Backyard Camp-out with Cousins

On April 27-28, 2013,

we invited Zane's brother over with his trailer

and had a fun little camp-out in our backyard.

Hunter and Paizlei LOVED it!

They were able to play with their cousins

and pretend they were camping!

They played with all their fun camping toys

and games.

The only thing that was missing was the lakes for fishing

and the 4-wheelers.

The night they camped out,

Zane's Mom and other Dad came over

and we had a fun little BBQ

and Grandpa Burke made his yummy peach cobbler

in the dutch oven.

 The Vincent boy cousins (minus Cooper) and their boots!

 My Hunter playing monster trucks!

I love that cars are his favorite thing to play, even as he is getting older.

 We had to try cousin Kanyon's cowboy hat on Coopie. 

Although it was super cute, he didn't think so.  

 All 4 of the Vincent boy cousins!

 Doing what boys do best: Playing in the DIRT and ROCKS!

 All the Vincent boy cousins and the one and only Vincent girl cousin!

 Popsicle time from Uncle Travis!

 Sweet cousin Kanyon!

More monster trucks with Hunter!

Hunter Turns 6

I still cannot believe my Hunter is 6!

6!

Where did that time go?

He turned 6 on January 4, 2013.

To celebrate,

on January 4 we had a little family birthday party for him.

We had cuppiecakes and ice cream.

Hunter picked out which cuppiecake he wanted his candles in.

We sang Happy Birthday to him.

After we sang to him,

he opened his BIG birthday present!

The night before his birthday, I hung this crepe paper up on his bedroom door.  He was a little surprised when he opened the door on the morning of his birthday.

My BIG birthday boy!  LOVE HIM!

He was SOOO EXCITED with his BIG present!  We got him a Ford duellie pulling a BIG camp trailer, it also came with some boats, fish, fishing gear, and people.

On Saturday, January 12, 2013,

we started the day off with Hunter's very first friend birthday party.

We delivered 8 birthday invitations.

3 friends showed up.

For Hunter,

He was in HEAVEN!

His friends that came were

Brenley, Teagon, and Austin.

We tried to play some games,

but Hunter wasn't too into playing.

I think there was too much going on for him to get involved.

We sang Happy Birthday to him,

then had rainbow cuppiecakes and ice cream.

Once they were done eating,

he opened his presents.

He was so excited with everything he got.

 Hunter, Paizlei, Teagon, Austin

Hunter wanted rainbow cuppiecakes with blue frosting.

 His haul from his friend birthday party!

 Austin, Brenley, Hunter, Teagon

FUNNY FACE!!!

After his friends birthday party,

we had a BIG family birthday party for him.

Those who came to his family birthday party were,

Grandma and Grandpa Young, Grandma and Grandpa Black,

great-Grandma & Grandpa Despain, uncle Travis, aunt Shaunna,

cousins Bridger and Kanyon.

Zane ordered the coolest Batman cake from the market!

We sang Happy Birthday to Hunter...AGAIN!

Then had cake and ice cream.

Then he got to open his presents from everyone.

 His present from Grandma & Grandpa Young.

 His present from great-Grandma & Grandpa Despain.

 LOVE this photo of Hunter and his great-Grandma Despain!

Hunter and Bridger playing with the gift Bridger & Kanyon gave him.

All-in-all it was a super fun day!

Thank you everyone for coming out and celebrating Hunter's 6th birthday!

Annual Despain Family Christmas Party

Every year on Christmas Eve,

Zane's sweet Grandma has a BIG family Christmas party.

It is so much fun!

I look forward to it every year!

Unfortunately,

I didn't get very many pictures this year.

Not sure why?!?

The photos I did get,

are priceless!

 YAY!!!  Santa Clause just walked through the door!!!!

 My sweet little drama queen!

She forgot what she was asking for!

It was so cute!

 Hunter wouldn't go sit on Santa's lap unless Zane went with him.

 Nom! Nom!

Coopie likes Santa's beard!

