Tirza and Sahara's big party

Tirza had a Big day yesterday, turning 2 years old! She opened presents all through out the day. The girls and I went and got balloons. I let her pick out the one she wanted and it was a tough choice, finally she got a Happy Birthday Princess one and then when we got home she refused to even look at it, she only wanted to play with the plain blue balloon:)

In the evening we had a big BBQ party, which was only slightly altered by the huge rain storm that started an hour and a half before the party. It worked out fine, Mark grilled in the rain and we had a "little less" space for the 14 kids to play BUT not only did we manage we had a Blast!

Thanks to all our friends (and one family member, Heidi) for coming and making the party special for Tirza and Sahara!

Happy 2nd Birthday Tirza!

Happy Birthday my silly, wild little Tirzy girl! Two years old! I can't believe it- growing up so fast! Our sugar highs are crashing so there will be lots of pictures tomarrow after a little sleep:)

Happy Birthday Tirza!

I love you!

Sahara's Slumber Party

Wow! Sahara had a FUN birthday! Here are the details...

We got up and I let her open a present (Bria and Tirza too!) because it was outfits for the big girls for the day and we didn't want Tirza to be left out so she got a present early. The girls are really into dressing alike and they needed polka dots for the polka dot party. They also got new puzzles so we sat and did the puzzles until our friends came (with a pizza) to start the party!

The girls had a pizza picnic outside, played in the pool and Sahara opened her present from Parker and Chloe- meanwhile we sent Tirza and Lilly off to take a nap. (Thanks Allie!) We made treat boxes and played outside until they were all worn out.

All four girls helped and we made our cake, really 24 little heart shaped cakes. While the cakes were baking Heidi stopped by with presents. (Sahara got presents all day long!) Then the cakes were ready for decorating! Heidi had even made us a bunch of fondant polka dots. The girls and I also made frosting which turned out a little runny but that didn't stop the girls. They decorated for over an hour. Their cakes were so cute!

Then Daddy was home so Sahara got into the rest of the presents, which lead to a new game to play! We played for awhile and then decided to try out our jello project. I say jello project because we were going to cute shapes out of jello but apparently you have to do something extra to make jello thick enough to do that:) So really we made jello piles and it was yummy!

Next project was decorating new water bottles. Mark helped write names and the girls each in their own way created a masterpiece with sharpies, very fun!

Then it was time to grab a quick dinner before heading to a Treasure Hunt at church.

When that was done we came back to the house for what the girls say was the highlight of the day... the SLUMBER PARTY! A real sleepover with friends. Sahara had one last surprise a new movie for the event. They all settled into sleeping bags with popcorn and all but one little girl made it though the whole movie!

It was so much fun, for everyone including Momma! I can't believe my little Sahara is 7 years old! But no time to dwell on that I have another birthday to plan for tomarrow:)

Happy 7th Birthday Sahara!

My sweet, silly Sahara turned 7 years old today.

And it was a BIG day, in fact it is still in progress. That's right we are attempting our very first birthday sleepover, so far so good but I don't think anyone is asleep yet:) They are trying to enjoy every second of the day...

I will have a full slide show and description of the day tomarrow- when the party ends:)

For now you get a picture of the polka dot party girls!!!

Happy Birthday Sahara! I love you!

Great Grandparents

The girls Great Grandma and Grandpa Enbody, my grandparents, came over the weekend for a visit. They travel around in their motor home, which the girls love, and we are one of their summer stopovers. It is always fun to see them and to hear what all my aunts, uncles and cousins are up to. The girls love having them around because they are a captive audience...

My girls are very blessed they still have all 4 of their Great Grandmothers living.

More Ballet

The tiny seed dance.

Ballet Recital

Sahara and Bria dancing ballet!

