The Tangled Birthday!

It all began with a long yellow braid. Ella helped me plan her first big birthday party: she wanted a tower invitation, yarn braids for streamers, and a Rapunzel cake. We set out to make dreams come true.

The braid sounded simple enough, until it got, well tangled.
   

After some persistence and a few hours, we had ourselves a braid! I had to cut it in half and work from both ends to get all the tangles out... below is one half of it that I let the girls play with.

Ella wore it all over town one day, and wanted to wear it to preschool, but I had a feeling it might be a distraction!

Speaking of preschool, she felt so special when she got to take a birthday treat, wear a crown, and got a special present from her teacher!

Happily, the big day finally arrived and Ella took the last link off her countdown! She said correctly, "I have been begging for this day!"

They came downstairs to streamers and banners strung, and our little elf Fisbee who came back from the North Pole for his Christmas season visitations!

We started the day off with Ella's choice of birthday cereal.

Then onto the presents right away! There were some key items the princess would need for her royal affair...

Everyone helped her dress for the occasion. 

Even her baby got dressed up to match.

And then the royal friends began to arrive, along with Buzz Lightyear!

We started the party off with a Pascal chameleon craft.

Then onto some pin the frying pan on Flynn Rider.

Her friends were so sweet and generous.... this girl got spoiled!

And then the big moment: CAKE TIME! My first attempt at fondant was good enough to please the little princess.

It was fun to have Daddy around for the festivities, along with Grandma Osmond, Auntie Dana, and other friends.

After the party Grandma and Grandpa Jensen arrived in town and we met them for birthday lunch at Zupas, Ella's choice! As if we needed more excitement, then we headed out to find a Christmas tree! 

The kids ran around and got lost among the trees to their hearts' content, while we found a beauty! We loaded it in the old truck and headed home to decorate. 

 Princess Rapunzel met the Daddy delivery and allowed him to enter.

She was really excited to help decorate this year!

It was Maddie's turn to put the star on top. She's getting so big Daddy had to resort to holding her pants.

Later in the evening, Grandma and Grandpa came back to bestow more gifts on the birthday girl. So fun!
 

The little 4 year old ended her "best birthday ever!" in her new Tangled jammies, with her new purple Hello Kitty to snuggle! What a lucky, lucky girl. We love her to pieces!

Holiday Break

We started Thanksgiving with the traditional Macy's Parade. It was fun to watch the singing and dancing as I made rolls.

Tyler couldn't wait another minute so we broke out appetizers in the car. They thought it was so funny to eat them off their fingers.

We had turkey dinner at the Nelson's this year, and Rachel was a kind hostess. The spread with this family is always incredibly amazing.... I should have taken a picture of all the food!

Grandma cooked the turkey and Lynn did the carving.

Tyler munched on carrots and found the piano while we waited. 

My girls love all the attention from their cousins. 

This is the best we got of a family picture. Mike was a good sport and held the wiggly toddler on his knee so I could enjoy my meal. He looked over at me and said, "You're in heaven, aren't you?" That's a good way to describe the experience. It's worth waiting for once a year.

After dinner and some movie downtime, the kids needed to get energy out so Mike took them outside to play fox and the pie!

The fox waiting to catch her prey.

 Ella and Ty mostly chased the kitty.

I realized I didn't get a single picture with my turkeys so we posed on in pajamas at the end of the day.

We finished off a fun day wrestling and playing with Daddy!

The next day we took advantage of holiday break to get together with Mike's siblings again for a game night. Pizza, popcorn, yummy treats, and games made for a fun evening.

A little Blokus in the front room.

Four square in the basement lasted about 5 minutes.

Monopoly in the dining room.

And Pictionary in the living room (after the BYU soccer game was finally over!).

The next day was still a lazy day.... love it! We decided it was time to Deck the Halls.

My little helpers did some prep work.

Their favorite was unpacking and setting up the nativities.

My amaryllis is blooming just in time.

I am loving my new hutch with Christmas accents. 

 Someday I will have a mantle, but for now the stockings are hung here.

Daddy got to work too and hung the lights outside. 

Good thing it was a little warmer than last year! However, now that's done I'm ready for some Christmas snow!

The best part about the holiday was having Daddy around all the time. It's hard to go back to real life after being spoiled!