Libby's Birthday - Part 3

Since Libby had gotten so spoiled with presents by Grammy and Pops on her real birthday, we decided to hold off and give her the presents from us the next day after Sunday dinner.

 What a cool tower Daddy built! 

 OK, I couldn't resist - this picture is hilarious!  What this whole striking a pose thing is all about, I have no idea, but it was so funny!  Notice I tried to include at least some pink in all of the wrapping - she LOVES pink!

 One of her favorite presents was a Small World book we got her.  We've already read it countless times - I think it was a winner! :)

And, the left over cupcakes from yesterday made their debut a second time.  Whew!  What a whirlwind weekend!  And to think I had to start a full week of work the next day - YIKES!

Libby's Birthday - Part 2

Libby is 2!  On Saturday, September 8 , 2012 Libby turned 2 and learned that birthdays are the greatest things that ever happened!  She fell in love with the whole concept of birthdays and really hammed it up for us all day long!

 Here's the star of the day with her balloons Grammy got her, showing off her newfound talent, and ready to party hearty at her very own last-minute pool party!

 After her big night at Disneyland, next choice was swimming at Grammy and Pops' pool.  So, the morning of, I called a few friends to see if they could join us for swimming and cupcakes, and wouldn't you know it - all but one family came!  Isn't it funny how sometimes no planning at all works out better than weeks of preparation?!?  Gotta love last minute friends! :)

 Splashing with Daddy in the kiddie pool.

 Lexi joined in the fun and got to spend lots of time with Grammy and Pops!

 For weeks now, all she's said she wanted for her birthday were pink cupcakes.  So, pink cupcakes it was and she was happy as can be!

 This was the third lighting - her friend Ian was very eager to help the first two times! :)

 Libby and the boys!  Zeke, Owen, and Ian - her best buddies, all in cupcake heaven! 

 Playing with bubbles and dads - how fun!

 And, the highlight of the party - the Mickey Mouse suckers!  (Though I think the buckets and toys my mom got as party favors were even better!)

 Lexi sure thought this whole birthday thing was pretty fun, too.

 After her friends left, it was present time!  All of these from Grammy and Pops!!!  What a spoiled girl!

I think this won as the favorite - a set of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figurines.  Turns out...BIRTHDAY'S ROCK!

Libby's Birthday - Part 1

Libby's 2nd Birthday landed on a Saturday this year, so we made it a whole birthday weekend.  When we asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, it was no suprise that she immediately chose Disneyland!  Since we're blacked out on the weekends, we decided to go after work on Friday.  My mom and I took the girls and Brad met up with us a little later.

 Here's the birthday girl sporting her birthday pin, waiting for the parade to start.  Once it did, she was in heaven!  And, the best part of it all, not one, but two of the performers wished her a Happy Birthday as they went past!  That place truly is magical - she was on cloud 9 the whole time!

 Lexi loved it, too!  She was kicking her legs up a storm while the music was playing and all the dancers were going by.  I think her sister's obsession with the parade is contagious!

 Daddy got there just in time to join us on Dumbo!  Libby got the pink one she wanted - woo-hoo!

 The carousel is always a favorite.

 Lexi's first time riding it the real way, not strapped to me somehow.

 And, best of all, she got to go on Small World.  What a dream day - and it wasn't even her birthday yet! :)

Watch out for those Macbeths!  We're a crazy lot!  Keeping our kids out till almost midnight...we're wild, that's for sure! ;)

First Day of School

Ok, so this may seem lame, but I figure since all kids get their pictures taken on the first day of school, teachers should too, right?!  Why not?!

 We were in a hurry in the morning (surprise, surprise), so this was actually the night of the first day of school.  Looks like I survived - that's good! ;)

Apparently this is how the girls feel about their mom going back to work.  Lexi pulling her hair out and Libby pouting - aaaahhhh, the joys of being a working mom!  (Don't worry, despite how things look in this picture, all went WAY better than expected!  The girls did great and I didn't even get teary eyed - amazing considering the bawl baby I was the first day I dropped Libby off two years ago!)  Back in the saddle again!

