favor purses at Hobby Lobby for cheap!
So our party was a Glam party and we did it on her actual bday after school and did hair , makeup and nails and dress-ups. Which at this age is perfect because they don't get to do it every day yet and what little girl doesn't like to be a little pampered and dress up like that right?!
My funny husband (Mr. Loftin) took on the role of photog and was cracking me up, telling the girls to do all these wacky poses like (Deb from Napolean Dynamite) and Zoolander
I guess this one is like Gangsta thug life? Not sure but they are hardcore cuties all the way!!! (Check Melayna out) Hah!
side note: please note Melayna keeping in full character with her costume. These are Alyssa's Besties at school the twins (Paige and Preslee) and Faith or Faithy like Alyssa calls her (who we are so sad is moving away at the end of the month). They have developed the sweetest friendship it has been so neat to watch.
Ok so I didn't pull out all the stops exactly.......I know I know.
present time!
The two pics above are of the cute shirt we ( Bells and I) made for her! On it is a picture of the two of them and the caption reads "I love being with u" totally Bella's choice and so cute and perfect. We found these T-shirt transfers in my desk drawer back from when Ryan was playing ball for Oregon and I being his biggest fan would sometimes make T-shirts to wear to his games, so we found 1 left in the pkg and I mentioned to Bella maybe she could make sister a shirt for her bday and she was all over it! Took a minute to remember how to do it again since that was almost 10 years ago but I figured it out and was so excited and she loves her shirt!!! I love meaningful gifts the most!
I scored this on Black Friday and was pumped!!! It's an electric scooter and I just feel bad we have all this snow and ice out here because it makes it hard to use this or the girls new bikes they all got for Christmas! Oh well Spring will be here in T-minus 3 monthsish right?!? We also got her tickets to the "Hip-Hop Violinist" Lindsay Stirling who she is pretty pumped about, seeing how I fibbed to her her before Christmas and told her they were all sold out, HaH!! So sneaky!
These two loves of my life went out Sat night for the traditional birthday daddy daughter date and ate at Tepenyaki, lyssa's favorite and had a ball together!!
Do I dare even try.......... So much has happened before and since my last post.
These sweet sisters along with two others not pictured (Chan and Melissa) threw this mama a shower
going back to before Samantha was born
My sweet Auntie's who I never get a chance to see popped in for the occasion. My Aunt and I look nothing alike huh!
Some friends from my ward in attendance!!
Bella and Lys got to be in the Lehi Round Up Parade with their gymnastics teams!!! (Bell is the itty bitty in the center and lys is behind her in the black and red)
Our hot chicks enjoying a treat after the parade
Recovered my old foot rest for my glider for Samanatha's Room! So excited to see it so clean and nice looking again and sure nuff one of the girls came along shortly after the fact and dirtied it all up again. At least I have a picture of it!
Made a name plaque for Bella
Loved making this fun glitter frame project I found @ http://eighteen25.blogspot.com
Which I ended up making Halloween and Christmas ones too!
I just had to capture this pretty girl one Sunday after church!
This guy finally got his wish! We had lots and lots and lots of concrete poured in the back yard after much debate I actually am glad we did it!
Precious little Samantha in her Daddy's arms!
We blessed this precious baby on August 7th! With the whole Loftin fam there and Celebrated that and Melayna's Bday all in one swoop!
This sweet little elmo lover had her 2nd birthday!
Daddy is such a good sport!
My sweet mama was able to come visit for the 1st time since we've moved here!
I turned another year old and got to celebrate with my mom and fam!
This cute girl played T-ball over the summer and loved it!!!
My sweet friend Andrea (what a great name eh?!?! :) giving my girls a ride on her horse! (one the true hightlights of their year!)
I've decided I will catch up in doses partly because otherwise this post would reach all the way to China and secondly its 1:03 am currently and I have hit a wall and know I will be paying for it in the morning. Hey at least tomorrow is Friday right?!?!
I am a stay-at-home mama of 3 almost 4 beautiful little girls and a wifey to a hot hard working hubby who I completely adore. We have been married almost 9 years and they've been the greatest years of my life! I love playing with my girls when I finally take a second to relax long enough during the day, shopping, being in the sun, running, cooking/eating, and spending time whenever I can with my handsome man.
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