Yeah, I just about pulled his beard off

trying to get it out of Cooper's hand.

 I LOVE how Santa is staring at Cooper!

Makes me smile.

Awe...

My 3 adorable kiddos with Santa!

And, Cooper is still eating the beard!

Paizlei Turns 4

December 17, 2008, was one of the scariest and happiest days of my life.  At 7:58pm, I gave birth to our GORGEOUS baby girl.  She was 2 months premature, weighing in at 4 lbs. 10 oz and 17" long.  She surprised everyone, doctors and nurses included, and came into this world full of sass, spunk and a lot of attitude.

As we celebrate her BIG 4th BIRTHDAY, marvel at just how strong-willed she is.  She came into the world kicking and screaming like she was ready to face the world all by herself.  And, if you ask her, she will tell you just how strong-willed she is.  I absolutely LOVE her BIG ATTITUDE, sometimes her sass, and always LOVE her spunk.  She is one of the sweetest little girls, best little sister, best big sister, loveable, huggable, caring, kind, imaginative, creative, funny little girls I know.  How truly blessed Zane and are, to have been chosen to be her parents.

One thing that I will never forget the night she was born, was when I was wheeled back into recovery (I had her in the L&D OR because it is closer to the NICU), my Daddy bent down, kissed my forehead, and whispered 6 sweet words into my ear.  "You just made your Grandpa proud."  Even though I was super drugged up from the preeclampsia, headache, and labor pain, it hit me.  That day, December 17th is my Grandpa Young's birthday.  How sweet it is, that such a sweet, sassy, spunky, lovable, huggable, caring, kind, imaginative, creative, funny little girl, gets to share her birthday with her Grandpa.  A Grandpa she never met...only in Heaven.  I'm sure he protected her with she was in Heaven.  I'm sure he told her to come into this world fighting.  I'm sure he told her to be strong-willed.

On Saturday, December 8, 2012, we celebrated Paizlei's birthday.  This was the first year she was able to have a friend party, which she thought was SOOO NEAT!!!  She was so excited to go pick out her invitations and to take them around to all her little school friends.  Her little friends that came were, Jaylee, Rylee, Esme, Sariah, Autumn, and Gracie.  After her friend party, we also had a family party.  Those who came to her family party were, Grandma and Grandpa Young, Grandma Black, great-Grandma Despain, Aunt Melanie and cousin Jacob, Aunt Shaunna, Uncle Travis, cousins Bridger and Kanyon.  She got completely spoiled...and LOVED every minute of it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAIZLEI MAE!!!

Your bring so much love and joy into our little family!

I LOVE you as BIG as the sky!

For Paizlei's friend party, we decorated salt dough ornaments and made hand print snowmen on glass ball ornaments.

It was a HUGE hit!  All the little girls LOVED it!!!

 The star and heart shaped salt dough ornaments they decorated.

 The crew decorating their salt dough ornaments.  Each one had already put their hand print on the glass ball ornament, hence the reason they are in the cups.  

 Of course Paizlei would choose Hello Kitty for her birthday party theme!  I found a kit to make these Hello Kitty red velvet cake pops.  This is the first time I have made them so they actually stay on the stick. 

 She also wanted strawberry and vanilla cuppiecakes!

 Paizlei's very own cuppiecake for her birthday!

She LOVED blowing out the candles!  She thought it was the coolest thing!

 For her family party,m I had this Hello Kitty cake made!  She LOVED it!!!

 This was the look she gave everyone while we all sang "Happy Birthday"!

LOVE IT!!!

 Cousin Jacob, Hunter and Paizlei playing with the wooden paper dolls Mommy, Daddy, Hunter & Cooper gave her.

 My GORGEOUS baby girl!!!

LOVE HER!!!

 Paizlei, cousin Jacob, Hunter, cousin Kanyon, and cousin Bridger had an absolute ball playing with the balloons!  I was honestly surprised that no one was hurt.

