Child Mary

La Purisima does this beautiful event each November to commemorate when Mary's parents took her to the temple to be raised whne she was a small child.  The Pre-School and Kindergarden children follow a statue of Mary as a child and make an offering to her.  It's adorable, and all the kids get dressed up.  Katie was so sweet in her party dress, she kept turning and waving at me.

Here she is with her class and the statue

And by herself

Waving at me during the ceremony

That's my girl - posing for the camera!

Decon Bube and Ms De la Fuente are ready to bless the children

Getting blessed by Dr. Bube

Katie's Dora Party

Katie LOVES Dora the Explorer.  Having a Dora themed birthday party, then, was a no brainer.  The idea was that the girls in her Pre School class, her cousin Kaylee from Pennsylvania and some other friends would come over and go on a "Dora syled" Adventure.  The basic idea:

There is the pinata in the tree at the front of the house - so after some coloring and eating the girls would head outside to break the pinata (Dora of course).  But OH NO!  The pinata is gone!!  In it's place is a  note that Swiper the Fox took it.  Then the girls has to consult the Map in their backpacks and follow the map to find the Pinata.  But watch out for Swpier (aka Nicholas) he is always trying to seal their stuff.

I had made little backpacks from lunch sacks and string, there was a map inside.  They had to go over Hop Scotch Bridge (the carpet from Katies room) and figure out the riddle from the Grumpy Old Troll (aka Daddy), then go to chocolate tree (the orange tree in the back yard with Hershey's Kisses tied to it) and then get to the pinata (back in the tree in the front).  They then broke the pinata, got the candy and all was well.

It only took a few hours to do all this, was cost effective but a ton of fun to plan and enjoy.  Nicholas was priceless as Swiper - unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of him ... but I will remember him willing to do that for his baby sister forever.

In front of the Dora Pinata, beginning of the party

Valeria and Makayla enjoy juice boxes

Allison and Riley having lunch

Finding the note Swiper left

With their backpacks .. "Who do we ask for help when we don't know which way to go?"

Crossing Hopscotch Bridge

Waiting to get through the Gate

The Grumpy Old Troll made them solve a riddle:  "Who's birthday is it?"

At Chocolate Tree - here comes Swiper.  We say "Swiper No Swiping, Swiper No Swiping"

Yay!  We found the Dora Pinata

Lauren is ready to pull the string and see if that opens Dora's Backpack full of candy

Katie and the Dora Pinata - that was her favorite part

Mini - Me

Now Johnny and Zachary have always looked alike, but this photo really surprised me at how much Katie looks like me when I was 4.  This is with her cousin Kaylee, who was visiting from Pittsburg, PA.  There is just something about her hair, her smile, etc that is just the image of me as a little girl. As the Mommy, that is really special to see!

Katie's 4th Birthday

Our baby girl turned 4 this year.  Where has the time gone?   We had a little cupcake and ice cream party with her brothers on her actual birthday.

Ready to for us to sing Happy Birthday!

Getting a little help from her brothers

Make a Wish!

Yummy cupcake- the frosting always goes first

LP Gala

Each year La Purisima has it's annual Gala Event.  It's a dinner/dance/fund raiser for the school.  We always have a great time, spend too much money, and hang out with amazing friends.  It's a fun excuse to get dressed up and spend a night with grown ups!

Getting ready to leave the house

Sharing the evening with Tommy and Lety Schaeffer.  What a good looking group we are!

Tracy and Lety

 After the event was over, we wanted to take advantage of no curfew and babysitters still at home ... so we went to JT Schmidts to continue the celebration

Anna, Tracy, Erica and Gina

Tracy with Johnny and Kevin