Kendrie's Special Day

Kendrie was baptized on Saturday. We invited friends and family to join us to celebrate this special occasion. She was so giddy all morning long. We had to practically sit on her to calm her down a few times. She put this crown on her head and told us that she is Princess Kendrie and should be addressed as such. Funny girl!

Jim and I gave Kendrie her first set of scriptures. We bought her a quad and had her name imprinted on it. She couldn't believe they had scriptures with her name on it! It took a little explaining to get that one figured out. She has been reading them since Sunday. She was up before 8 this morning reading the Book of Mormon and told me that she is going to have it all read before Christmas this year.

Kendrie and her cousin Kaden played the piano for us. Mostly it was Heart and Soul. I still have it stuck in my head. It was cute to see them play together. Kaden just started lessons. I haven't found a teacher for Kendrie yet. Hopefully soon and then they can play us concertos for the next family gathering!

My dad took this picture of Kendrie kneeling in front of the font from the reflection in the mirror above the font.

I have never been to a Stake baptism before, especially in Utah. There was 2 Wards with a total of 6 kids. Kendrie was last, I guess someone had to be, why not us. Anyway, it was great to have our families and friends with us. It was such a special day.

Our Family

On Temple Grounds

I had the opportunity to attend the Temple today. My kids are staying at their Grandma's house for the week and I spent Monday and Tuesday of this week cleaning bathrooms, doing laundry and painting downstairs. I was ready for a peaceful day. I went by myself and enjoyed being alone for a little while. After the session, I walked around the Temple grounds and took in the beautiful and fragrant flowers and trees that were in bloom. There is definitely something about the landscape of Temple grounds that is incomparable.

Easter

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. My mom and dad came down to spend the weekend with us. Saturday we went to Lagoon and discovered that Kort is tall enough to ride all the rides now! And he was determined to do so, against my wanting him to, however. Kendrie got Jim to go on the Fire Dragon with her and Kortlan thought that it was a good idea that he got to go to. I don't do well on this ride, but he was so determined, so I gave in. While we were standing in line I tried to bribe him with a dollar not to go. He told me no, he was going on this ride. I asked him why he had to go on this ride and he told me because he was trying to be tough! The ride scared him terribly. He didn't cry, but he didn't want to go on the big rides anymore. And I rediscovered why I don't go on the big rides, too. My stomach just can't handle being flipped around like that anymore. Does that mean I'm getting old? Anyway, we wandered around some more and let the kids play some games and then came home and crashed. Just for a little while, though, my mom and I had to get some baking done and the kids needed to get those eggs colored!

Easter morning started with the faster than fast egg hunt. Kortlan didn't want to let go of the eggs he found but he could pick up anymore either, this is the perplexed look he gave me.

And the baskets were found!

Kendrie's basket had the Junie B. Jones book "Dumb Bunny" in it. Grandpa wanted to see why Junie B. Jones was dressed up in a pink bunny costume, so for about an hour or so they layed out on the mini-trampoline and read the whole book. Kendrie enjoyed this to no end.

Dad's turn! After a good book one must wrestle and be tickled by their father!

Our parting shot - Maggie with her face in the carpet, pouting because I wouldn't give her any ham, or potatoes, or salad, or rolls, or . . .

March 31, 2007

Today we were finally able to finish Kort's bed. It only took us 3 days to do it. I am currently not a bunk bed fan, mostly because we had to put it together, but also because they are really hard to make. Anyway, this is Kort's new bed. He was so excited to sleep in it. That lasted until 12:30am and he found his way back into our bed. But he decided he was going to be more brave the next night and has slept in his own bed for over a week now. Yeah! No more startling wake ups in the middle of the night with a foot in my face.

I was really excited to get Kendrie's new bed set up for her. She has been sleeping in a 4 post queen bed for the last 3 years. I was excited to get her a "girly" bed and make it pretty in pink. She loves it and keeps it made, for the most part, so that she can see all of her pretty pillows.

