Jenks - One Rockin' Family!

So three days after Maddie's backyard birthday party she celebrated her actual birthday.  She was super excited when she opened her gift from her parents...an iPod Touch!  Okay, so it's really my old iPhone, but the affect we got from her was the same.  She was totally jazzed, and ever since she hasn't asked to play on my phone. Bonus!!! June is always beautiful, and we have colorful flowers in the front yard.   Another awesome event in June was reaching a new milestone for baby Gemma.  She learned to walk!  Even though she's our third child, it's still incredibly exciting to watch them take those first steps.  Gemma loves her new-found mobility, and she has been terrorizing every room, cupboard, and drawer in the house. Madeline and Sharlie taking Gemma for a walk. Gemma, 13 months old Father's Day was super rad, with Jon & Katie coming over for food and fun. We barbecued sweet burgers.  Seriously, the 1/3 pound patties ...

So yeah, I guess 2013 is the year where we're throwing all these crazy birthday parties.  Good thing we don't do this for every birthday, because it's exhausting! For Madeline's 8th birthday party, we let her pick the theme.  "Great" she exclaimed, "I want a Carnival!"  I have to say I let Maddie down a bit, though, as she begged me to dress up like a clown for the party.  I'll dress up as just about anything, but clowns...no way.  We tried to get Grandpa Jenkins to come be the clown, but curiously he was busy on Saturday!  Here are some of the highlights from the party: Brooke made some sweet cupcakes! All the kids got a carnival box, full of frosted animal cookies, an old-school lollipop, popcorn, and those nasty orange marshmallow circus peanuts. We got this cool photo booth setup for $2.00 at Walmart.  Say what! Maddie and her friend Annie Sharlie knows what's up! The first game played was the bea...