(There are a lot of pictures. I spent forever deciding which pictures to include and didn't include most! I tried to get a combination of activities and a picture of all the kids and some of my friends that I could too. Just for memory's sake.)
I threw a birthday party/going away party for Anika before we moved. She had been planning her party for months and it made me sad to think we'd move right before her birthday. Many times she had listed friends she wanted to invite. She had talked about having the girls dress up as princesses and the boys dress up. She had talked about a castle cake and a pinata. I hadn't always intended to go all-out for her birthday, but I wanted to when I found out we were moving.
Anika's expression/reaction when she first saw the decorations for her party (I did it the night before). 
Happy Girl :)
Crepe paper goes a long way!
The balloons on the floor are for a balloon drop.
The pink tablecloth cut in half is also for the balloon drop.
Here the kids are playing "Pass the Magic Wand" while music plays (like "Hot Potato")
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| Clockwise from Anika (Bell): Kasia, Shayna, Addie, Sadie, Evelyn, Caleb, Conner, Kienan, Joshua and Andie. |
The kids sat on the couch if they were holding the wand when the music stopped.
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| Shayna, Caleb, Conner, Zach, Kasia & Anika |
Happy Evelyn with some of the Beauty & the Beast roses after the kids found them around the room.
(Evelyn's mom, Shantel, took pictures and was kind enough to share them with me. Several pictures on this post are from her. Thanks!)
Nathaniel and Dustin held up the pinata. I wore a Cinderella dress that I borrowed from my friend's sister-in-law. Thanks, Amber! (You can see my friend, Susie, on the right side of the picture.)
Hooray for dollar store pinatas! (Not filled, but still MUCH cheaper.)
The quick and simple cake topped with figures I had as a child.
One of the activities that I really wanted to include was making necklaces. There just wasn't a good way for it to not be a bunch of junk food. On this platter are fruit loops, cheez-it's (some worked), yogurt covered pretzel rings, mini fudge striped cookies and peach rings.
My sister, Emily, helped a lot. She is bringing over a pink form of peach rings (maybe raspberry rings) and some sour licorice that could be strung.
In this picture I think I am trying to get all the kids seated under the balloon drop.
One of the first things we did was have a hot dog picnic
We also had fruit wands, string cheese and carrots (that hardly got eaten) for dinner.
Super Seth! In the back you can see Christine (standing) and talking to Cynthia (sitting). Jared, who was our home teacher at the time we moved, is on the couch.
I like this picture because Addie loved Seth. She enjoyed playing with him and he thought it was great! She would often tease him and call him, "Grumpy Face. Hey, Mr. Grumpy Face" in a silly voice when he would do his silly scowl. Then they would laugh. Also, she is holding her ribbon wand. I made a whole bunch of them; I had been saving all the ribbon I came across, and it was plenty to make a bunch of wands! I just glued a ribbon between two thick popsicle sticks. We used them for a dance party and as a party favor.
Here is my friend, Cynthia, helping Anika open gifts. Cynthia also helped put the pinata together and lent me some cute pink and yellow decorations.
This picture reminds me of how clingy Seth got.
The balloon drop! Also doubled as a relatively inexpensive party activity and party favor.
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| A couple of Anika's cousins, Amelia and Felix, came later and seem to just be in this picture. |
There's my sister, Emily, in a picture. Helping with necklaces.
Opening presents!
Happy birthday, Sweet Girl! We celebrated again in the hotel, and I was even more glad we had done the party earlier. We didn't really know anyone yet or where we would live or which ward we would be in, so it wasn't much.
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