Children's Museum

A few weeks ago, Toni and I took the girls to the Children's Museum. They absolutely loved it! We will definitely be going again. Thanks to Toni, (who remembered her camera and shared her pictures with me) I have a few pictures to remember our trip. There were a lot more, but I just chose a few.

Katy in the Dr. Office section. She didn't really care about fixing her teddy bear, she just wanted to play with the tools.

One of the first places that they found was the art room. They both LOVED painting. I think they both would have stayed and painted all day if we had let them.




It was about all that I could do to convince Katy that we should go see what else there was to play with. I think I finally got her to stop because she saw that there were dinosaurs to play with.

"Aaargg Matey!"

Caroline and Katy outside on the way to the Museum. We couldn't get them to stand any closer.

This was one of the last things that the girls got to do together before Kevin and Toni moved. We really enjoyed having them so close. We will miss them. Katy especially misses Caroline. They had a lot of fun in between the tantrums and the "mine" fights (started by Katy I have to admit). We're looking forward to the next visit!

I havent' forgotten about the blog. There is so much to catch up on, but I don't like to do posts without pictures. Our camera broke and I haven't taken the time to figure out how to download the pictures we've taken on our video camera yet. It is one of my goals for this weekend.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I decided not to send out a Christmas letter this year and just post it here instead. We have had a great year. Here are the highlights:

- Donny and I celebrated our 5th anniversary in January. I can't believe it's already been 5 years! I don't feel old enough for that.

- We got to go camping twice this year as a family. Katy absolutely loved it! We would have liked to camp more, but are grateful for the time we got. We have one more "campout" in the works for Christmas Eve in Meme and Papa's backyard. Hopefully it won't be too cold. :)

- Lots of visits with family. It was so nice. In August, Jon (Donny's brother) and Amber came out here. It was a short visit, but it was fun to have the whole family together again. In September, Mom's brothers and sisters had a reunion at the beach. It was good to see aunts and uncles and Grandma again - even though it was short. Also in September, Emily and Chris came out for a way too short weekend. They were able to help us celebrate Katy's 2nd birthday. I can't believe she's 2! She's not my baby anymore, she's a little girl. That's another thing I don't feel old enough for - to have a 2 year old. September was a busy month. Then, in October, we took our vacation and went out to Utah to visit my Grandmas, my sisters (Amy and Emily) and Donny's brother Jon again. I was able to celebrate my birthday with Emily which we haven't been able to do in 6 years. We really enjoyed being able to spend so much time with our families this year - we've been spoiled. Katy had lots of fun with her cousins.

- New callings. Donny and I are both in Primary. I'm serving in the Presidency and Donny is teaching the 10 and 11 year olds. We enjoy being in Primary together. If only we could get Katy to enjoy nursery on her own.

- Watching Katy learn and grow. She has changed so much this year. She talks all the time and will say anything now. We have to be very careful what we say around our little copycat. Some of our favorite things she says are: "Big truck's in trouble!"
"No, mommy. Go play! ober der (over there), dat way."
"Chrismas yights. I yuv it!"
She loves to sing "Happy Birthday" to anything and everything, and "twinkle stars" (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)", and "I Am a Child of God." Her newest song is "E-I-E-I-O" (Old macdonald had a farm) and if I don't do the animal sounds just right, she corrects me. Donny tries to trick me up by getting Katy to ask for an elephant or a giraffe, etc. I love to listen to her sing. She is so much fun. I don't know what I'd do without my little buddy.

As we celebrate this Christmas we remember the birth of the Savior and his Atonement. We thank our Heavenly Father for the gift of His son and for all that we have been blessed with, including so many family and friends. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

8 Things

Michelle sent this to me a while ago, so here goes...

8 Favorite TV Shows
The Office
Friends
Law & Order
Boston Legal
The Unit
Hell's Kitchen
new fav. is Ace of Cakes
I like to watch the Today Show too

8 Favorite Restaurants
Texas Roadhouse
Zupas (it's in Provo - thanks Em)
Perkins (for sentimental reasons)
Arbys
Chik-fil-A
Ruby Teusday's
Chilis
Macaroni Grill

8 Things That Happened Yesterday
Washed the Dishes
Did the laundry
Called my sister (Happy Birthday Amy)
Sorted through and boxed up Katy's old toys...Finally
Vacuumed
Met with our realtor
Got gas and milk
Watched Cars with Katy

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To
Donny's 4 day weekend - woohoo
Visiting with family over Thanksgiving weekend
Christmas Shopping
Tax Returns so I can by a plane ticket :)
Selling our house
A bigger kitchen (one day)
More kids?
Potato Soup for dinner tonight

8 Things I Love About Fall
Cooler weather
Football Games (even though we don't go to them anymore)
Birthdays
Colors of the leaves
Raking leaves and jumping in them
Hooded sweatshirts
Haunted houses/hayrides
Candy corn