This is my room. Something I am so very excited for. My own scrapbook/craft room where I can leave my stuff out or not, listen to my music, read, you name it. Now if I can just get the rest of the house finished so I can actually spend time in here! Anyone want to come scrapbook with me?

Spring "fever"

Another climate change has once again sent my body into a tizzy. You would think growing up in mold and mildew country that I wouldn't have such a hard time with allergies. I didn't growing up, but as soon as I moved to Utah 6 years ago and then to Nevada and back to Utah, I have suffered some awful sinus issues. I don't suppose the inversion that is looming over the state is helping me much, but hopefully the prescription the doctor gave me yesterday will.
I feel awful that I don't have any energy for the kids, especially when they have friends over so often. Kendrie has had 2 show up to play today and I just want to go to sleep! I don't want to be the crabby neighbor lady that doesn't let her kids play, so I let them play and I came in here to hide on the computer. Hopefully they are ok. I haven't heard any screaming, or maybe it's because my ears are so congested. Anyway, I love the big blue skies and the warm sunshine we are experiencing. The flowers are pretty and from what I can smell of them, they are pleasantly fragrant. Switching from one spring fever to another: Have a great Easter weekend! I hope you too get to enjoy sunny skies and fragrant flowers.

A visit from the Marchants

Yesterday was full of excitement as our friends from Nevada came to see us.

Klea and her 4 children came over for a visit yesterday afternoon. It was a very nice spring day and the kids played outside and downstairs in the newly finished bedrooms. Kendrie had to show everyone pretty much everything that she has unpacked in the last couple days. I should pack up their toys for 8 months more often, it was almost like Christmas with them unpacking all that stuff. Anyway, Sammy was pretty content scooting around sucking on toys, while the rest of the kids found the musical instruments and made a band concert for Klea and I. Music to my ears!

This picture of Ben didn't turn out very good. It is the only one I got of him because he wasn't feeling very well and I was lucky to get this one. He eluded me quite well. He is still cuter than cute, even when he is sick.

Amanda and Kort were the most musical of all. They had the drums and tambourines going a mile a minute.


I took Emma with me to go get Kendrie from school. When Kendrie opened the door Emma said Hi. Kendrie said "Hi Emma." No reaction or anything. Finally it hit her that her friend from Nevada was in the car with her. She screamed and gave Emma a hug. They have been friends since we first moved down there. It was fun to see them rekindle their friendship. I hope that they can stay close by writing and visiting. I would love for her to have a life long friend.

Basement Update

Monday we had the carpet laid in the 3 bedrooms and today we had the electrician put up the light fixtures and wire all the rooms with light switches and outlets. Our builder put up the doors and the closet rods and RC Willey delivered the kids beds and the bar stools. A busy week but it is so nice to have so much done. The kids love having the room to play and hide and go seek takes a little longer now that they have more of a choice in hiding places. This is a picture of one of the rooms now finished! Yea! We have lots of room now, anyone want to come stay for a visit?

Here's a trivia question for you:
How do you know when you are really, and I mean really, out of shape?

Vacuum 3 bedrooms and a hallway and wake up the next morning unable to move your head up or to the right. I was so excited to vacuum my new carpet. I did a really good job of it, too. But today I am unable to move my head. So sad. Day 2 is supposed to be worse, right? Lovely.
My new best friends? Motrin and an ice pack!

A little Friday fun

Friday we decided to finally purchase our kids some new beds. Kendrie has been sleeping in our old 4 post queen bed and we have decided to use this one as our guest bed now that we have a guest bedroom. Kortlan hasn't had a bed of his own since we sold his last July thinking that we would buy him a new one once we moved, who knew it would take 7 months to do so. Anyway, while purchasing these beds, we were told of a promotion the furniture store was holding; a water trampoline for a fraction of the price with every purchase over $300, which 2 beds and mattresses came to. So we fell for it and picked one up. I was a little sceptical of having one but once we fought through the wind and got it set up on the deck, I was happy with our purchase. Kendrie and Kortlan have spent every waking moment allowed on this thing. A fun way to spend time outside without having a yard.

