Birthday Party/Temple Open House

I should have had a much better post title, but right now I am truly recovering from a fun but BUSY weekend, so that was the best that I could do. That being stated, I can't promise that this post will make a lot of sense. Here goes....

This weekend we had the pleasure of having all of our cousins come over, and then we drove down to the new Calgary Mormon Temple Open House.

Friday night I figured since all of Cooper's Leishman cousins were in town that we could have a little birthday party for him. It was wild and loud, but mostly a lot of fun. I love my sisters, and they have great kids. I am so glad we could spend some time together.

For Coop's party I was planning on doing a cute monkey theme. I had a little shirt picked out from etsy with a 1 on it, and bought some decorations from Target this summer when we were in the states. Then as per my norm things got crazy and I had to settle with just doing what I could, and there was not too much of a theme-ha! Sorry Coops!

My adorable Birthday Boy!

I used the decorations I bought this summer, and made some cupcakes, but never managed to order the #1 shirt, and I couldn't even find my streamers or balloons.  I am not a baker or a cake decorator, but I found THE easiest little monkey cupcakes, that literally my 10 year old niece could do on her own. They were cute, and most importantly they tasted good. Here is a link to the picture. All that is needed is vanilla wafer cookies, some sprinkles and icing(I used store bought-ha).

Cooper was in an awesome mood,(as usual) and he was happy to get loves and attention from his many older cousins. We visited and ate pizza and Cooper(with a great deal of help from his brother) loved opening a few presents, and blowing out his birthday candle.

Blowing out his birthday candle.

Enjoying his birthday cupcake.

Playing on a fun toy from his cousins

One of my favorite birthday party memories came when each of his cousins made him a homemade card. They were so sweet. Cooper's cousin Porter lost a tooth on Thursday night and got a toonie from the tooth fairy. Porter included his toonie in Cooper's card, as a gift. I thought that was pretty special from a seven year old.

Porter hard at work on Cooper's card

After the party we all went swimming and since it had been a while(due to Hudson's finger) Cooper and Hudson had a total blast. I loved watching Hudson, Seth and Porter just be total boys and roughhouse and cackle. Cooper discovered his splashing arms and giggled with glee the whole time.

Saturday morning Shane had to work, so my Mom, Leanne, Jodie, (all of their kids) and Seth, and me and my kids drove down to Calgary. We had to play musical cars a little bit, but we were blessed with safe driving conditions despite Mother Natures best efforts. I started off driving with Leanne, and one of the funniest moments was when I put Griffin's Halloween mask (a chicken head) on and started waving to cars driving past us. One guy had a particularly hilarious reaction and we howled for minutes. It was great.

Griffin sporting his Chicken head mask

 When we arrived in Calgary, the snow and wind were both strong. It was so so cold. We watched a short film regarding the history of the Mormon church in Alberta and then we were able to take the tour of the temple. The Temple was magnificant. Inside and Out. I am always blown away with the detail in the temples. No expense is ever spared, and the quality of workmanship is outstanding(as it should be). There were hundreds and hundreds of people there, so I do admit I felt a bit rushed, and having Hudson there inhibited me from having a super spiritual experience, but I am so glad I was able to go and take my boys. I hope they will always know how important and special temples are.At one point all of my family was in the Celestial Room of the temple, and I did have such a hopeful and nice feeling. It is a remarkable place and so many people will be blessed by having the temple so close to them.

Grandma and all 9 of her grandkids, plus Leanne, and Jodie. It was soooo cold!

The picturesque temple!

We stopped at a mall for dinner and a little bit of shopping, then headed home. I am so glad that Shane was able to go see the temple when he was in Calgary a few weeks ago, and that I was able to go with all of my family. It was a great weekend.