Two Birthdays and a Thanksgiving Visitor

Two birthdays on the same day is crazy, especially since one is a boy and one is a girl, and they are not twins. Most of the time the kids ask for pizza on their birthdays, but Chase wanted a Happy Meal. Ella was fine with that, since she will eat pretty much anything, except the dog's food (she didn't think it tasted very good). After eating, the kiddos spent some time in the play center, except Ella who stayed with us because the fries had not run out yet.

Next, we all went home to enjoy some yummy cupcakes. Chase had picked out Spiderman plates and Ella had Tinkerbell napkins. Hey, its a little crazy, but it works. It is hard to imagine what her first birthday must have been like in the orphanage, but I am so thankful that she only spent one birthday without her family.

Blowing out the candles was an event. Chase was blowing too easy, so he kept getting closer to the cupcake until he finally felt the heat of the flame on his lip. He quickly blew it out then! Ella had watched Chase's process and as soon as we put the cupcake in front of her she blew one of the candles out. We lit them again and kept her lips away while we sang her the birthday song. Then, it took us several minutes to convince her it was okay to blow out the candles. As soon as she blew them out she started shoving the cupcake into her mouth. It was messy, but really adorable. Chase and Ella opened a couple of presents and then they got a present to share, their fun new Sit n' Spin. Chase jumped on first and it took him a few minutes to figure out the correct mechanics of spinning. Ella took a turn and with the advantage of having watched Chase figure it out, she immediately began spinning. Sometimes she really amazes us!
For the week of Thanksgiving, Eric traveled home to PA to visit his parents and attend a Flyers and Eagles game. In the meantime, we had a visitor here in Arizona. My intelligent and beautiful sister, Kristen, came down from BYU to spend the week with us.
We missed Daddy, but we had so much fun with Kristen. I would have been really bored without her here. Ashley and Brett also visited for the weekend before Thanksgiving and Brett was the most nicest brother-in-law ever when he babysat the kids while me, Kristen, and Ashley went to see Twilight. We enjoyed the movie, and I thought it was a good representation of the text of the book, although I hate that style of cinematography.
Eric returned to us the day after Thanksgiving . . . the day after the Eagles killed the Cardinals. He was tired but very happy. Happy to be home and happy to be an Eagles fan. Eric rested on Friday and then we took everyone to the zoo and to eat lunch afterwards. We arrived home very full and ready for a nap. We were sad when Kristen had to leave the next morning, but we are excited for Kristen to get to visit Lindsey and Justin later this month for the birth of their baby and Christmas. We can't wait for Christmas either. Oh, and Eric and I also have a big day coming up . . . our 10th anniversary. We are looking forward to our getaway to a resort down in Tucson. It will be a blast!