Elle's 4th Birthday!

Just a bit late, but wanted to make sure Elle's big day didn't go undocumented. Calhoun cousins got into town the afternoon of the 16th. It was such a treat to have them at our house (their first and maybe only time coming to this house). I'm pretty sure Elle believed their visit was completely in honor of her birthday and I'm totally ok with that. With the craziness of company in town (the day before her birthday) and busyness of getting ready for a week long trip (leaving the day after her birthday), I tried extra hard to make it a super special day. She woke up to streamers, balloons, presents and a house full of fun! Her request was pancakes for breakfast. To accommodate our large crowd, we ate outside. The early morning sun was much too bright though so all the kids packed onto one side of the picnic table.

Spencer had to leave for work by 8am and Calhouns had to get on the road by 9am, so there wasn't much time to mess around. Right after breakfast Elle opened up presents.

She loved the new shoes from Aunt Tisha and all the dress up shoes from Calhoun cousins!

Elle also opened up barbies and a barbie car from Spencer and I, and more barbies and barbie doll clothes from Gram and Papa.

There was a little bit of time to play before we had to say goodbye. At least it wasn't a sad goodbye, we knew we'd be seeing the Calhouns the next day. But oh how we miss living close to these cousins! 

And love the shot of Elle holding herself here - it'll always help me remember how she was at this age. She'll hold it till the very last second!

At 10am Elle headed off to a swim lesson and special birthday play date with Lily Hays while I got to deal with a flat tire, a Costco trip, and getting 4 new tires on the van. Then it was home for Cal to get a nap, Elle to play with her new birthday toys, and me to start laundry, packing for our trip while also making cupcakes for our ward picnic at the park that night.

At 5pm we picked up Eric and Tyler before heading over to Valle Lindo Park. The kids ate hot dogs for dinner and were entertained with Nancy Sanchez's extra special games and face painting. She'd even gotten a special crown for our birthday girl, but Elle didn't want to wear it. The kids were having so much fun that we stayed past 8pm (totally unlike me - I'm a major stickler with bedtime).

Cupcakes for birthday dessert!

I got home with the kids around 8:30pm and Spencer still wasn't home from work. I was bummed that he had to miss Elle's entire birthday, but taking off a full week for our family reunion had it's cost - he worked till 10 or 11pm everyday for a week before the reunion, the week after the reunion, and even put in about 20 hours at the reunion. But by the time I'd tucked all the kids into bed, Spencer walked in the door and was able to say goodnight to the girls and hear all about Elle's special day.

Plus, we had done an early birthday celebration at Boppi and Grandpa Al's just 3 days earlier with presents . . .

. . . and her requested flower cake (which I made and Spencer decorated while I was gone at a Sunday morning meeting)!

Then the celebration continued when we got to Vegas with a present from Gram Rox. . .

. . . and the honor of being the first cousin to hold baby Leila!

Pretty sure Elle had a fabulous 4th birthday!