Family Weekend in McCall

Last weekend was such a busy blast of a few days. We decided to celebrate Kess' 3rd birthday & Manning's blessing all in one weekend. We did Kess' party at the park down the street from our house. We kept it super simple with burgers and hot dogs. I made Kess' cupcakes & popsicle cake. Just enough of a theme for her to get a kick out of her cake & that was about it. No decor, no frill... just a summertime BBQ with family and friends. Kess and her cousins & friends ran, played and ate until their hearts content. Of course, Kess loved that she got to open presents. She barely paused to say thank you before saying, "Let's open another one!!" I told my family to keep toys to a minimum - because let's face it she has way more than she needs already. So they stuck to clothes, art supplies and a few fun toys made their way in! ;)

Kess now has enough clothes to out last her constant outfit changes over the summer, enough play dough to last us through the next winter & plenty of fun activities & toys to keep her busy throughout the day. I love it! She played with play dough, painted, changed her outfit a few times and just kept on going yesterday. She was loving it - I finally had to put a cap on activities and outfit changes! Momma is tired. She was truly spoiled and loved every minute of it. In case you missed in on Instagram, Matt & I gave her a new balance bike. She loves it. She is slowly getting the hang of how it works. She watched her cousin Conrad & seemed to grasp how to use the bike a little better. Conrad has it down pat! It was so cute to watch them ride bikes together! I'm pretty sure Kess was on a birthday high because she couldn't fall asleep for a few hours after we put her in bed. I however, could have crashed at 9:00pm without a second thought.

The next morning we gave Manning a name and a blessing at church. I searched high and low for a cute blessing outfit. I couldn't find anything that I loved. So I settled on a white button down onesie, khaki pants & a cute little bow tie. My friend made his "brotie." You can find her Facebook group here. It was perfect & I figured since boys don't really care about passing down their blessing outfits to their kids - maybe Manning's wife will once day appreciate that I kept his bowtie!

Matt gave Manning a beautiful blessing. I always love to hear the spiritual things that cross Matt's mind as he uses the priesthood to bless our lives. He told Manning how much we love him & how we will always support him. He blessed him with the skills to develop the passions of his life. He blessed him to always seek the truth and to find the truth for himself. He blessed him to remember that if he falls he can get back up and keep going. He blessed him to be able to find peace and solace in the natural beauty of the world around him. I remember Matt blessing Kess with that same thing & I find it very fitting for where we now live. Sweet Manning was wide awake during the entire blessing & didn't make a peep. Then crashed for the rest of the meeting & every single picture. I think the rest of the men in my family wished they could have done the same thing. ;) Manning was surrounded by so many wonderful men during his blessing. Even those who were not in the circle - he is one blessed little boy to have so many wonderful examples in his life.

This weekend was chaotic in the best kind of way. I loved having our families here to celebrate the little things with us. It's pretty quiet around here now & I'm 50/50 on it. ;) A huge thanks to all of our family who joined us & who helped us out all weekend. We love you!