Sam's Friend Party

Today Samantha had her friend party. 

This year she chose a Scooby Doo Party, surprise surprise :)

Here is the cake:

 They started off making Scooby collars...simple string, a handmade SD symbol, and fruit loops :)

 After making their collars they realized that the presents had been stolen!  Ahhh.  The villain hid clues through-out the party.  The first thing they had to do was make a monster mask. 

 We were also invaded by ghosts (no pictures sorry) that had to be popped (tie the balloon around the ankle game).

After that the Mystery Gang needed a Scooby Snack.  So they played "chubby bunny" all though they had to say "Scooby Doo" instead of chubby bunny.  Allison got 3 in:

 Sam got 7 :) 

 Scooby was still hungry though and didn't want to be the only one eating out of a bowl...he wanted everyone too.  With just their mouths of course :)  (they were eating strawberry jello)

 Sam was the fastest :)

 While they were eating the monsters they made "came alive" and they had to shoot them with water to stop them from attacking us:

 Eventually the clues led them to the presents.  Phew!

Sam got plenty of Scooby stuff:

 and some "girly" stuff too :)

 Birthday girl and her cake:

 It seems like every year we take a picture on the ladder at the park...had to do it again!

 The cake was originally supposed to be a 2 layer cake.  But I only had 1 cake mix, which made very thin layers.  So rather than have only 2 skinny layers, I added in pieces of cake that were left over from Sam's party last night.  I was surprised when I cut it open you couldn't tell that the whole middle section was made up about 6 square/rectangle pieces of cake...who knew it would work.  I honestly expected the whole cake to fall apart before the party, luckily I was wrong!

You can see one whole in the middle layer on the left side of the picture.

Happy Birthday Sam.  Hope you had a great birthday!  We love you tons and are so so so grateful you are in our family! 

9 things I love about Sam:
1.  Her smile
2.  That she constantly makes me smile/laugh
3.  The fact that she loves life and is almost always happy (as long as she is busy)
4.  The way she understands math...she learned "Everyday Math" and I'm always amazed at the math problems she can do in her head.  So proud!
5.  Her energy...wish I had half of it
6.  How kind she is.  Nice to everyone (except her sisters sometimes when they make her mad) and very helpful to those who need it
7.  The fact that she plays hard. 
8.  That she loves to play games
9.  The fact that she gives me 4 kisses and hugs before going to bed (sometimes more)

Samantha is 9

Sam's special day is finally here.  She finally turned 9. 

And she finally got one of these:

He is bigger then her...he is sitting in a chair in this picture :)

 For her second "family party" we had all the Crabtree's over.  It just so happens that all of Konrad's brothers decided to come up this week.  Everyone but Macie is here, it was great seeing everyone (missed you Macie!)

Most of them ran out to the trampoline pretty quickly:

 Samantha was too excited to play. She sat and waited until she could open her presents:

 Tiffany, Great Grandma (who couldn't figure out why she was at this house full of crazy kids :)) and Todd (Konrad's oldest brother):

 Quinton, Jaden, Ellie, Weiland, and Alli

 Brittney, Doug, Alli, Grandpa C., MiKayla, and Great Grandma

 More jumping:

 Austin made his own trampoline in the rock box:

 Everyone watching Sam open her presents:

 Alli got her a fairy figurine that she has been wanting for months:

 Scooby Snacks for a Scooby-lover!

 Everyone but Austin, Macie, and me

 Todd started the LOUDEST rendition of Happy Birthday I have ever heard.  We were all laughing we could barely sing.  Sam loved it :)

Thanks everyone for coming!  We're excited to hang out more this week!



Hawaii Day 28 - The End

The last day is here.  I can't believe how fast a month went.  But I know when I get home it will feel like I never left, even though it feels like we haven't been home in forever.  Odd. 

We only had a few hours in the morning that were spent packing up, eating, and saying our good-byes. 

 One of my favorite pictures:

 So wish these two lived right next door to each other!

 It was cloudy and rainy when we left today.  I wanted to take pictures of two of my favorite mountains on the way to Honolulu.  I love the green tropical mountains.  Love them!

 So excited to be going home.  Waiting for dad to get done returning the rental car.

 Views from the plane:

Seriously the best vacation ever.  Loved almost all of it (could have done without the lice, the fighting in the back seat of the car (they were so excited to get in our van tonight at the airport...so much more room), and the first week of rain (after that I welcomed the cloud and a few rain drops to cool me off!)).  Thanks again Mom and Dad for making it possible.  Seriously A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

Aloha and Mahalo!

Hawaii Day 27

Our last full day in Hawaii.  The morning started with Konrad running to Waikiki (if you consider a 1 hour drive "running") to pick up his fixed kite.  I stayed home so I could pack up all our stuff.

Then we headed to Hukilau:

 The kids and Steph were making a sand castle and found a friend.  And not only a friend, but a LIVE friend! 

 "Playing" with their new friend = lots of screaming and squealing :)

 Cole liked the sand:

 Allison found a lei on the beach and was SOOO excited. 

 Kimber and Kenzie played:

 Sam and Grandpa rode the waves...Sam even had a new mask to use today that Grandpa gave her for her birthday

 Doug and Jordan watched the waves (and played Frisbee with Alli and Jack)

 Michelle made these cute skirts for the girls...lots of work went in to them and the girls loved them!

 Our attempt and doing something fun and different :)  Maybe in a few years :)

 Konrad's list of Shave Ice flavors.  Bubble gum wasn't checked off when I took the picture, but no worries, he got some tonight!

 Kenzie hanging out after dinner:

 The girls watching TV.  We all really liked the house we stayed in (I really loved the floor plan and wouldn't mind it at all in my own house) but the seating in the entire house wasn't so awesome.  It looked cool and wasn't too bad for a few minutes, but after awhile it wasn't so great. 

 A picture of the upstairs kitchen:

 We celebrated Sam's 9th birthday while we were there.  For an entire year this child was planning on having her birthday in Hawaii.  Little did we know that Konrad would have a business meeting in Vegas on her actual birthday, so we had to leave Hawaii on the 29th.  She was pretty disappointed we wouldn't be there on the 30th, but luckily she realized this would just add one more party (which equals one more cake) into the birthday celebrations, and wasn't so upset anymore!  Can't believe she is almost 9!

 Shave Ice earrings from the Kenyons:

 Party earrings from Kimber:

 A Scooby Doo sheet from the Dances:

 Scooby Doo watch that I found at the Swap Meet:

 Sour candies from Grandma and Grandpa (to go with the T-shirts and snorkel set)

 Lighting the candles with a mini blow torch (crazy lighter!!)  Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  Yum!

 The adult girls had to "run" to Walmart (again, an hour away) to buy Michelle a DVD player for the trip home (poor girl has to travel from 10:00 Monday night until 6:00 Tuesday evening (would be 1:00 Hawaii time) on her own with her girls!)  When we came home we found Konrad doing this:

Aloha!