How to Throw a Jedi Party

Hand out light sabers with your invitations. This makes all the potential Jedi Knights super excited so that they ask their mothers when the party is multiple times a day. They also practice their Jedi moves constantly (and very seriously), and ask to "have a fun time at Justin's party" in their prayers. No joke.

Have Princess Leia greet them at the entrance to the Jedi Training Academy.

Feed them Galactic Pizza and Yoda Soda so they'll have lots of energy for their Jedi Training.



Have each Jedi complete a strenuous obstacle course and hone their light saber skills with balloons.
(Watch out for the hot lava!)




Enlist the help of some "bad guys" to kidnap princess Leia, then let then the newly trained Jedi Knights come to the rescue.

After vanquishing Darth Vader and his evil minions, send the victors off to destroy the Death Star and enjoy the spoils of battle.







(Enjoy the action shots below. If you had a child at the party, please try to ignore that having 12 children on the trampoline at one time is a clear violation of the manufacturer's recommendations. It should be noted that no children were [seriously] harmed in the making of these video clips.)

Highlights from Bear Lake

Lunch in Logan on the way to the lake.

Waiting to get on the first boat ride.
Swimming

Jumping in!
Impromptu soccer games.
Trying a new tube.
Something just for the girls. Making bracelets and painting fingernails (thanks to Aunt Jenny).
Playing games.
Riding the tube.

Water balloon warfare.
Wakeboarding!
Injuries
"The Couch"
The whole gang.

Why Just Wear One Shirt When You Can Wear Four?

Every so often, Justin likes to wear four or five shirts--at the same time. It started in the winter when one day he decided he wanted to wear two shirts. I forbade it the first time. All it looked like to me was extra laundry.

The next time, he was able to sneak it past me until we were already out and about and I couldn't do anything about it. I decided there was no point in arguing with him. Fine, wear two shirts. The innermost shirt was staying clean, anyway. I just had to keep track of which shirt was on top.

The green light from Mom went to Justin's head. Why stop at two shirts?

One day, he was looking very beefy indeed for a four-year-old, so I asked him how many shirts he was wearing. I peeled back the layers and found four. He says it makes him look tough. What do you think?

His record is 5 shirts, by the way.

Grace's Braces

A few weeks ago, Grace got her first of two sets of braces! We'd known for a few months that she needed them, and she was excited and nervous for the big day.

Here are some before shots.

I made Grace some delicious caramel popcorn to eat that morning before the braces were on as one last hurrah. No more caramel popcorn for about a year.

We took Cal, the Guide Dog in Training, with us. He behaved very well and loved attention from the staff.

This is Rosie getting Grace's teeth all ready. She was very nice. She's from England.

Here's Grace with a mouthful of braces and plastic guide wires--very prickly!

And the final results! They only hurt her for a couple of days (I was generous with the ibuprofen). She initially had a hard time figuring out how to chew effectively, but now she's got it down. Looks pretty cute to me!