Ballet Recital

Sahara and Bria had so much fun at their ballet recital tonight. They were so cute doing their little dances. My Grandparents, so their Great Grandparents, are here visiting so it was a special treat that they were here to see the girls dance. Tirza was the least impressed, luckily Auntie Heidi found the desert table and saved the day:)

Elizabeth

Introducing Elizabeth

Bria very first webkins- a Lil' Kins Chihuahua

Mark came home from work today and said he had found this little puppy by the road and it asked him if he had a little girl at home to take care of it... This was the story he told Bria and she didn't buy it- in fact I think she was a little worried that she was going to have to give it back when the rightful owner was found. So she finally demanded that Mark tell the truth and he admitted that he bought it at the store for her. She was very happy!

Bria has very patiently waited for her very own webkins, big sister, Sahara has three. Bria has never complained just put it on her birthday list that she would like her very own. Mark felt a little bad for her and very proud of her for waiting so patiently...

Happy Anniversary Babu and Umma

Hope you had a wonderful trip to celebrate your Anniversary!

Love you, Sahara, Bria and Tirza

(Mark and Hannah too!)

New Bodies

At dinner tonight we were talking about heaven. Sahara and Bria were saying how great it will be when we get new bodies that never get hurt, sick or weak. Sahara had asked in the car the other day what happens to our bodies when we died. So I talked about it with them and they were informing Mark of the exciting news.
Sahara says, "We will have brand new bodies that won't hurt or get sick."
Mark replies, "Yes, that right..."
Bria pipes in, "And even fat people, God will give them new healthy bodies!"

One more reason to look forward to heaven!

Fun on Father's Day

The Bustrums




Tirza's favorite game right now is "Ashes, ashes We all Fall DOWN!"

All three Daddy's girls!

Happy Father's Day!

I have been blessed by a Heavenly Father who gave me an earthly Dad who taught me about Him! A Father in law who taught my husband about serving the Lord, and now a husband who is a wonderful Daddy who teaches my girls about their Heavenly Father!

Happy Father's Day Mark- you are a wonderful Daddy to our girls!

As a teenage I really thought that my parents were ridiculous. I thought that they were overprotective and not really so smart. Well the older (and wiser) I get I realized that they are very smart, really quite incredible people who had a purpose to the way they raised my sisters and I. Surprisingly enough I actually want to be like them, to raise my kids similar to the way I was brought up- to pass on their faith! Amazing!

Happy Father's Day Dad- I am blessed to be your daughter!

Tirzy girl

Thought you all might enjoy some totally Tirza shots.
Don't be deceived by the sweet little smile, this little girl is a Big handful with a Huge personality.

Mark getting caught by the volcano

Eliza

Introducing Sahara's newest webkins addition, Eliza the lil cow!

Sahara got birthday money from her Great Grandma Bustrum (thanks Great Grandma) and she desperately wanted to go get a Lil' Kinz. We took her shopping this weekend to pick one out and every store in town was sold out of ALL webkins. One store told us they were getting some in on Tuesday.
Sahara was counting the days so I called to make sure that delivery was still happening. They arrived early so we jumped in the van and headed to the very Not kid friendly store. The girls were great in the store, Sahara had a hard time deciding which little friend she wanted to buy but finally couldn't resist the little cow.
The lady at the store was so sweet she didn't want the little girls to go home empty handed so she gave Bria and Tirza each a little poodle. Bria named her poodle Sherbet.
Sahara was so happy she cried all the way home, happy tears, because she couldn't get over how cute her little cow was...

Volcano Sprinkler

Thanks for leaving your volcano behind Wesley, the girls love playing!

Splish Splash

The girls enjoying their new pool. Looks like I have three little fish!

30 points

The girls finally earned their 30 points... so off we went to Walmart today to buy the pool. We had a fun afternoon of relaxing in the sun, swimming and playing in the sprinkler.

Enjoy the pictures and maybe tomarrow we'll get some videos posted too.

Any Takers?