8 Things On My Wishlist
Bigger Kitchen
Fenced in Backyard
Camcorder
Curly Hair
"Sold" Sign out front
Headband/headwrap like Emily's (I can't remember what kind it is)
A play room for Katy
More cute Paper to make cards with

8 People I Tag
Shannon
Jenn L.
Jen I.
Jami
Amy A.
Emily G.

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe she's two! I've been very slow to get any postings done, especially Katy's birthday. She turned two back in September. We celebrated with Donny's family the week of her birthday and then with my family a week late so that Emily and Chris could be there. It was a lot of fun to have them here for that. Kevin and Toni were up too, so we almost had the whole family together. Katy loved playing with Caroline. Aunt Emily bought the party hats and blowers (is that what you call them??). They played with them for days after the party. Thanks Em! You rock!

Katy and Caroline

Mom and Dad had an old mattress out for the girls to jump on, so naturally that's where we had to have the party. It was so cute to watch them jump and giggle together.

It didn't take long for Katy to figure out how to work it. She was so proud of herself.

We have a lot of birthdays in our family in the months leading up to Katy's so when it came time for her cake, she knew exactly what to do!

When Katy woke up on her birthday, I sang happy birthday to her and when I was done, she blew like she was blowing out candles. She watched her dad, grandma, grandpa, meme, and Caroline all blow out their candles between June and August, so she knew that after "Happy Birthday" come the candles. In fact, everytime she sees a candle she says "happy birthday to you." Sometimes she calls them "happy birthday to you candles," but it sounds more like "hap day to you tandles." (After we carved our pumpkin for Halloween, we lit a candle and turned out the lights so Katy could see it. Before we could blow out the candle we had to sing "Happy Birthday" to the pumpkin. I think we may have started a family tradition.) When she was opening her presents everything was "Oh toot!" (Oh cute). She got mostly clothes, and she was very impressed with all the "dresses" (even though they were shirts).

She talks so much now! Amber suggested that I make a list of all the things that she says right now and I'm beginning to think it might be easier to list the things that she doesn't say. I think my favorite thing that she says right now is Laura. If I'm in another room and she calls me, she says "Noo-wa!" (Laura). It is so cute. She makes me laugh all the time. One night I asked her what she wanted me to cook her for dinner, and she said "how 'bout cookies." I told her that she couldn't eat cookies for dinner and she said "how 'bout cookies." We went back and forth for a little bit like that, and then she said "how 'bout pizza!" When I told her we didn't have any pizza she whispered "how 'bout pancakes!" The whole exchange made me laugh, so now sometimes she says it to try and make me laugh.

Where has all the time gone? I remember when she was just a newborn and crying all night wishing that she would grow up so she would sleep through the night, and that she could just tell me what she needed. We used to say that we couldn't wait for her to get to where she could play with us. Now we find ourselves wishing we could go back and hold that sweet baby again. I have a picture in my bedroom of her when she was just a few days old. I like to look at it and see how much she's changed. I almost forget sometimes that she used to look like that. We wonder what we ever did without her. She has brought so much joy into our lives! I love my little buddy.

What a cute kid!

Katy's favorite new place is the dryer at Grandma's house. It got really quiet one day so I knew it was time to check on her and I found her in the dryer. I think it's funny that the only dryer she cares about playing in is Mom's.





She is really starting to use her imagination now. She'll play games more and more by herself, which is nice for me so I can get stuff done, but it's a little sad at the same time, cuz she doesn't need or want me as much anymore - she's growing up. Mom and Dad have some little sesame street guys that all us kids played with. Katy loves playing with them too. The other day she lined them up on the counter and said "I'll be right back." Once she was running around the house saying "No stop. Wait, I'm coming!" I think Uncle Brian taught her a game where she says "I'm scared - run! AHHH!", and then runs down the hall. She loves playing with her Uncle Brian. She's also started saying a few things that are just funny to me. One morning she woke up and I was taking too long to get to her, so she started fussing a little and then she said "I cwyin'!" When I need her to listen to me, sometimes I'll put my hands on either side of her face and say "listen" etc. Now she goes around to people and puts her hands on their faces and says "yisten Mom." Anytime I get something for her and even when I put her to bed she says "thanks Mom." When I put her to bed she'll say "Thanks Mom, bye, have a good trip, see ya later." She makes my day when she says thanks mom. I love being her Mom.

Daddy Daughter Fun

One day when we were at Donny's parents' house I went looking for Donny and Katy and found this. It was so cute I just had to take pictures. Meme bought the table and the tea set for the grandkids and it's the first thing Katy looks for when we go there.

She loves her dad. He's such a good Dad too!

Katy enjoyed taking turns feeding each other "cake"