Toph's Birthday... The Big One-Nine!

That's right, folks! Toph is officially 19! (ack!)

Dad made the most delicious Chicken Louie for dinner, and then we had scrumptious cake and ice cream for dessert! We had great friends and great times!

According to the cake, Toph turned 24... do not be deceived!

I finally got one of Toph really smiling...

We took this picture 3 times before we were both smiling instead of making the Kool-Aid man face... ha ha ha...

The party! (Only half the couch was paying attention...)

The cutest kids of the evening:

After everyone left...


Happy Birthday Toph! We love you so much! We've enjoyed the last 19 years and look forward to many, many more! *Muah!*

Dual Birthday Bash

Toph and Roxy decided to celebrate our birthdays together this year. We threw a huge Birthday Bash on the Friday between our birthdays. We invited all our friends and partied hard! It was so much fun! We played volleyball and ping pong and roasted starburst and marshmallows and then danced for hours!

The best surprise of the evening was a strange duo that snuck in dressed for a costume party... It was our cousins James and Bridgette!!! They drove down from Boise just for this occasion! Thanks guys! We were THRILLED to see you!!!

I didn't take a lot of pictures. In fact, I charged up my camera and then left it in charge of the music while I danced... but we had a blast! Here's the Carter girls with our dear friend Sara! It was a splendid evening!

FUNNY STORY!

Once upon a time... there is an absolutely HYSTERICAL story that I have been prohibited from posting on the blog. I can, however, tell you to email Karen for the funniest story in ages! If you need her email, let us know...

Yahoo! You're 22!

I love birthdays.

I love them a lot!

This birthday was no different.

Thanks to everyone who made this day SO wonderful for me!

Dad made me delicious stir fry (with a secret ingredient...) and also a wonderful cake! Toph and I got to sample the frosting...

There are more than 22 candles on this cake... but for the sake of decoration, they were allowed to melt with the others!

This picture is posted for the Schows... thank you for leading Toph to this very inspirational book!

Toph and Parker... too cute for words! Those boys sure love each other!

Grama D gave me an absolutely beautiful painting! I am in love with it. The colors are exquisite! This picture doesn't do it justice!
(and, yes I'm wearing clothes behind the painting...)

I LOVE birthdays! :)

Thanks for everyone who made this day SO wonderful! Love to all!

Pre-Birthday Noodle-rs

Once upon a time, there was a wonderful restaurant named Noodles & Co.
It was one of Roxy's favorites. Enough that she was on their spam list.
Noodles sent Roxy a birthday present: a free meal!
So, she and her friend Susi (who had never been to Noodles) decided to leave right as soon as work was done and go have a girl's night in Layton!*
We only took pictures at dinner, but the evening included dinner, the mall, and visiting Susi's cousin. Woot!

Susi and her food. Pretty.

Yep, that's right, half of this meal was FREE! I love birthdays!


*For the record, the last time Roxy and Susi went out for a legit girl's night, they got banned from shopping together for a long time. They used the system well, however, taking advantage of the fact that Susi's husband was out of town, and Roxy has no commitments other than her own pocketbook. :)

Pre-Mission Visit

We were very fortunate to have cousin John and uncle John here for the weekend. John (the younger) got his mission call and enters the MTC on Wednesday! They flew in last weekend and spent Saturday and Sunday night at our place! :) We're so excited for all the wonderful adventures ahead, and we were truly honored that they would come spend some time with us before John leaves!

John (the Uncle) is Karen's brother. She was thrilled to see them!

Siblings!

Toph had already left for work, but we got one last picture with the cousins before the Johns left.

Check out those good looking men! :)

Best wishes John! You'll be in our prayers!

Nina's Birthday

Nina did it! She made it to double digits! We had a fantastic time celebrating first with a party with all her friends, then later with family over for delicious (and pretty) cake!


The birthday girl:

Nina's favorite thing in the entire world right now is a fad called Webkinz. (Be careful to check it out: you may get hooked!) So, she was spoiled with a few more to add to her collection.

Nina with Melissa the Manatee:

and Millie the Raccoon:

and Ally the Crocodile:

It was a great party!
Happy Birthday, darlin'!