• Flashback Friday: Happy 5th Birthday!

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    Karlie with her Rocket Cake and Brina with her Princess Castle Cake made by Aunt Kristen!

    Today we flashback to February 2010 when the girls turned 5 years old!  It was a fun birthday party at our house.  We did a dual theme for the girls this year which was a lot more work than I initially realized!  Karlie was really into space and rockets while Brina was into princesses.

    Half of the house and party was about Space and the other half was about Princesses.  The nice part about the theme is that it appealed to both the boys and girls who attended the party.  We did a castle out of cardboard in Brina’s room and a rocket out of cardboard for Karlie that was put on the front porch.

    Somehow we didn’t get a picture of Karlie’s room inside the house where we put black trash bags on all the walls, stuck glow in the dark planets and stars on them, and replaced the lights with black lights.  It turned out really well, but it was darker so none of the pictures actually turned out which is a bummer.

    Aunt Kristen made the beautiful and delicious cakes for the girls birthday, which they LOVED!  The girls had a wonderful time celebrating their birthday and we are thankful for our family and friends who helped with the party and came out to make this day extra special for the girls.  Thankful for the blessing of these two girls!

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    Checking out the cool rocket that Daddy, Grandpa Russell, Uncle Lee, and Uncle Josh stayed up after the kids went to bed to build.

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    They had no idea that the guys were building a rocket (and castle, see below) for them!  As they were eating breakfast the guys rang the doorbell and “delivered” their special party props!  They were so excited!

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    Karlie hugging her rocket (notice she is wearing her favorite rocket pjs)!  Too cute!  She was thrilled and kept going back outside to play with her rocket!

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    Had to check everything out!

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    After a few minutes of coming back into the house the back doorbell rang and the guys delivered the other party prop, a giant cardboard castle!  Daddy, Grandpa Russell, Uncle Lee, and Uncle Josh worked on putting this together and painting it after the girls went to bed the night before the party.  They were super excited!

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    The castle was huge!  They are standing on chairs in order to peek through it!  The castle was a big hit in the princess room!

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    Dad and Grandpa Russell putting the finishing touches on the castle!  It had a tower, door, and even a roman numeral “V” flag on it!

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    Time for all the princesses and princes to come to the party!  The castle was a big hit with all the kids!

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    Karlie all smiles as she sits by the easel.  She loved coming outside to check on her rocket which was next to the easel!

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    Hanging out in her rocket as people started arriving.  Very content to stay right there with her special rocket!

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    Brina’s princess cake turned out beautifully – thanks Aunt Kristen!

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    Karlie LOVED her rocket cake!  Thank you Aunt Kristen!

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    Lighting the candles!  Kristen put candles at the back of the rocket so it looked like it was taking off – so cool!

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    Getting something to eat and hanging out with cousins!

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    Grandma Penny and Brina putting a puzzle together!  Super fun!

  • Birthday Celebration

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     Happy Birthday breakfast

    The girls got two of their birthday wishes on their birthday – one was that they would have snow on their birthday and the second was that they would not have to go to school because of a snow day.  They got both wishes and were very excited.  It’s not every day you get out of school on a Wednesday for snow in South Carolina.  Thankful for these two girls and look forward to many more amazing memories this year with them.  They each got to pick out what they wanted to eat for their birthday breakfast.  For their special birthday dinner they wanted a Seafood Meal at home.

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    Karlie had eggs with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and cheese in them.

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    Brina had a slice of cinnamon swirl breakfast cake.

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     My sister-in-law Becky shared a chocolate cake recipe with me that was both egg and dairy free so I decided to try it for their birthday.  It turned out really well.  They loved it.  You couldn’t even tell that it was egg and dairy free.  The flavor reminded me of my Grandma Doris Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake she used to make from scratch.

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     The girls wrote out a list of inside and outside activities they wanted to do on their birthday since they were home from school due to the snow.  Even though they didn’t get to do all the items on the list I would say they did the majority of them.  We packed a lot of fun activities into the day.