Cousin Jacob and Hunter...Hunter wanted to show Jacob how to play his Batman game on the Wii.  They were both so into the game.  It was funny.

Cooper's Blessing

On Sunday, September 9, 2012, we were able to bless Cooper.  It was such a beautiful day.  I'm so grateful to have an amazing husband, who is a worthy priesthood holder and was able to give our sweet Cooper a name and a blessing.  We chose to bless Cooper in a private, family and friends only, setting.  We blessed him Sunday at 12:15pm at the Gunnison Stake Center.

The amazing men who stood in the circle were:
  ~Zane
  ~Dad Young (my Dad)
  ~Javier (my sister's husband)
  ~Kyle (my brother)
  ~Burke (Zane's other Dad ("other" because step sounds aweful))
  ~Kent (Zane's uncle)
  ~Chad Powell (Zane's buddy from work)
  ~Bishop Judy
  ~Brother Tucker
  ~Brother Ellett

Zane gave Cooper such a beautiful blessing.  I was in tears when he was done.  After the blessing, Zane told me he wasn't at all nervous like he was when he blessed Hunter and Paizlei.  He said, "I felt completely calm and completely peaceful.  I felt the spirit speaking right through me.".

Those in attendance at the blessing:
  ~Mom and Dad Young (my Mom and Dad)
  ~Mom and Dad Black (Zane's Mom and other Dad)
  ~Grandma and Grandpa Despain (Zane's Grandparents)
  ~Kent and Mary (Zane's uncle and aunt)
  ~Melanie, Javier & Jacob (my sister and her family)
  ~Ginger, Preston, Wyatt & Kyler (my sister and her kids)
  ~Kyle, Corinne, Caylee and Coral (my brother and his family)
  ~Erin, Jerusha, Syrus, Ezme, Arwyn, Sariah, Tavish Miner (friends from our      neighborhood)
  ~Chad, Bri, Olivia, Brayden, Hunter, Gregg and Tyson Powell (friends)

After the blessing, we had a nice luncheon at the Gunnison park.  We had a great visit with lots of friends and family.

Thank you to everyone who came to support us on Cooper's special day.  Thank you to the men who participated in the blessing.  Thank you to everyone who brought food.  And HUGE THANK YOU to Bri for being my photographer.  You did an AMAZING job!

Our handsome little man...R Cooper Kash V.

  My adorable nephew Kyler playing with Cooper.

 My sister Melanie, her little boy Jacob and Cooper.

 Melanie's husband Javier.

 Zane's Grandma Despain and Cooper...LOVE this BEAUTIFUL moment!

 My sweet, freckle-faced Hunter...LOVE him!

 My BEAUTIFUL princess Paizlei...LOVE her!

 Zane's Grandpa, Grandma, Cooper, Zane's Mom, Dad and Zane

 My nephews Kyler and Jacob...they are both so iinto Cooper.  They love him so much.

 Zanes's Grandpa, Grandma, me, Cooper, Zane's Mom and Dad.

 Me and Cooper with 3 of the most important ladies in my life...Zane's Grandma, Zane's Mom and my Mom...I LOVE these 3 ladies and admire and look up to them so much.

 Me and my little man.

 My Mom, me & Cooper and Zane's Mom.

 I LOVE my Mom!  Next to Zane, she is my best friend.  LOVE HER!

 My Dad, my Mom, me & Cooper and Zane

 Can't even put into words how much I LOVE these two boys!

 Our sweet little family...cannot put into words how much I LOVE them and what they mean to me!

 Awe, Cooper was so tired of being passed around.  All he wanted was to go home and go in his swing.

 Some of my family...top left: Wyatt (nephew), my Dad, Ginger (my sister) middle: Corinne (SIL), Coral (niece), Kyle (Brother), Preston   front: Javier (BIL)

The Powell kids: Olivia, Brayden, Gregg and Hunter

 Seriously...I'm SO proud of my watermelon bowl for my fruit salad!  I HAD to have a picture of it.  :)