Susanna turns 4

I'm not sure how time can go by so quickly.  It seems like only yesterday she was born.  Susanna is super smart and is reading some already.  She loves everything girly and sparkly.  She is a sweetie and keeps me laughing and entertained during the day while all the other kids are at school.    I am amazed at how fast she learns and absorbs things from the older kids.  

 We had church from 1 - 4pm and then we came home and made dinner and Susanna's cake.  By the time we were ready to party, it was about 7:30pm.  Susanna had fallen asleep.  She was dying from excitement all day, so we woke her up to do presents and cake. 

 She was hilarious.  She was so out of it.

 She thought she was smiling for these pictures.  We asked her if she wanted to get her presents and she said she did, but she sure didn't look like she wanted anything except for a pillow and blanket.

 She woke up a bit more as she opened presents.

This was the most excited that she got, but it didn't last long.  She didn't want to eat any cake and within a couple of minutes she was asleep hugging her new toys.  

This is the birthday song Richard grew up with.  We sing it every birthday as tradition.  Susanna loved it as you can tell.  Love you Suzu!  Mmmwwwaaa!

Impromptu Alger Gathering

Kris and Aric were in town for a few days.  Max went through the temple in preparation for his mission to New York.  We are so excited for him.  While they were here we decided to have any Algers that were available over for a visit.  I wasn't sure if any one was going to make it so I invited Jessi and her girls over too.  (Todd had meetings.)  We ended up have a good size group with Mike and his kids, Chad and Melissa with Gracie,  James and Laura with Leah, Grandpa Alger, Aric and Kris and their boys and Gavin and Cadie.  

 So cute, Daddy Aric and Daughter Cadie. 

I turned Tim loose with the camera to document the gathering.  He got some really interesting shots.  Chad hid from the camera all night.  He was playing some silly game.

 Chad and Melissa

He almost got a good picture of Mike, Rich and James if we could meld these two shots.  

 Gav and Gwen

 Grandpa, he's such a cutie!

 Classic Richard with Susanna

 Taylor and Heidi

 Taylor

 Max, Leah and Gracie

Poor Max, mid blink, but Leah looks gorgeous and Gracie is adorable.

 Jessi and Steph

 Chad hiding again

Lilli and Sara

It was a great evening.  It still makes me giggle that my little brother is  part of the Alger clan now.  It is fun to see him at all the family events.  We loved having Kris and Aric over.  We miss them since they moved to Idaho.  They leave a big hole in the family.  And we are so proud of Max.  We have the best nieces and nephews.  They are all growing into amazing people.

RAIN!!!

Yes, when it rains here we get excited.  It is so rare.  This was from about a month ago.  The kids were in heaven.  It really was a beautiful rain with the sun shining on a Sunday afternoon.

Church Prom

This was Sam's first formal event.  He took Madison as  his date.  They both looked amazing.  Here are some of the highlights.  They went with a group of kids to do photos and dinner at The Olive Garden.  Then they were off to the Prom.  Victor and his date Mariana were part of the group.

Victor, Mariana, Maddi and Sam

They decided Mariana's dress looked like it was made for the tango, so they tried it out.

Victor doing some deep thinking.  Ha, ha, what a funny kid he is!

Sara Alger CEO

Sara got to go on a field trip to Junior Achievers Biz Town.   "JA BizTown encourages students to learn about the free enterprise system by participating in a simulated town. Student experiences vary from working in a bank, a television station, or a retail store, to managing personal finance, writing checks and accounting. Students realize the relationship between what they learn in school and their successful participation in a simulated economy."  It  was a day of hard work and lots of fun.  The kids studied about  the ins and outs of  business in preparation for the trip.  Sara got to be CEO of a restaurant.  She actually ended up doing a lot of work running the food side of the business as well as the office stuff.  She dressed for the part in her most business-like attire.  She looked so grown up and pretty.  It was an awesome experience for her.  She was tired when she got home, but she had a great time.

 

She makes my heart smile!

February / March Family Birthday Party

Here are the highlights of the latest Ely birthday bash.  We had 8 birthdays to celebrate, 

Uncle Eric, Tony, Tim, Steph, Jonah, Tori, Dandi and Daniel.  

 Aren't my sisters so pretty!

 Tony and Wendy always bring a grab bag of mystery candy and little presents for the birthday people.  The kids LOVE it!

 We had the party on St. Patrick's Day, so almost everyone had on green.  

 One of Daniel's gifts was fruit snacks.  He love it.  We  never buy them and so it was really a treat.  He was super sweet about it and shared a lot of them.

 Tim was trying to have crazy hair, but it actually was kinda cute.  

 Dandi modeling some of her new jewelry for us. 

 I love this picture of Ben lovin' on his sweet little Danica.  She is such a pretty baby!

 The expressions on Eric and Tony's faces make me laugh!

Uncle Eric brought the cake.  It was so cute and "magically delicious"!  (a little Lucky Charms humor)

 I had to include this lovely picture of Sam sporting an old dress up hat.  I am not sure what inspired this but it did look....    awesome?

I love our family parties.  Growing up I was always jealous of my friends that had lots of cousins and aunts and uncles, and grandparents close by to grow up with.  I am glad my kids get to have that experience.