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    For their family birthday dinner they requested a seafood meal and specifically asked for King Crab.  They love seafood and the King Crab was a hit and they are getting better at digging out the meat without assistance.

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    Jake and I picked up Mai-Mahi steak burgers to try as well for their seafood  birthday meal.  The Mai-Mahi steak with the fresh bakery bun, lettuce, and tomatoes were a tasty hit too!  Thankful for our girls and that we can celebrate another birthday with them!

  • Happy 10th Birthday Brina & Karlie! We Love You!

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    Happy Birthday Brina & Karlie!

    Wishing our two beautiful daughters a very special 10th birthday!  Today is a bitter sweet day.  They now in the double digits which feels like such a big step in them growing up.  We are so excited to be celebrating our twin daughters 10th birthday, but at the same time we are in shock that they could be turning 10 already.  The time has gone by way too fast and our babies are growing up!

    Thankful for these two amazing blessings in our life.  There is not a day that goes by that we do not thank God for giving us these two precious gifts.  God has richly blessed our lives with these sweethearts.

    Brina and Karlie both fill our home with excitement, laughter, and a lot of fun activity.  While they were born on the same day they could not be more different.  Thankful for the gifts and talents God has given each one.  Brina has a big heart for animals and Karlie has dreams of one day blasting off into space!  We are proud of them and look forward to watching them grow up into beautiful young ladies.

    Praying that God will continue to work in their hearts and lives this year as well as give us wisdom as parents in raising them.  Wishing them a year packed for awesome memories, growth, good health, and so much more!  Happy 1oth Birthday Brina and Karlie!  We LOVE you more than you can imagine!!!  Hope your birthday is truly OUT OF THIS WORLD!

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    We LOVE you!!!

  • Birthday Celebration!

    Happy Birthday, Red Velvet Birthday Cake, Gifts, Games, Food, and More

    The birthday candles kept relighting!

    It has been a crazy few months around our house!  Recently, I had the privilege of celebrating another birthday.  It was a wonderful day!  This year my birthday fell on a Saturday so Jake and the girls made me breakfast, we had delicious food, played games, read books, relaxed, opened gifts, ate cake, and ended the day by watching a movie together.

    The cards, gifts, texts, phone calls, messages, emails, and all the best wishes made my day super special.  Thankful for my family, friends, the opportunity to celebrate another year, and the many amazing blessings in my life.  I have so many great memories and praying that this upcoming year is packed full of even more!

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    Delicious red velvet cake picked up by my sweet Handsome!

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    It was rich and tasty!

    Birthday Gifts, Birthday Cards

    Cards and goodies from my family.  They each picked out and wrapped their own gifts!  I even got some cute birthday “notes” on a couple packages! 🙂

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    The perfect appetizer before a yummy birthday dinner!

  • Happy Birthday Brina & Karlie!

    Happy 8th Birthday Brina and Karlie!  We love you sweet girls more than words can say! Wishing you both many more amazing years packed full of great memories!  🙂  We are thankful for the our beautiful girls and the many rays of sunshine they bring into our lives!  We are so blessed to be your parents!

    Lots of LOVE & HUGs,

    Dad & Mom

    XOXO

  • Happy Birthday to My Handsome Man!

    Wishing Jake a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 

    I am so thankful for my amazing husband and all he does for our family. He is generous, kind, and loves me despite all my craziness.  Wishing him many more awesome years packed full of great memories.  I am looking forward to celebrating this special day with him.

    Another really cool part about Jake’s birthday is he shares it with two other family members – his Grandpa Conklin and my Uncle Rick!  Happy Birthday to Grandpa and Uncle Rick! May it be a wonderful birthday for both of you!

    Photo credit

  • Happy Birthday Brina & Karlie!

    Happy 7th Birthday to Brina & Karlie!  We love you sweet girls.  It is amazing how quickly these last few years have gone by and we are thankful for the many wonderful memories we have shared.  Wishing both of you many more awesome years of great times! 🙂

    Photo Credit