Labor Day

After the big festivities for Lexi's Blessing, we had to hit up the beach one last time with our company before they all headed home.  It made for a GREAT Labor Day for us!

 We took Paul and Diann and Jayann and Tall Paul to Montage one last time.  It was gorgeous!  Great timing on this shot, Brad!  I love the pelican flying past!

 The Wrights made a quick trip out of the deal, but we were so glad they could come! 

 After the traveling company took off, we headed to another beach to play, play, play.  My mom's friend got us in to Three Arch Bay and we were so glad she did - they had a bunch of fun events going on all day.  We staked out a spot right in front of the activities - races, gunny-sack races, egg toss, watermelon eating contest - they had it all!

 Yet, even with all those activities going on, nothing seems to get Libby and Max more excited than sandcrabs!  Brad was the ultimate finder and they sure loved them!

 We love playing at the beach!  Notice Max's medal - both he and Ellie won 3rd place in their races!  Woo-hoo!

 Libby found a new favorite ride - sand boogie boarding, courtesy of Daddy!

 Brad managed to be the only one that actually "labored" on Labor Day.

Here we are in one of the arches of 3 Arch Bay.  So fun!

We stayed at the beach till almost 5pm and had some seriously tired little girls on our hands by the time we left!  What a great last-hurrah for the summer!

Lexi's Blessing Day

On Sunday, September 2, 2012 Lexi was blessed in church by her father.  It was a beautiful blessing for a beautiful baby!  After the blessing we had a brunch at our house.

 Alexis Arami Macbeth

Our little angel wearing the gorgeous dress that Grammy made for her for the big day!

 The proud parents.

 The Macbeth family.

 Both sets of grandparents were there for the big day.

 The Macbeth side:  the Wrights and Grandma & Grandpa

The Foster side:  the Coopers, Grammy and Pops, a few Stewarts, a few Openshaws, and a few Cardons.

Thanks to all of those that shared Lexi's special day with her!

Trip to Montana

As a last hurrah of the summer (and the last chance to have Libby fly for free before she turns 2!), my mom and I flew to Montana to visit my sister Jen and her family for a long weekend.  It was a blast!

 The girls and I on our flight on the way there.  They did a GREAT job and I was so proud of them!  VERY grateful to have my mom with me to help, too, though! ;)

 Here we are on the trail right behind Jen's house.  It was beautiful and Libby loved all the animals we saw - horses, cows, and, of course, dogs!

 Summer works at a Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings selling crepes, so we went down to downtown Billings to check it out.  We gorged on crepes and enjoyed the beautiful flower baskets, too.

 The Stewarts have really gotten into swimming lately and were super excited to show off their skills.  Mention the word pool and Libby is in!

 Then say "hot-tub" and she's died and gone to heaven!  Syd actually got her to relax enough to float.  She'll never do that for us...Syd must have the special touch!  If only she lived closer!!!

 The next day we did our marathon one-day Yellowstone trip.  We drove the long way to get there and were so glad we did - it was gorgeous!  Here is Libby showing off her travels.  We were above the treeline at this poing and the views were incredible.

 We stopped for lunch in Cooke City, MT.  This is how the weather looked when we went into the restaurant, but when we came out it started pouring down rain.  It made for a fun adventure and Libby loved that, too!

 Once we got to Yellowstone, it didn't disappoint!  There were bison EVERYWHERE and this guy was our favorite.  Just cruisin' down the middle of the road like he owns the place!  How cool!

 The girls and I - as close as we braved getting to a group of bison behind us.

 We walked to this waterfall and then enjoyed an ice cream pit-stop.

 We didn't make it all the way to Old Faithful (that would have been an additional 3 hours in the car - to the 13 we ended up spending!), but we did get to see lots of Geyers at Norris Geyers.  They really are pretty incredible!

 We loved Yellowstone!  Imagine, not just the 7 people pictured here, but 2 more adults (Jen and Jason) in a car for 13 hours!  It was crazy, but soooo much fun!

We certainly enjoyed our trip to Montana are so grateful to the Stewarts for being such awesome hosts!  Thanks for a WONDERFUL trip - we can't wait to come back!