We have a FIVE year old!

On our trip, Stone turned FIVE. How did this happen? Here I am weeks away from giving birth to our third child, yet I feel like it was just yesterday we brought him into the world. He is by far the most witty kid I know. He's smart, he's funny, may have a bit of an attitude problem these days, and keeps us on our toes. All around, he's an awesome kid, and makes our life a joy.

We threw a Cowboy/Indian party for him. We had it at Marcy and Kevin's (my in laws). This was his invitation:




Stone's middle name is Clifford. And we've always joked about how his name sounds Native American. "I'm Stone Cliff."




In honor of his party theme, Kevin (my father in law) went all out. He got Stone a REAL bow and arrows, and made a cow (look in the background) for everyone to rope (oh, and got lassos for the kids to do so!).

Stone ROCKS at the bow and arrow. He was hitting the cowboy target right in the head and chest. He was doing better than any of us!



My favorite thing I made for his party were the teepee cupcakes:


Above: I baked cupcakes inside of these cones. I'm glad I had these to redeem my cake disaster.  I don't think I'll be making cakes in the future.  It's just not my strong suit, what can I say. The cake kind of fell apart, but we made it work with building a Cowboy and Indian fight scene on top.

Below:
My father in law really rocks. He was the chef that day. I insisted we'd do something simple like ordering pizzas, but he had a church function to cook for, so he insisted on making enough for the party, as well. Awesome meats made by this rancher here.

He taught us how to rope some cattle (or kids, really).








Stone is a very outgoing kid. However, he gets so embarrassed when people talk about him or shine light on him (like singing "Happy Birthday"). When things like this happen, he plugs his ears.

With bows, arrows, food, family, and fun, the party was a success.

Below: These three love to play dress up with Grandma Jessup.



Future bridesmaid picture:


Marcy had an awesome hat. Have I mentioned I have the best in laws?!



My grandma was also at the party, and we love her so! We can't be together and not get a 4 generation shot. Stone was a little uncooperative by the end of the party, so he was missing for this.


Below:
Cliff was taking pictures of us, and when we thought he was done, he captured one of us being silly. :)
And well, let's just say I'm grateful for black and white images. Because this is one image I care not share in color. hahaha. Stone and I were the Indians, and Cliff and Emerson were the cowboys. Altogether, we look like a mismatched bunch, hahaha. But it was fun. As a photographer, I really do love black and white. I'm kind of obsessed with black and white images. They highlight the best things in an image, including textures, and well, in this case, they can hide the not so great things (like mismatched color).

Our family portrait from the party...


This concludes our 2 1/2 week vacation to Arizona and El Paso. We had a blast, but it's nice to be home and preparing these last few weeks for baby #3 to arrive. We're stoked!