CHRISTMAS 2010: 2 Weeks of Fun!

Fresh off the plane in the Vegas airport! We made it and the kids were soooo good!

First Stop: In-N-Out (of course!)

Playing at the park in December is awesome!

Kylee could swing all day.

Cody was big enough this year to go shooting with Grandpa. Before the big shooting day Steve and Cody went over some basics in the backyard with a pellet gun. Cody was loving it.

Love those safety glasses.

We also played some baseball in the backyard. Cody and Kylee were impressing us with their skills and had a good time.

Because of the three hour time difference our kids were waking up at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning ready to play! So here we are putting up the Christmas tree bright and early. It's amazing what we accomplished every day of vacation because we were up so early!

Cody made a surprise bracelet for me and his aunts for Christmas.

Kylee played with the beads too!

OK, so I played with the beads too.

A Science Project: Fun with cornstarch and water.

The kids on the treadmill.

Dad with no homework = wrestle time all the time!

Uncle Tyler and Aunt Lacey and the kids getting ready for family prayer. Cody isn't mad in the picture...he just has a lot of energy he usually has to release before calming down. Sometimes he turns into a tiger while we're reading scriptures. You try reading scriptures with a straight face when you have him purring and growling in your ear.

Cody learning to throw a football.

Kylee with Aunt Raquel.

Grandpa Airplane got to be home for a couple of days before Christmas before taking off on Christmas Eve day. I'm glad the kids got to hang out with him even if it was just for a few days.

A puzzle is always on the agenda.

Cody standing on the exercise ball.

And his sidekick, Kylee, who has to try everything that he does.

The whole bunch except for our photographer Grandma.

Kylee hanging out with Aunt Raquel and Uncle Brady.

We looked up for a quick picture in the middle of an intense game of 2 person tetris. I'm pretty sure I wasted Steve...poor guy...he's used to it by now.

Granpda Airplane showed Cody some of his coins and taught him about money.

Kylee is a chocolate monster. Just like her mom.

Cody decorating Christmas cookies and Kylee eating them. She's a cookie monster too. (Just like her mom again)

Nice cookie!

On Christmas Eve we went to watch a light show put to music put on by a family in Grandma Tammy's ward. They had seats for us and served us hot chocolate.

Christmas Eve presents. Both Cody and Kylee messed up their jammies earlier that day and they weren't clean in time for bedtime. So the kids got to wear t-shirts to bed.

Christmas morning!!

Cody popped up out of bed, got dressed, and then ran around the house waking everyone up. I thought it was so funny that he got dressed. Maybe his mom's giant t-shirt for pajamas wasn't manly enough for him...?

Kylee promptly put on her snow boots and then her new dress as soon as she opened them.

Great gifts!

He just can't hide the excitement.

She skipped the pants but remembered her boots. Hot stuff!

Blowing bubbles in the backyard in her snow boots.

I loved that she could be outside so much.

Christmas Skype call with Grandpa Airplane in Germany. He even got in on a game of Monopoly Deal--too bad we all knew what cards he had.

Aunt Raquel shared her new iPod with Cody.

Hanging out and checking out everyone's gift.

The girls having fun. Kylee didn't part with her new chapstick. The lid was never on.

My parents and sisters made a quick trip down to Vegas for the day. We had a few hours to pack in the fun. Grandpa Dean got an education on How to Dress a Polly Pocket.

Story time with Grandma Ellen: Arthur's Chicken Pox for the 100th time.

Someone new that Kylee could recruit to go outside and blow bubbles with her.

And another visit to In-N-Out.

After being well-fed.

More time with Grandma.

A quick trip to the park for some Bocce Ball before the sun went down.

A few minutes on the playground before we go.

Just visiting before the fam took off.

Nerf Gun wars galore. I love how Cody shoots with his hip.

Helping Grandma clean the floor.

This girl loves to clean.

Watching the German Pancakes bubble.

Story time again!

Making necklaces.

Playing with Polly Pockets.

This kids loves Transformers these days.

Bocce Ball before we have to go in the morning.

Crazy kids.

One more chance on the swing before we leave.

Singing and laughing.

Grandma Tammy and Kylee were singing at the top of their lungs while swinging. So cute!

We had lots of fun! It was so good to see some of our favorite people in the world.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!

Best of the Best Evers

I always sing at least one song to Kylee when I put her to bed at night (although it usually ends up being more like 5 unless she is too exhausted to last that long). The catch is that she has to have her head on her pillow before I will start singing (and if her head leaves the pillow the song stops until she lays back down). Some nights it's a smooth process to get her to settle down and other nights it is a real struggle. Well, the other night it was a real struggle. Kylee wouldn't lay her head down, but was still demanding songs and no matter how much I tried I couldn't get her to see the connection between the two. So, finally, after a few minutes I just said, "I'm sorry Kylee. I have to go. If you aren't going to lay down then I won't be able to sing," and I left the room and went downstairs. She immediately started crying and kept crying for a few minutes until I didn't hear her anymore.

Just when I thought she was drifting off I heard her sweet little voice call out, "Mom, I stopped crying. I'm ready for you to sing." How do you say no to that? I didn't.

Then she says, "Mom, Cody helped me stop crying. He helped me be happy."

I thanked Cody for being such a nice brother and gave them both kisses and sang a song. I left their room loving my kids about 20 times more than when I entered.