I love this girl!

I picked up Kendrie from school and took her to get her hair cut yesterday. She decided a few months ago that she needed to grow out her bangs. Something I protested but let her do anyway. Well, after mornings of doing-hair-torture, I finally got her to agree to cut them. I think bangs make her look older, I am not sure I like her looking older but I sure love being able to see her pretty blue eyes. We had the hair stylist fix her hair up cute and then we went home to take some pictures. I wanted to take some outside pictures, but it was too windy and cold and I didn't want her to get her dress dirty so I attempted to use natural lighting in the living room.

White Dresses

Awaiting the next big milestone in our lives has brought a to-do-list the size of my arm. Kendrie has just turned 8, giving us the opportunity to experience one of our children being baptized. The first item of business on my to-do-list is to find her a white dress for the occasion. I searched the Internet for several days and finally found one listed from a company back east that doesn't sell over the Internet or have any dealers west of the Mississippi, of course. I printed the picture of it off the website and sent it to my mom, who told me that she could make it if we could find the right fabric. So the search turned to fabric. Both her and I looked in our respective cities with no luck. She brought her sewing equipment down to my house this week just in case we happen to locate it, which we didn't. However, while in a mall we came across a Dressed in White store. It had a very similar dress in her size. Yeah! We decided it would be easier to buy on than make one, especially with time constraints, and the inability to find just the right fabric. Next comes the pictures. Kendrie is getting her hair cut this afternoon and we will hopefully have enough sun afterwards to take some pictures in the dress. She got a phone call from the Bishop Tuesday night to have her interview. She was already in her pajamas but quickly ran to her room to change and then dragged her dad out the door in a flurried rush. When she got home she was just glowing. Apparently, she wasn't aware that Jim would be the one who was baptizing her. She was so excited, "And Daddy is going to baptize me!" My little girl, she grew up so fast!

A little venting

Ok, so we have lived here for over a month now. We have discussed the finishing of the basement with our builder and he was on the same page we were as far as price and time frame. Well, that all changed today. He called and said that it was going to be another $2,000 to finish the family room. Whatever! Jim has a good friend that flips homes and he said that he is really out there with that price. So as nice as he could, Jim agreed to the builder finishing everything down there except the family room. He seemed surprised that we just wouldn't finish it while he was already down there. Well, hello! If we don't have to spend another $2,000, we aren't going to! Jim's friend said he is going to help us put up the molding and paint for almost $3,000 less than what we were going to pay our builder. Hopefully we can get it done before the carpet order comes in. I'm done venting now. Keep your fingers crossed! I will have a completed, problem free home if it drives me to the loony bin!

Kort's Shiner

Today I drove to Kortlan's preschool to pick him up. I signed him out and walked back to the play area to get him. It wasn't very good lighting in there, but I could tell there was something on his face. When he got to me, this is what I found:

Of course I was concerned and a little upset. I asked him, "what happened to your face?" He said that when they were going into the reading room, he ran and dove on the bean bag at the same time another kid did and they hit heads. As the day goes on it is getting darker and more purple. Goes with the territory, right?

Happy Birthday, Kendrie!

Kendrie's birthday was full of excitement. It started out with opening presents before school. Unfortunately, all the clothes I bought her were too big. I wish children's clothes makers would go off of the same size dimentions! Anyway, after school we went to the mall because Kendrie's favorite author was going to be there for a book signing show. We left a half an hour early thinking this was going to be enough time. Nope, we were clear in the back. It is a good thing I brought my zoom lens on the camera.

Mary Pope Osborne. The author of Kendrie's favorite books, The Magic Tree House series. Kendrie got to purchase her new book and we were planning on getting it signed, however, the line was long enough that it was going to be a 2 hour wait from where we were. Kendrie decided this wasn't how she wanted to spend her birthday evening, so we left with her being happy that she got to see her and that I had pictures to prove it.

