Norah's 9th birthday- family celebration.

One of my favorite traditions is our family birthday celebration! Norah opened her presents on her birthday, but we didn't get to do our family celebration until a couple weeks after her birthday. We let them choose where they want to eat and the fun activity to do. Norah originally wanted Olive Garden, but the wait was pretty long, so we went to Fazoli's instead, and then had fun jumping at Drop Zone! It was fun to celebrate Norah a few different times with friends and family- we love you so, Norah!

Halloween 2023.

Happy Halloween from our fairy, gymnast, and basketball player!

Norah's 9th birthday- De Jong celebration.

We got to celebrate Norah's birthday with the De Jongs! Kley's sister and her family came for the weekend, and we got to celebrate my nephew Gerrit's 2nd birthday too. What fun! Always love family time together, and even better with birthdays added in!

My MIL making the celebration even more fun with her cute treats and decor!

Our sweet 9 year old!

Present opening with cousins.

Happy 2nd birthday Gerrit!

Happy birthday Norah- SO very thankful you are our daughter!

Norah's 9th birthday- Schut celebration.

I'm so thankful for the many family and friends that love on Norah- she is very loved and what fun to celebrate her birthday! My whole family came and stayed at our new house for the weekend, and it was incredibly special to have space for my entire family to fit. (Some were on air mattresses, but we got everyone in!)

We had a great weekend also celebrating two cousins birthdays too- Averie turns three soon, and Margo just turned one! They each got special balloons and their own cake! We also rented a bounce house for the weekend and definitely was well used. We also visited our local pumpkin patch and did a pinata! Here is Norah opening a few presents.

She was pumped to get an electric scooter!

My niece, Averie, is having a zoo animal theme for her third birthday, too cute!

Brooks, my nephew, is 10 months. :)

Fun at the pumpkin patch- the most beautiful fall weather!

Cousins on the train!

They had puppies you could pet/hold and Ellory jumped right in. Also, notice Ellory's hole in her mouth!

Whole group shots- the best!

Pinata time.

Happy 9th birthday Norah!

 

Norah's 9th birthday- friends swimming party.

Norah is nine! It's fun to talk about her arrival into the world during her birthday week each year- it just seems to come up in conversation! I am so thankful to be her mom and to be able to be with her everyday. Watching her grow up is one of my greatest joys! Celebrating Norah is a gift!

Norah chose an ocean animal theme this year, and wanted to have a few friends and their families at the the pool for pizza, ice cream cake, and swimming. We had fun!

Praying for Norah's friendships more and more as she grows!

Happy birthday sweet girl! (If you look closely, you can see the melting ice cream cake. We had ice cream cakes for Lucy and Ellory's birthday, and took them out of the freezer right before serving and they were rock hard and so tough to cut. Apparently this time we swung too far to the other side and it started to melt a bit, but it was easy to cut and tasted yummy!)

Making a birthday board each year (a poster filled with favorite pictures of the last year) is one of my favorite things and a special time to reflect over the wonderful moments from her last year!

We love you very much Norah!

Scarecrow Farm 2023.

While my parents were visiting, we went to Scarecrow Farm- a fall favorite! It's a pumpkin patch in the closest big town to us about 45 minutes away. They have many fun things- tractor ride, hay ride, pumpkin patch, corn maze, ninja course, playgrounds, corn pit, jumping pad, huge slides, etc. We had the most perfect weather for it- not too hot, not too cold, and no bugs! Thankful for a great fall day together!

Jumping fun.

Horse tire swings.

Huge slide!

Morning on the Green/Rend Collective 2023.

It was our local college's homecoming weekend and we had so much fun! Morning on the Green is an annual highlight- basically like a kids carnival with games/prizes/bounce houses where dorms and departments put on a booth. It's a super fun morning and thankful we had beautiful weather for it this year!

Ellory really wanted to get her face painted and loved her snowflake!

Water balloon slingshot- a favorite!

Plinko- Kley's favorite because it's put on by his favorite dorm. No, we did not go there, but his high school friends did and he hung out there when on home for break. It is super fun because there were many guys at their booth, more than other booths, and they were all very enthusiastic. This dorm is over 100 years old and this is the last year for it and then they are tearing it down!

Ellory got very lucky and everyone went nuts- she got two 10s in a row! What are the chances? Everyone was yelling and it was quite funny. Go Ellory!

Football throw- another favorite. Lucy said when we got there, "All I want to do is throw the football!"

Norah's favorite- limbo! She's really good at it too!

Balloon pop and toilet toss.

My parents were there too and that made it even better!

Rend Collective also came to our town for homecoming weekend. So fun to have a live concert in our little town! It was the girls first concert. I ended up taking them home halfway through, both because it was loud and because it was very late and they were tired, but they did a great job!