Well VBS is over, the girls had a blast. I am looking for ideas to keep us busy for the rest of the summer. We plan to swim as much as we can... the girls are getting really good. On Thursday our friend taught Sahara and Bria how to swim in the deep end without their floaties. Sahara even jumped off the diving board and swam to the edge with NO help!
The girls have been working for the last two weeks to earn "points" by being good to get a kiddy pool for the backyard, they finally have their needed 30 points. So we will add a small pool to the backyard fun...
But what we would really like is to have some visitors...

Any takers?

Come see us!

The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race- Northbrook Edition

The girls (and Mark) had so much fun racing with their friends tonight. Their team was the Pink Ponies and they got 2nd place!

They ran all over the world- India, Middle East, Brazil, Russia, Nicaragua and more...

completed tasks- grinding coffee, dressing up, making soccer goals, sorting cloths, washing cloths and I don't even know what else...

All 4 girls (and 2 daddies) did really great and won chips and candy bars!

Yeah Pink Ponies:)

Pixie Sticks

So remember the VBS bribe- bring a friend, get a giant pixie stick!?
Well it majorly impacted Sahara, she asked me all day yesterday if she could take a friend, in fact, it was the first thing she said when she woke up this morning. Bria thought it would be a good way to get Wesley back in town, (they said bring a friend or cousin) when she realized that wasn't going to happen she didn't really care.
Anyway, apparently during the final assembly today they said if you have brought a friend you could come up and get your pixie stick. So Bria and her sweet little friend, Chloe, looked at each other and said I'm your friend and your mine... so lets go get our pixie sticks, and they did.
Their big sisters were outraged and jealous when they saw little sisters with giant pixie sticks.

I think those are two smart little 4 year old girls!

Vacation Bible School

Oh Happy Week, the week of VBS.
I love you Vacation Bible School, you give Sahara and Bria a week of fun, friends, snacks, crafts, recreation and Bible verses.
You give me 3 quiet hours to get as much done as I possibly can, and then quiet afternoon hours where you have worn my kids out so well that they actually rest during quiet time. (Bria fell asleep playing on her floor during quiet time.)
You encourage my kids to invite friends and cousins to church all for the big goal of earning a giant pixie stick:)
But really you make learning fun and you give me a little extra time to get things done and to relax a little too. I used to enjoy VBS as a kid and now I look forward to warm sunny days when my girls jump out of bed and dress as quickly as they can- excited to get to VBS!

Life as I know it...

Life as I know it has ended. That's right a great tragedy occurred in the my house today.
Tirza figured out how to get the bathroom door open, all by herself.
Let me explain... ever since Tirza realized that there was a room in the house she was not allowed in, she became obsessed. She has a little radar that alerts her whenever, wherever a bathroom door is left ajar. Toilet water, open garbage cans, and toilet paper are all just way more than she can resist.
So you can understand my dismay when I heard little Tirza in the bathroom, not once but three times in a row this afternoon.
I went through all the stages-
Denial -No way did she open that door herself, she is just to small.
Anger -Who left the bathroom door open.
Bargaining -Tirza the bathroom is dangerous, please do not go in there.
Depression -Why, why now? I can never relax again until she is potty trained, and
Acceptance -Okay so how do we keep her out, without slowing the big girls down in their mad dash to the potty?

Any suggestions?

Tirza Joy

Tirza

Turning 2 years old this month.

Lots of blond hair and big brown eyes.

Full of life- all day long, everyday!

Loves to play outside, swinging, sliding and talking to the dog next door.

Plays with her babies so sweet, this weekend she brought a baby outside and feed her cake.

She wants to pray at mealtimes, really she just holds hands and says "Amen."

She likes to watch Cinderella, Curious George, Letter Factory and Praise Baby.

Tirza calls Sahara, "Sissy" and Bria "BriaBree"

Tirza is a hilarious little girl, always entertaining us.

She sings, dances, copies her big sisters, reads books and loves to play with the big girl's toys.

Tirza is Miss Independent, always smiling, ready to give a hug and full of love!