4!

The day Kennedy came home from the hospital.

One year old.

Birthday #2I love this picture. This is so her. Girly, but loves to play ball.

Kennedy we love you so much and are so grateful you are part of our family. You sure are independent and stubborn, but you are also sweet and helpful. You make us laugh; we enjoy they funny things you say and are thrilled as we watch you grow and learn. It is hard to believe you are already four.

Some things about Kennedy:

*She loves to dance and is really enjoying her ballet class.

*She really is a good big sister (though she is still learning a few things). It is the cutest thing when she takes Kaitlyn for a walk. Kennedy will take her hand and walk her down the sidewalk 50 ft or so and then they turn around and walk back together.

*She likes to ride her bike.

*Is a little OCD about some things . . . she has particular ways she wants things arranged or how she wants things done.

*She really wants to be bigger so she doesn't have to sit in a car seat anymore. (She hates that her pants and dress bunch up under the straps. It makes for a crazy mom when we are in the car).

*She has probably flown on an airplane more times than many . . . not counting her parents, I think it is safe to say she's flown more than any of her family members (grandparents, cousins, aunts & uncles). She knows the drill and has it down: checking in, security, boarding etc.

*She loves going to Primary and enjoys singing the songs she learns.

*She loves to swim and is pretty good at it.

There are so many more great things that I love about Kennedy. Believe me though, she does try my patience and tests the limits, but she really is a great kid and I am blessed to be her mom.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful toehead.

Private

I think it's time I go private with our blog. I have been watching who views our blog and have been a little concerned over some of the places people are checking in from . . . Iran, Russia, Germany, Brazil to name a few. I wasn't entirely sure of hits from locations from within the US but figured they were friends of friends/family that wanted to see our blog, (which I am totally fine with because, to be honest, I check others blogs from my family/friends blogs when I am bored.) But I don't know of anyone living in these areas so . . . . .
I have gone back and forth over this because I like the ease of viewing blogs without signing in; I like to view blogs of those I know, but may not know I am checking in; and I want others to be able to see what we are up to as well. However, I think it's time to go private.

So if you'd like to continue to read our blog, leave a comment here with your email so I can send an invite . . . (or you can send me an email). I will change the comments so you won't have to put your email out there, only I'll be able to see them for now.

Spanish?

Kennedy said the funniest thing tonight . . .

I put her to bed and within a few minutes she was peeking out of her door.

Kennedy: "The puppy keeps waking me up." (a dog next door was barking)
Me: "Go tell him to stop barking."
K: "But he is by the fence."
Me: "Go to your window and tell him to be quiet."
K: "But he doesn't speak Spanish."
Matt: "And neither do you."

I thought I was going to die laughing. I need moments like this to keep me sane; as she is usually trying my patience. I love you Kennedy!

On another note, she started ballet class today. A friend at church is teaching a free ballet class and Kennedy has been so excited to start. She was thrilled to put on her "ballet clothes" and had so much fun at her first lesson. Thanks Shaunna!

It's About Time . . .

that I update my blog.
My FAVORITE sister came to visit us a month ago and I have been a slacker in posting some pictures from her visit. We LOVE all of our visitors, but Kelli is so fun and she really is an amazing sister and friend. I absolutely love spending time with her.
Kelli got in around midnight, so I went by myself to pick her up . . . so we had the ride home to ourselves.

The next morning we headed to the beach.

Kennedy in her hat that she has obviously outgrown.

Kelli and Kennedy enjoying some sun.

Kaitlyn and Daddy

Saturday, Kelli and I went to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Though it was our anniversary, Matt was happy to let me go with Kelli -- he has no desire to see that movie. He stayed home with the girls and worked on his "project." He is building an entertainment center. That evening we all went to dinner for our anniversary. Kelli would have happily watched the girls for us so we could go by ourselves, but we wanted to spend time with her as well.

Monday (Matt was out of town for a business meeting) we headed to St. Augustine. Our first stop, The Fountain of Youth.

There was actually more than just the fountain to see, but this is why people go . . . to drink from the Fountain of Youth. Just to let you in on a something--the water is gross. It's Florida water, so I shouldn't have expected much more, but Ponce de Leon must have been drinking some nasty water on his ship from Spain. The fountain is basically a well now.

Kelli & Kennedy in front of the Fountain.

K, K, & K on the grounds near an old cannon and urn.

Probably the most interesting part for the girls was seeing all the peacocks roaming the grounds.

And the particular peacock, Kennedy couldn't quit talking about. We actually saw two Albino peacocks, but as Kennedy calls them, "Bino peacock, toehead!" (We were called toeheads when we were younger because of our blonde hair; I've told Kennedy that she is a toehead too, so she calls everything that is albino or has blonde hair a toehead.) We stopped and rode the carousel at a park.

We ate lunch at a little bakery on St. George street and then walked by the Casillo de San Marco fort. It was getting way to hot to be outside anymore, so we took a few pictures and headed home.

We went swimming Tuesday and Wednesday.

The girls had a lot of fun with Kelli. It was great to have her visit. Thanks for coming Kelli!

Unwanted Visitor

Friday morning, after coming in from the front yard, I sat on the couch with my big glass of ice water to cool off. I happened to look out the back door to see an unwanted visitor having a snack on the porch.

We stayed inside the rest of the day.

And on this day, I was grateful for a stubborn child. Kennedy had been asking for about 30 minutes to go ride her bike in the front yard, I kept telling her to take Kaitlyn and just go play in the backyard while I finished up some things (honestly, I didn't want to sit outside in the heat). Of course, Kennedy has a very stubborn streak and was determined to ride her bike and not play in the backyard. I finally gave in. And when we came in from the front yard, and saw the snake I was so happy I hadn't blindly made them go in the backyard.

Six Years!

Our anniversary came and went . . . but I still wanted to post a Happy Anniversary to my sweet, funny, and loving guy (who is also one amazing dad!). My sister was visiting so we didn't do anything too crazy. Actually, Kelli and I went to a movie that afternoon . . . we invited Matt, but he didn't want to watch Harry Potter. However, we did enjoy a nice dinner at Outback.

I love you Matt and am so glad I married you.

Happy Pioneer Day

Happy 24th of July from Florida. Of course for those of you not in Utah, the 24th might not have any special meaning to you. For Utahns, and especially members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it is a day to celebrate. It was the day that the Mormon Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley and started the building of a wonderful place.

We are missing the celebrations today, but hope that everyone else is having an enjoyable time. Kennedy has won the foot race for her age group the past two years, so for all other 3 year old girls, hope you win this year because next year Kennedy is going to win that dollar again . . . at least we hope we are there racing, watching the parade, having water fights, eating a sloppy joe at the rodeo (Matt loves them!), and spending time with family and friends.