*******

And then there was today. We came home from church at 4:00 hungry and tired (especially the kids). I helped Kylee change out of her church clothes and asked Cody to do the same. As soon as he finished he could come down and eat a snack with us before dinner was ready. Well, he crumbled. He claimed he was too hungry to get the step stool out of the bathroom so that he could reach a shirt in his closet, that he had nothing to wear, and that he needed help. He was a mess, crying and refusing to get off his bed and do anything. Meanwhile the rest of us came downstairs, had a snack, got dinner ready, and invited Sara, Bob, and Duncan over to eat with us.

ONE and A HALF HOURS later Cody still hadn't budged. Talk about having a rough day. Poor kid. There we sat: Steve, Kylee, me, Sara, Bob, and Duncan at the table ready to pray and eat. As usual, Kylee asked to say the prayer. Right before the prayer we called up to Cody one more time to see if was ready to join us yet. Then Kylee said she wanted to go upstairs and help Cody be happy (like he had helped her just a few days before). Steve suggested she say the prayer and ask that Cody can be happy. Kylee said the prayer and then went upstairs. About 10 minutes later Cody and Kylee came downstairs. Bob and Sara told Cody they were happy to see him and they were glad he came downstairs.

He simply said, "Kylee helped me get dressed."

*****

There is nothing better for me than my kids helping each other. I wish I could say this was an every day occurrence for our family. Maybe someday. Until then I'll gladly take the bits I get here and there.

First Photograph

(13 1/2 weeks along)

We sure love pictures of our kids. Anyone who knows us knows that!

But, nothing beats the first photograph.

You aren't worried about the right lighting, getting the perfect smile, the background, or what their wearing (ha ha--or in this case that there aren't any clothes at all!) You don't have to fuss with the focus or try to get the color right either.

Nothing fancy. . .

. . . Just pure joy in a blurry black and white image! :)

Thanksgiving in DC (again!)

We went to DC again this year to spend Thanksgiving with Steve's Aunt Gwen, Uncle Brooks, and cousin Nikki. Sara, Bob, and Duncan came this year along with Steve's mom which made things even more fun!!

Here are just 27 of the reasons why we had so much fun...

#1 Toys!!

Aunt Gwen has the best toys according to Cody! And he got right to work playing with them as soon as we got there.

#2 Yummy food 24-7.

We caught Kylee in the pantry more than once!

#3 Hanging out with Uncle Wacko

#4 Using the leaf blower!!

#5 Making a fire in the backyard

#6 Hanging out by the fire

with Sara and Bob and Duncan

#7 S'mores!!

#8 Projects!

Cody's Gingerbread Village looked pretty awesome.

#9 Candy!!

I wonder if spilling the candy from the gingerbread houses was an accident or if it was her way of stuffing as much as she could in her mouth before anybody noticed. This girl has no shame when it comes to eating sugary treats off the floor--just look at that smile...it screams "sugar high!" What a funny little candy monster.

#10 Playing with the vacuum.

That is the nice way of saying Kylee and Cody made a big mess with the candy!

#11 Secret Ingredients!

Well, it's really no secret that there is sour cream in my Sour Cream Apple pie recipe.

See Kylee in the background? Yep, she's eating candy. I guess we didn't hide it well enough because now that I am looking back on all of our pictures I can see Kylee in the background eating candy in quite a few of them!!

#12 Cooking Lessons

Sara and I got a lesson on making Whipped Cream and I showed Gwen how to make our favorite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

#13 Sour Cream Apple Pie!!

#14 Going all out for a fancy Thanksgiving meal!

#15 watching a 3D movie in style

#16 More projects!

Cody liked making chocolate covered pretzels with Grandma Tammy too. The only thing missing in this picture is Kylee in the background licking the frosting.

#17 Backyard Zoo

Once again the kids loved watching all of the animals that come to visit and eat a treat: cardinals, blue jays, raccoons, squirrels, and cats.

#18 Touring the Pentagon

#19 Being Proud to be an American!

#20 Wearing Cheetah Girl aprons!

#21 Having fun with Nikki.

She told us our horoscopes and hosted dance parties (which Kylee is a big fan of now)

#22 Drinking fresh strawberry lemonade (thanks Steve!)

#23 Jumping in the leaves

#24 Sitting by the leaves, but not getting too close.

#25 Belly-flopping into the leaves.

#26 Hurdling the leaves (Wow Bob!)

#27 And taking family pictures in the leaves.

Thanks Reese's for a really fun weekend! You guys are always so fun to be with!

Cody Kicked His Habit!

We gave this giant roller coaster set to Cody on the condition that he had to stop sucking his thumb to be able to open the box and put it together. Well, he did it! We are so proud of Cody for being determined enough to kick his 5 year old habit. Steve and Cody had fun putting the roller coaster together (over a few days). It has over 1100 pieces!

Way to go Cody - we think you are so awesome!

Happy Halloween from Us! (2010)

Cody's friend had a Halloween Party last Thursday night. Cody was so excited to go! I have never seen him get his homework done so fast. This is right before we headed out the door.

On Friday his school put on a Halloween Costume Parade. It was pretty chilly, but Kylee and I had fun seeing all the cute costumes. Afterwards Cody had a little Halloween party in his classroom where he got lots of goodies.

On Saturday we had a Ward Trunk-or-Treat Party. Kylee had been waiting patiently for her chance to dress up all month. She talked about her owl costume all the time.

Harry Potter and Hedwig

Cody takes his magic very seriously.

Cody wanted to be sure that our giveaway candy was in a picture before we headed out the door.

We had a fun weekend! Hope you did too!

Happy Halloween from Harry and Hedwig!