Life// Dad's Birthday

Last month, the day after Valentines Day to be exact, we had the privilege of celebrating Dad's birthday.

 Quite an assortment of gifts...

 We always have a hard time deciding what to make him for his gifts, but usually end up making food. Lots of different foods. He likes food... And this year we made him his very own cookie cake. (Piping by Layla)

Our Dad is awesome. Period. He carries the weight of everything. He juggles a full time job, full time school and full time family. And still smiles and makes us smile!
He teaches us in the way we should go daily.
                He always make up some little song for each occasion. Even when I'm just doing dishes. 
       He is quite a dork, I must say.
And I love him. I wouldn't trade him for any other dad in the world.
We LOVE you, Dad!
                 

Life// Layla's Birthday

We have yet again celebrated another birthday, Layla's 21'st birthday was on the 31'st. We all had a great time!

We ate cake, drank milk, and passed around the presents, resulting in a rather large array of gift wrapping and cake crumbs.

After presents and cake, we went out to eat lunch. (Cake before lunch! Whaat?)

 We went to a lovely Cafe and Creperie called The Aviary. It was delicious and super photogenic!

 Afterwards, we walked around in Bass Pro. Watched the ducks and fish, played in the boats and...

...took our annual Bass Pro family photo. Turned out a little differently than usual. (Dad and I are absent in this one)

The day was great! 
I am so thankful that Layla decided to spend her 21st birthday with us instead of celebrating like most people her age do. It is so nice to be able to spend so much time with my best friend!
I love my sis! She's not afraid to be herself and we can always talk to each other when we need a listening ear. I thank the Lord daily for blessing me with her!

Love,
Hagen

Liam// 82 Days Old

This post will be mostly pictures.
They speak for themselves...

 Man, he's just such a cutie! 

He's been giggling a lot, and already loves his tummy-time!

I can't believe he's already almost three months but at the same time, can't believe he isn't older! He's a chunker!

Here is a little video I took of him the other night. Enjoy!
Love,
Hagen

Life// Eli's Birthday

 As you may have noticed, Eli is quite crazy. I can't seem to capture a moment where he is at all serious. I guess that just might be because he never really is....

  He turned six on the 20th, where does the time go?

 He couldn't choose whether he wanted to eat cake first or open presents first, so he did both.

 Amazing Batman attire, made by Layla.

 Horse wood-burning, made by Gabe.

 The birthday cake was scrumptious, a soft chocolate cake topped with whipped coconut cream.

It was quite a day!
Eli is always the one to make us laugh when we are down and always looks on the bright side.  I am so thankful to have him as my brother!
Love,
Hagen

Life// Matilda's Birthday

On the 11th of this month, our sister Matilda turned 9!

Hagen and I woke- up extra early to decorate. We decorated the house with pink balloons and ribbons. Hagen whipped up an adorable little bunting, too!

About to blow out the candles!

Look at those happy faces...

A pair of girly wristlets.

A craft box made by Hagen. (I feel a tutorial coming soon!)

Her dream is to be a potter, so our parents bought her some pottery clay!

She requested a lemon cake this year and I must say, it turned out terrific! 

I will be posting my recipe for this cake very soon!

Matilda is such a sweet, smart and crafty girl. Not to mention, she has a great sense of humor! She's spunky, yet girly. She's special and we love her!

Hope you are having a great weekend!
Love from,
Layla

Life// A Surprise Baby Shower

  We did it, we actually pulled it off. After months of careful and secretive planning, we were able to throw Mom a surprise baby shower. Man, was she surprised! With a lot of help from a friend, it was a success. Friends came from hours away to celebrate our Mom. She really had no idea! You can see from the pictures how happy/ surprised/ flabbergasted she was...

 I bet you want to know how we got her to the party, huh? It's a funny story...
After buying her a maternity dress for the party, we couldn't figure out how to give it to her and get her out of the house without spilling the beans. We decided to give her the dress and say,"We have something special for you at 2 'o clock today." The morning of the party she wasn't feeling too good, but we had to get her there on time! We gave her the dress and said our lines. She thought we were going to do a maternity shoot of her, so we took that idea and ran with it! She got dressed and ready, not too excited since she wasn't feeling that great. But we got her in the car, and drove to the building. When we pulled up, she questioned why we were there. We said we had set up a studio for her shoot and not to worry. Hagen ran in first to "make sure the lights were on" while I helped her out of the car. We walked up to the building, I opened the door for her, and you can see her reaction!

Here I am telling her how surprised and thankful I was that we pulled it off! We feasted and visited, talked and laughed. Then she opened her gifts. From blankets to quilts, diapers to clothes, she was every blessed!

 We are just so thankful that everything fell into place. We prayed hard that it would be a special day for her, that she would feel loved and appreciated, and she did! Our Mom is wonderful and she deserved a day to be honored. If you haven't figured it out from the pictures, she is having a boy! We can't wait to meet our little brother soon. Thank you to all our friends who helped make this possible, and special thanks to the Lord who answered our prayers!
Love from,
Layla & Hagen