July 2010--Not quite over the hill, but definitely deserving of a party! (find my 30th bday party pics at the end of this post)

I've gotten a lot of requests over the last five months to see pictures from the big bash, I know many of you thought that surely after my big thirtieth birthday party I would immediately post pictures to show you all what you missed out on, but that is when our computer started going haywire and holding all of our pictures hostage. Shockingly, life continued on without my blog updates and I never made the time to get things working again. However, I've missed my blog and want to have the memories of these last several months documented somewhere they can't get trapped (it was very scary to think that 24,000 pictures of my kids lives were possibly frozen in our computer...yes, we have multiple back-ups now), so I am starting back in June where I left off but am mainly just posting pictures with very little back story. I just need to remember in 15 years why I felt like I needed to save a specific picture, hence the captions.

Anyway, hopefully I will quickly get all caught up and the blogging will become more regular in coming weeks and months. July was pretty busy, Justin was gone most of the month and I was off exploring with the kids, yet somehow he is in a lot of these pictures...convenient that all of the july holidays hit on weekends this year so he could be home to celebrate with us!

While Abbie and Tate were at Sportball camp we took Bracken on a little date to a bakery downtown, he chose this cookie himself, but it turns out he and his dad share a hatred for frosting.

It is July in Austin. It is hot. Tate loves long sleeves but detests long pants. Now that it is January I am having daily arguments with a four year old about why he has to wear long pants, but on the day of this picture it was about 105 degrees and he refused to wear anything but this shirt with his swimsuit to Dinosaur park to dig in the sand and play with the Barlow kids.

Ruby dressed appropriately, good girl.

Lexie sandwich

as you can see across many blog posts it is impossible to get all five children to look in the same direction, I'm over that

frog belly

ok, seriously, doesn't this just look like summer fun? Lonna, if you see this, I miss you!!! We headed to the nearest playland after all of that sand and water fun, it was such a great day.

I'm lovin' it

new day, new adventure with mom, new treat.

yum! frozen yogurt as big as your head!

my kids know I'm a sucker for frozen yogurt, so this is where we headed after the gym

my little man lost a tooth and his smile was too cute that Sunday not to capture in a picture

july 19...Daddy's birthday breakfast

hmm, snot face. does the camera need to pick up everything?

Well, it's been lovely but I think I've had enough, goodbye highchair. We will have to do this again some time.

Not every man can pull off this look but Justin is really rockin' the pipe cleaner and butterfly necklace, don't you think?

Don't those two just melt your hearts?

are these children syphoning wishes?

it's never too early to learn to accessorize, thanks for sharing your glasses Lauren!

my sweet baby

I told the kids to get in the car so we could take Lauren to the airport, this is what I found when I got to the driveway. They are such obedient kids!

Lauren came to visit us and to tour the campus at UT, I think we all know she's a Nittany Lion at heart but it was a good excuse to come visit anyway! It was SO much fun having her here and she was so fabulous with the kids, we were all extremely sad to see her go. It's hard for me to believe that she is all grown up, she has been such an important part of my life for most of her life. I am so privileged to know such a special person!

I walked into the kitchen and first I saw this...

...then I looked up and saw this. We are all about safety in the Allen home.

july 24...Pioneer Day!

I see someone who is grateful not to be crossing the plains...or on a plane for once!

this boy LOVES his bike

Ruby really wanted to ride Abbie's big girl bike, but at two and a half she just wasn't quite big enough

july 25...grandpa's birthday (he flew in on pioneer day to come and help get ready for my party)

two scurvy boys

july 31...my big day...

all of my pretty wildflowers for the tables outside

simple. summer. beautiful.

lest we forget, the theme was CUPCAKES AND COWBOY BOOTS...such good stories about the boots...why did I let my blog lapse

also, such good stories about the bales of hay...too many stories...too many missed months

mason jars for the homemade root beer (our friend Spencer makes some mean root beer, and it's always a crowd pleaser...he even had his own kegs specially made!)

our servant, Taylor, was so busy working that he didn't even get a chance to change for the party like he had wanted to, but he didn't complain

favor table

there were more men wearing these hats by the end of the party than kids, I'm not sure why

my fellow former-east-coaster, Betsy and her husband Sean...she's such a fabulous friend and is always saving my hide...thank you text messaging!

the behind-the-scenes crew

my surprise birthday cake, a hint of things to come

it was a little windy and the candle just did not want to light

eventually there was success...or maybe I just faked it

it was a massive pain to get all the bales of hay to our home but I was SO glad we made the effort, totally festive

uh, I can't remember why there are two of this picture...I'll have to look closely for differences

the best part of the party, hands down

stick 'em up!

Miss Molly and Mr.B

my little sister, party planner, shopping partner in crime, and very dearest friend

If these two cousins weren't LDS I'd be really concerned when they hit their partying years, they hung out at the root beer keg all night!

the miller clan (a special thank you to the Miller family for taking off work and flying to Austin to help me with the party...somehow Rhonda seemed to know I was overwhelmed and needed the support. They were AMAZING!)

clearly by this time we had stopped monitoring the root beer

Jackie (one of my very best friends here and a truly amazing woman) and I breathing a huge sigh of relief that the party is over. After having been out of town for a month with her five kids, she returned just a few days before the party to make hundreds--literally--of gourmet cupcakes for the party. What an amazing friend!

The rest of the pictures are all ones Bracken took with our old camera. He went around the party all night taking pictures and documenting things at his level. There were over a hundred pictures, I only included a few below. The pictures he took were seriously the best surprise at the end of the night!

he took this one in our car, not sure why

BBQ table

my friends girls at the candy table

Jackie, Gayle, and DBL!

the Longhorns bouncer, huge hit

self explanatory

the supportive wallet behind the party, how could I possibly love him any more??

This is how Larry posed when he saw Bracken with the camera. Never a missed opportunity. Yes, this man was once in the NFL.

one of several birthday signs made in the wee hours of the morning with my sisters and sisters-in-law, thank you girls!

my special gift from my way-more-special and amazing husband

love it!!