Happy Birthday Payton

On June 24th, Payton turned 8. This is the first year she wanted a birthday party with friends. She has never showed any interest in having a party with friends until this year. She is very shy like her mom. So the Saturday before her birthday (June 21), she invited all the girls from her 2nd grade class, all the girls from her church class, and all her girl cousins (except the 2 that are 2 and under) to her Webkinz themed birthday party. She had a total of 13 girls at her party. Which was a perfect amount. The girls started the party off by making party hats for their webkinz they brought.

Then we went outside and had a gem hunt. Jon marked off a part of the lawn and threw lots of jewels (gems) in the grass and then the girls had to hunt for them. One of the gems had a red dot on it which was the gem of the day. The girl who found it got a special prize. One month later the kids are still looking and finding gems in the lawn.

Next we played Candy Bash (pinata). I bought a sombrero pinata and filled it up with candy and the kids took turns trying to bust it. I also threw a bunch of left over candy that wouldn't fit in the pinata when the pinata broke. Then the girls went in and we played pin the tail on the Webkinz pink poodle.

It was then that Jon pointed out that I hadn't taken any pictures which I had planned on doing but was caught up in all the activities trying to keep them going so we could get everything done in 2 hours.

Then we had the girls make beaded name collars for their Webkinz. This got a bit messy with beads falling everywhere.

Finally, it was time for cake and ice cream. Payton wanted a cookie cake from Sam's Club for her cake (which was just fine by me).

After cake and ice cream, parents started coming. She didn't have enough time to open her presents in front of her guest. Which she did open after all the girls had left, except her cousins were still there. She got 4 Webkinz and quiet a few craft things. She is already planning her next year party.

We didn't give Payton her presents from us until her real birthday. Which she opened as soon as everyone was awake.

We have a tradition in our family that the birthday person gets to pick out which restaurant they want to eat at for dinner. She picked Taco Bell/KFC (they are 2 restaurants in 1).

Next month she is going to get baptized.

Happy Birthday! I love having you apart of my family.