Rachel Jane turns 5!!!

"Wow, Look Ray!"

Wow! A new barbie...and I can cut her hair!

Rachel's birthday at school...

it was also "wear purple day" and

"Muffins with Mom" to celebrate Mother's Day

Hannah, Rachel & Bradley



Hot and taking a popsicle break
L-R: Bradley, Rachel, Samantha, Hayla, Hannah, Mimi K

Bradley & Thomas jumpin'!!

Rachel's beautiful cake!

She insisted on buying the ponies and placing them on the cake herself

(like her cousin Juj!)

Hot and sweaty little sweetheart

Rachel knocking open the pinata!!

We can't believe our baby girl is already 5!!! It seems like just yesterday that we were so blessed by her arrival. Our lives changed and we have experienced more joy than we ever did before we had kids!! Nick, Bradley, Trent and I gave Rachel her presents on the day before her birthday so she could play with them all afternoon. She loved them all, from her My Little Pony stuff to her barbie stuff to her SpongeBob microphone. She played with them and tried very hard to share with Bradley, who was just as excited and eager to play with her new toys. We ate chocolate chip cookies and then sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Since her birthday fell on a Monday, she was able to celebrate her special day at school with her friends. She was so excited about wearing the special birthday hat and I was so excited to get to take cupcakes to her school for her to share with her friends. We made yellow cake cupcakes with pink strawberry icing (Rachel's favorite!) and then she put (an abundance of) special princess sprinkles on each one.

We celebrated her birthday with her friends by having a bounce-house party the following Saturday. She invited several of her little girl friends and her cousins and they jumped and jumped! Rach chose to have a My Little Pony theme (like her cousin Juj did last year!) so we picked a carousel moon walk for the party. It was adorable and all the kids seemed to enjoy jumping even though it was so humid that everyone got very hot and sweaty! Rachel is really into watching America's Funniest Home Videos and decided that she wanted a pinata at her party. She thinks it's really funny that so many people in the videos get bonked on the head (or the crotch, although I don't think Rach really gets that part) when hitting a pinata. I warned Nick to stay away in case she decided to imitate the videos. :) Anyway, much to my surprise, all the kids really got into hitting the pinata. Nick had tied it to our basketball goal and gave them a wooden broom handle. He did a great job of making sure each kid who wasn't swinging at the pinata stayed behind one of the driveway lines, since they did absentmindedly swing that stick around. All the kids seemed to have a great time and they all got along very well. Most importantly, Rachel had a blast and enjoyed her friends. Bradley loved the moonwalk so much that when Nick and Joe were deflating it and putting it away that evening, he just stood there with his face in his hands and cried. I guess the poor boy thought it was ours to keep!

Anyway, we love our little girl so much and look forward to

many more years of watching her grow up!
Happy 5th Birthday Rachel Jane!!