Party for my precious...

Today was Kayle's 4th Birthday party... she decided that she wanted an all girls, all pink Princess Party, so that is what I did for her... and that is what she got!  With the help of my lovely brother and his girlfriend when they were here on holiday, I managed to get as many pink things as I could.

We decorated the house so that it looked like a Princess Castle (I think!)

 We made Kayle a lovely birthday banner...

And we hung twinkle lights everywhere!

We got as many pink foods as we could!  My AMAZING Mummy bought tons of pink foods in England and sent them over with my crazy cousin Sarah who is here on holiday at the moment.

Sarah and I spent about 2 hours making Kayle's Princess Castle Birthday Cake.  We had so much fun doing it... it was hilarious putting on all the little decorative balls.

And here is my absolutely fabulous dress that Kayle picked out for me to wear from the Charity/ Thrift Store... she decided that I had to have the most sparkly dress she could find!  And she made me a special necklace to wear and found me a crown!

My cousin Sarah went all out and got a blue fairy set... she rocked her wand so well!

The girls arrived and the party begun!  They loved all their flashing mircophones!

They also got to get a tattoo... and make a necklace.

Then they all sat down to eat their pink food... which they all really enjoyed!  Some of the comments included 'can you believe we get to eat dessert before dinner!'

Kayle had so much fun sitting with her friends and enjoying her pink food!

The girls had fun too... promise!

Then it was time for the birthday cake!  

All our beautiful princesses!

After cake and photos, it was time for presents!  

Kayle was so excited that she got gifts!  I told her not to expect any...

 Kayle was so tired at the end of the day... 

Kayle also threw all of her dummies/ pacifiers in the bin now that she had her birthday party and is a 'Big Girl'.  She did very well at first but once it came time to actually go to bed, she was a little upset.  She kept telling me that she couldn't close her eyes without her dummie!  She eventually fell asleep after about 25 minutes of crying!

We had a wonderful day and are so grateful to all of Kayle's friends for making he day so special!

Stevie Boy comes to visit!

Uncle Steven and Auntie Jenny came to visit!  We were so excited to have them come and see us, we had such a great time.

 First stop... Red Robin for lunch!  

We took them on the new Seattle Observation Wheel .  It was really fun to go on.  Kayle loved having them here!

 We went to the Issaquah Salmon Days Festival and walked around.  It was really fun to be part of the celebration.  Kayle got to make a sock puppet... (with alot of help from Uncle Steven!)

 We went and had a yummy lunch at the North Bend Bar and Grill... Kayle had fun walking along the railway track with Uncle Steven.

One of our 'Must-Do's' was to go for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, so we took Steven and Jenny out and enjoyed another delicious dinner! 

One of our last stops was to take Jenny up the Space Needle.  It's become a bit of a tradition for Kayle to have the big fish in the picture... so, of course, here it is!  She loves that thing!   

We also took Jenny to Pikes Place Market and while there got a drink from the First ever Starbucks.  Kayle was so excited to get a Hot Chocolate from Uncle Steven.

 We had such a wonderful time with Steven and Jenny... Kayle loves her Uncle and Auntie!

Kayles 1st Fish

While we were away in Oregon, Jason bought Kayle a fishing rod and taught her how to fish...

This is a video of Kayle catching her first ever fish!  It was priceless... I was so proud of her!

Make Memories

I took this post from my Caring Bridge site to share on here... I thought it was important to share this with as many people as possible!

So... what have we been doing since I last wrote to you!  Well, we have been 'Making Memories'.  Our new family saying is 'Making Memories' and we are really enjoying it!

When you are faced with the possibility of not getting to see your child grow up and get married, you re-address everything and the way you think.  

There is a very special, extremely strong lady who is a friend of a friend, called Brea.  She was diagnosed a week after I was and has fought so hard to be cancer free.  She has been a great source of inspiration to me and has become a friend of mine.  She recently took a holiday with her husband and two daughters to make some family memories.  She was criticized by a person she knows, who didn't know the full story of her holiday, for going on a holiday when she has medical bills to be paid!  This upset me so much... it made me mad and it made me so determined to let Brea know that no matter what anyone says, she is doing the right thing.

Until you are faced with the situation both Brea and I have gone through and are still going through, you will never fully understand the importance of spending time with your family and doing fun and adventurous things with the people you love.  I love that I get to do things and go places I would never get to because of the Cancer... something good always comes out of something bad!

I encourage you to do the same... take one weekend a month and do something crazy... run into a lake fully clothed with your children watching and then laugh about it with them... do a cool craft together and make something your child can keep forever... learn to knit, and then make a cool blanket... learn to ride a horse... have a bonfire on the beach... just think of something that you have always wanted to do... and then go and do it with your love ones.  Take silly photos as you do it!  You don't have to have cancer to do fun things and make memories with your family and friends.

Jason, Kayle and I have spent a lot of time with our family and friends recently making memories and we have lots of people to thank for that.

Thank you to the Pattison Family for letting us stay in their house in Huntington Beach for nothing.

Thank you to my sister-in-laws friend who let us stay in their house in Oregon for nothing.

Thank you to all our friends who made the effort to come and see us... and ate dinner with us, made smores with us, sat around firepits with us, took us to football games and made us feel like superstars, who bought me the cute skirt I really wanted but couldn't afford... who anonymously sent us $200 to cover our petrol, who took us to Idaho for free, who paid for us to go camping!  There are so many people who have done amazing things for us to help make us make memories!

Thank you to each and every one of you!!!

Oregon fun!

From California to Oregon we headed... with a slight delay!

We got all packed up and ready to leave at 3am on Monday morning... we hit the road with sleeping babies... but Jesi's car had an issue and they broke down on Interstate 5 in the middle of nowhere!  Jason and I drove around to find them water to put in their radiator... as it turns out Jesi was in an accident a few months ago and had damaged her radiator but didn't know.  It was only when she started driving fast up hill that it was put under pressure and so over heated!

The kids did really well while we were waiting around trying to find a mechanic!

So... we eventually found a mechanic who could repair the radiator, we got a hire car and continued our journey!  We met up with Jason's parents in Northern California and continued our final leg of journey to Oregon.

While we were in Oregon, we explored the charity shops/ thrift stores and had some fun!

We go some great deals too!

We found a beautiful lake and spent some time there just relaxing and having fun... we all ended up jumping in the water fully clothed too!  It was awesome!

Jason also bought Kayle a cute fishing rod and taught her how to fish...

I couldn't believe it... she even caught a fish... her first fish!  I was so proud of her.  She was so excited!

While we were there, we threw the kids a birthday party.  We missed Jonah's and Mavericks birthday's with all the chaos that we had going on, and Kayle's birthday is in a few weeks, so we got organised and threw them a big party! 

They were so surprised when they came back threw the door... it was awesome to see their faces!

The certainly enjoyed digging into the cake!

It was fun to do this for the kids!

Another night we went out for Chinese... it was the biggest and best Chinese I have ever had!

We also went to the huge outdoor activities store... the kids loved running around looking at stuff... but the men had an even better time!

Getting to spend this time with Jason's family was wonderful... it was great for Kayle to get to spend some time with her cousins too!

We were so grateful to Jesi's friend who let us stay in her house for nothing... it was great to make memories with them!