Friday was the day for party! She invited 12 of her new friends to join us at a gymnastics gym to play around and eat cake. Kendrie had a ton of fun and Kortlan can't wait to have his birthday party there too.

An Honorary Coach

March 5th - Jim won a contest and was the honorary coach for the evening at the Jazz vs. Bobcats game. His friend gave us his tickets so the kids and I could go with him. He got to sit behind the team bench and get in on all the action, and according to Jim, the smells as well. He said is smelled like a sweaty gym locker. I am glad we were not so close, except I did have a guy come sit by us that smelled like alcohol and leather, 2 of my least favorite smells. He didn't stay long, thank goodness. Anyway, Jim got a free t-shirt for him and the kids and was put on the big screen above the court (see picture below). My hunny bunny is on the big screen! There is something about having someone you know be put in the publics eye via tv screens. The kids were so excited to see their daddy up there. Kortlan couldn't figure it out really, he kept asking how did Dad get in there?

Tell Me a Story . . .

Jim and I had a month long debate over who was going to go with Kendrie on her field trip yesterday. I am proud to say that I lost the debate and had to go. It wasn't so much the going on a field trip that I opposed, it was the 30 minute ride on a school bus with 4 second grade classes and the threat of becoming overwhelmingly motion sick, which I knew would happen. And it did. I am still feeling a little dizzy. Anyway, we drove to a performance theater to see the Storytelling Festival that was being held there. We entered a large theater room filled with kids of all ages. There had to have been at least 12 school buses parked outside. We listened to a story written and read by a 5th grader about a goat that swallowed a guitar. An older lady then came out and told us a story about how she loved to chew gum as a kid but had to keep it in her pocket for later when she got in trouble for chewing it too loud. We were then treated to the feature storyteller who told us stories of the Mexican fables of why the sun and moon are in the sky and why the rabbit has long ears. She was a good storyteller but a little hard to understand with her very thick spanish accent. After our story time, we were then taken to a park where we ate our lunch, Kendrie's choice for the trip, Lunchables. Yummy. And to top that off they were out of a refrigerator for over 4 hours. Really yummy! She likes them though.

So after lunch we were treated to a pantomime performance and a retelling of the 3 little pigs through the wolf's eyes in the downstairs theater room of the city library. It was really quite entertaining and the kids had a good laugh over it. The old man telling the story was very animated and fun to watch.

A Dr. Seuss Celebration

March 2nd, the day of celebration for Dr. Seuss and his elaborate characters. Deseret Book in the mall had a party for the Cat in the Hat last night. We took the kids and they really enjoyed themselves. When we got there they had just started reading the Cat in the Hat book to the kids who were already there. Kendrie and Kortlan sat down in front and enjoyed the story. Kortlan was a little more interested in the 8 foot cat standing behind the reader though. His facial expressions always make me laugh. He definitely shows his thoughts on his face.

After the stories were read, they brought out a birthday cake and the kids sang Happy Birthday to the Cat in the Hat. I was a little concerned at some of the parents who were getting into the song a little more than most of the kids, however. Anyway, after they passed out the cupcakes and hats, we headed back to the car. As we were walking I noticed Kortlan trying to eat this cupcake that had red frosting on it. He looked as though he wanted to throw up. "This cake doesn't taste very good." He said. Knowing what red frosting tastes like, I scraped it off and gave him just the cake. "This is the best cake ever." He ate it in less than a minute.

We finally made it out of the Friday night mall craze and back to the car just in time to witness this beautiful moon rise over the mountains. It is a little out of focus, but I think it turned out ok. I haven't perfected the photos-without-a-flash technique yet. I think I need to buy a tripod. Although my birthday is coming up....hmmm, thought provoking, isn't it?

Mountains in the Morning

Today after dropping Kortlan off at his first official day of his new preschool, I got turned around and wound up on the wrong street to go home. I turned into Sam's club parking lot to turn around. As I did, I glanced at the mountains and saw these beautiful pictures. I had to run home and then go back so I could capture them.