Misc.

Finally we're all done unpacking!!!!! YAY!!!! I'm so glad to have it done. We sold our home in early June and were able to get into the new one mid-July. We have much more room and are a lot closer to work and family. We are thrilled! Katy loves having room to run and play. There's lots of room for her to play in the yard too. Hopefully we'll have a playset soon. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but they will be coming.

I'm sitting here listening to Katy play with her "pets" and basking in the smell of fresh baked bread! It's smells so good. I don't know if it tastes good or not, but it sure smells good. This was my first solo attempt at baking bread. It was fun to do. Katy had fun helping me and got covered with flour. She loves to help me cook or bake. I enjoy letting her help me but don't always enjoy cleaning up the messes.

Donny found a good deal on a riding lawn mower this week. So we finally have our own lawn mower. We had a push one, but the yard is so big that it literally takes hours and hours to push mow it. Now we can mow our grass without having to borrow Papa's mower - yay. Anyway...I tried to cut the grass for Donny on Wednesday, but I couldn't get the mower to start. And of course, when Donny gets home (after dark) it starts right up. So I tried again yesterday and it started and I got about half the front yard done when I needed to stop to help Katy and when I got back on to try and finish the mower wouldn't start. (was that a run-on sentence?) And, yet again, when Donny got home (after dark) it started right up for him. Determined not to let the dag-on mower win, I went out to try this morning only to find that Donny had the key in his pocket at work. So...I'm hoping that Donny'll get home before dark so that I can get the mowing done and win the fight against that darn mower! :) I will win!

Today is the first day that we've tried big girl undies for Katy - and she LOVES them! The whole potty training thing hasn't gone as quickly as I would have liked, but we're making progress at least. We're only on outfit number 3 for today - we've had two accidents. I think that's pretty good for the first time trying them. It's been hard for me to see all of her friends potty trained already when she's still in pull-ups, and not feel like I'm doing something wrong. I think we're getting close though. I just want to be sure that she's done before she gets into Primary in January. I think we'll make it. Anyone have any good "tricks of the trade" for getting it done?

Memories

Donny put our pictures of Katy in the hospital on his computer and I've had a lot of fun looking at them again. It doesn't seem like it's already been two and half years since we were there. Why was I so eager to get home? It was so much easier in the hospital! I thought I'd share my two favorite pictures. We never thought to get a picture of the three of us together. I wish we had one. But oh well.

Was she really ever so little?

Thank Goodness for Baby Oil!

Katy gets busier and busier everyday. Her latest escapade was this past Sunday. We were eating lunch at Donny's parents' house and while we were fixing the food, the kids were playing. The next thing I know, Afton came running in to tell me that Katy was coloring her cheeks. I found her in Meme's bathroom with a tube of 16 hour colorstay lipstick. She had "put on makeups." She had it all over her face - on her cheeks, around her eyes and in her hair too. I tried to wash it off and nothing I tried would work. Finally, Monday evening, someone told me to try baby oil, and it worked - hooray! I thought I was going to have to wait until it just wore off and who knew how long that would have taken. On top of that, Monday morning she wandered back to my mom's bathroom and was "doing makeups" with clear nail polish. Luckily, I knew how to get that off, but it too was all over her face. It's almost like she waits until she knows that I can't stop her to go get into things.

Another day a week or so ago, I was doing laundry and had just finished emptying the dryer. I ran back to the bathroom and when I came out I couldn't find Katy. I called out to her and I heard a little voice say "I'm in the cave." I thought she was back in our room, but I didn't see her, so I called to her again and she said "I'm hiding." She was in the dryer! She climbed in and closed the door on herself. She didn't have it pulled all the way closed, but it was realy close.

She loves to climb (as all toddlers do I'm sure) and yesterday I found her kneeling on top of her dresser. Her dresser is about chest high on Donny. I have no idea how she got up there.
She definitley keeps me on my toes. I'm sure it could be a lot worse. Hopefully it'll get better and I can run to the bathroom without having to pray that she won't kill herself. I do enjoy her though and I'm so grateful that I can be home with my little buddy everyday.

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.