Alaina's Birthday

Lainy requested two things for her birthday; a party with friends and an ice-cream bar. To make things even better, my parents promised to come celebrate her day with us.

The party with friends request was a little tricky. When I asked Lainy who she wanted to invite she listed a whole bunch of friends from Seattle. I had to explain that we could only invite friends from Spokane which was, well, a little sad for her. Since we moved here not long ago the list was much shorter (made up mostly of the resident families we have hung around with all summer) but we were able to get a fun group together. We held the party a few days before Lainy's birthday. Her little friends (and moms) were so sweet to come and so sweet to give her fun gifts. She had a blast! Thank you so much, friends!

The ice-cream bar was totally easy and completely Lainy's idea. When we lived in Seattle she loved going to Menchie's - a self-serve, pay by the ounce frozen yogurt place. We went there a lot and have missed having it a block away. So we made our own! We went to the store, picked ice-cream flavors and a whole bunch of toppings, and had a great spread. It was really fun! I think we'll do more ice-cream bars in the future...

As promised, my parents got into town the morning of Lainy's birthday. They were so sweet to do more traveling (they had just barely returned from a trip to Africa). We spent a fun couple of days together celebrating our favorite 5-year-old and hearing all about Africa. We love you Mom and Dad!

Gotta love Leah's face in this one. ha ha!

Happy Birthday Lainy! We love you to pieces!

P.S. I have decided that I need to take more pictures at significant events - somehow I only end up snapping a few. Are any of you like that too?