Cowgirl Kivi's Hoedown!

Kivi turned 4 on July 14th! Yee Haw!

My cousin Brian got married in August, so we decided to wait until my whole family would be up in WA for the wedding so they could all come to Kivi's big day. She chose a hoedown this year! It was so much fun! I love putting together parties, but for some reason I got really stressed out about it this time. I love the details. Too much. I went really crazy for a bit, but Peter brought me back to reality, and I decided to trust God that everything would be great. And it was, it didn't even rain! Which was my biggest fear. I have my priorities out of wack, I know.

We had a great time chowin' down on Miss Tiffany's Baked Whistleberries, Grandma Jacque's Country Cornbread and Gruntsteak (pulled pork) Sandwiches. Kivi wanted a pink boot shaped cake, so that's what she got. And since I'm a crazy party nut, she got a lot more than that. But I'll admit it, it's mainly for me. I'm pretty sure she'd have been happy with just the cake.

Mama and Dada with the big 4 year old birthday girl.

Bubba retreating to the hay to scarf down his food. (And a dead horse in the background. It had been riden too hard on the trampoline giving kids turns "bull riding".)

One of my favorite pics of the day. Miss Tiffany doing her lasso thing!

The dad's had a pig callin' contest, of which no one won, and a lasso contest, which both Grandpa's won. Here's Poppie ropin' the haas. We also had a pig race were the kids worn pig snouts and crawled to their parent.

Peter filled his truck with hay and tossed tons of coins in and let the kids search for treasure in the hay the whole time. The kids loved this! Especially Trey and Logan.

Our sign.

Details. Tin cans. Bandanas. They were hung everywhere too.

It was a girly hoedown.

More details. Our cowboy/cowgirl boot party favor cookies.

More boots.

Opal and Kivi had matching pink boots. Opal's first pair of shoes that actually fit on her feet.

Opal "standing" for the longest time while we took family pictures. Her stance kept getting wider and wider.

All the cowboy and cowgirls. Kivi was the only one not looking at the camera!

My other favorite pic: Jayna still wearing her pig nose after the pig race. Kivi loves pigs! So we had to incorporated the favorite farm animal in the party.

Eben and Aunt Sherri

Kivi girl waving to her adoring fans as they sing her "Happy Birthday". It was so cute! She had the biggest smile!

We love you Kivi Pea! Your precious smile, the way you share, how you're always ready to help Mama, Dada or your brothers. You can entertain Opie for hours. You're the smartest girl ever - reading and writing already! You always think about what God would want you to do and try so hard to use your self-control. You have an infectious love of Jesus even at such a young age. You are loved and cared for by lots of people and especially by God. We are so proud that God chose us to be your Mama and Dada. Happy 4th Birthday Sweet Pea!

P.S. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get sidetracked in your lifetime on the wrong details. And I want to apologize now for when I do. Because the main thing is that your are loved. So please forgive me if I freak out about stuff, and remind me to just love you. And to trust God.