Two Birthdays, One Party

As many of you know, my two sweets were born just two years and one week apart.  The closeness of their birthdays has lent itself well to hosting just one party for both of them.  I love parties, but I definitely am not disappointed about having just one party for both of them at this point in the parenting years.  Instead of telling you all about it...I am going to show you just how much fun we had this year...

Pretty flowers in my Grandma's china

Peanut butter and jelly bar

Kevin's artwork...and crockpots

Isn't he the cutest?

My sweet friend Paige and Cooper drove over for the party...it was so fun to spend some time with them!

We tried to get all the kids in for a picture...it was comical.

Sorry, Todd.  I couldn't resist.

Hay rack ride...thanks Papa Gary!

My sweet boys

We had so much fun seeing Uncle John, Aunt Hillary, Katie, and Baby David.  Katie even let us borrow her tractor for the day! :)

My sweet cousin and her daughter, Sadie, drove my Grandma over from Ottumwa.  It was so fun to see them and show them around the farm. :)

These cookies were a hit with Luke.

Claire and Lily

It was the sweetest thing to watch Luke while everyone sang Happy Birthday to him.  He was mesmerized.  

It's a...Girl!!

That's right.  Kevin and I are adding a baby girl to our family this fall.  We can hardly believe it.  I was sure we were going to have a boy, so you can imagine my surprise when the ultrasound tech said...it's a girl!  Kevin and I are filled with such joy and are amazed at how God has blessed us in this life.  

Luke still has absolutely no idea that his world is about to be turned upside down come November.  I know he will be an incredible big brother and will love and look out for his little sister as they grow up together.  Not only are Kevin and I receiving the gift of parenting a daughter, but Luke will know what it's like to have a sibling and a built-in-best-friend (hopefully).  

Kevin and I hosted a small gender reveal party for our family on the Fourth of July.  It was a simple and fun get together and I am so grateful to both my parents and my sister-in-law and brother-in-law for making the trip to celebrate with us!  Here are some pictures from our special morning. 

The pretty cake from Bliss Bakery in Omaha.

Before the big reveal...

Papa Jeff and Luke

Luke revealing that he is going to have a baby sister.

A girl it is!

4th Annual Gingerbread Party

Last weekend was our 4th Annual Gingerbread Party.  It is a party we have with some of our friends to celebrate the Christmas season.  It is all for fun and is really just an excuse to all get together.  This year we opted for gingerbread people, as gingerbread houses have been a difficult task in the past.  

Kevin and I whipped up 10 gingerbread men and our friends came with supplies and snacks to complete the party.  Our gingerbread parties have changed from year to year, especially with the addition of kiddos.  This year there were four kids under two, which made the party just a little bit sweeter. 

We used Facebook to judge the winner, but not many people voted.  Soooo...if you would, please comment in the comment section below for your favorite gingerbread person so we can finally have a winner!  

#1: Ron Burgundy

#2: Herky

#3: The Nightmare Before Christmas

#4: Mark Twain 

#5: Jax from Sons of Anarchy

#6: Miley

#7: Micky Mouse

#8: ???

amelia, scarlet, luke

sweet jaxon

Happy Birthday, Shelby!

Birthdays!

The weekend after Thanksgiving we celebrated two very important people.  Gary turned 65 and his Dad, Gerald, turned 90.  It was a busy weekend with fun parties to attend and great people to see.  

We celebrated Gary's big birthday with a little Italian themed shin dig at his house.  Diane made some yummy food and Hillary brought a big bottle of Chianti to share with all of Gary's friends and family.  It ended up being the perfect night, as Iowa State beat West Virginia in triple overtime.  It was the perfect entertainment.  

On Sunday, we headed to Fox Run, where Gerald lives, to celebrate his 90th birthday.  There were crowds of people wishing Gerald the best.  There was a John Deere cake, of course, along with some of his tractors and pictures from his life on display.  I wish I would have taken a picture of it, but there was a picture of Gary as a six year old child and it looked EXACTLY LIKE LUKE.  Luke is definitely a Forristall.  It was a fun day to celebrate Gerald.

Cheers to two great Forristall men!

P.S. Family out there: If you would like to save a picture from this post, simply right click and hit 'save image as'.

father and daughter

they are such a cute couple

family

gerald and his memories

full family pic with gerald...gayle and marga even made the trip from germany!