Christmas Vacation

We just returned from our Christmas vacation. It is nice to come home with a few days to spare before Evan has to return to work. We spent just over a week with Evan's whole family. McKenzie loves spending time with her aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course Grandma and Grandpa. We all had a really nice Christmas together. McKenzie enjoyed Christmas morning and made out well with a some nice new toys, etc. Her favorite being the one from Santa: her very own mini guitar. She doesn't stop playing it and loves to serenade us with endless songs. She really is turning out to be quite the singer.

After Christmas, we were lucky enough to spend a few days in Yosemite. McKenzie loved her first experience with snow and enjoyed ice skating, making snow men, and snow angels. Sledding was a bit too much for her, especially since the first ride down the hill was a disaster. Daddy fell off the back and Mommy and Kenzie took off on an uncontrolled crazy ride.

We took a ton of pictures. Here are some of the highlights.

A Happier Note

Another one of these crazy kids? That's right! We are having another one. We find out if it is a boy or a girl on Feb 2.... so stay tuned. July 2nd, 2008 is the due date that the first ultra sound predicted. We'll see. Nausia and fatigue have been in full force this time around. But it is all worth it, I know. We are excited and nervous about adding another one to the family. Most of all we feel incredibly blessed.

Now this?

Just when we thought it wasn't going to get any worse...it did. McKenzie is either allergic to Amoxicillin or caught the stomach flu in the midst of this week long drama. She has been throwing up, or as she says it "spitting" all day long! AHHHH. McKenzie is such a funny, sweet kid. It is hard to see her so down. Ah the joys of parenthood. I am sure she'll be fine by the end of the weekend. Lets hope so!

sick, sick, sick-

Warning: This post is one big pity party. But here goes:
Most people tend to forget how awful a cold is until you have one. McKenzie and I have both been struggling with a really bad cold for quite some time now. It is seriously the worst cold I can remember ever having. It is definitely the worst one McKenzie has ever had! And just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. She was diagnosed with a double ear infection today. Wow. She has never had an ear infection in all her two little years. Well thankfully they gave her antibiotics today, and then I pumped her with Ibuprofen. Before she fell asleep she said, "Mommy I am not sick anymore." Very cute, but all I could think was "just wait until a couple of hours from now when you wake up crying again in agony." Lets hope we get some sleep tonight. Between the two of us coughing and being congested, nobody has been getting any real sleep lately.
Did I mention I have the best husband ever?! He has been a great help and has done a really good job at playing Dr. for the both of us. Luckily he has not become sick. We are grateful for that. We are also grateful for medicine!

The Christmas Spirit

Here is our Christmas tree. I always love how warm and cozy the home feels with Christmas decorations up. I am one of those people that has to get passed Thanksgiving before I can even begin to think about Christmas. Today, being such a fun family filled day with decorating the tree and listening to music, has definitely thrown me into the Christmas spirit!

Thanksgiving and after...

Thanksgiving was fun this year. We drove to my mom's house and stayed with her for a few days. She recently bought a new computer so Evan was able to introduce her into the world of Macs as well as help her transfer old stuff, etc. The morning of Thanksgiving, Evan and I ran a race. We had a lot of fun! There were 20,000 people in this race so we had to walk the first mile because it was so crowded. Nothing beats a Thanksgiving morning run.
We of course later experienced the inevitable food coma and thankfully just relaxed for the rest of the evening. I ate so much however that I felt very sick. Grandma/Mom did a great job at preparing a fantastic meal! I wish I would have helped her more. All we did was contribute a vegetable. :) I miss my mom's cooking.The following day we took Kenzie to the Zoo. She loved it and it turned out to be a free day, much to our surprise.My mom has two cats that McKenzie just can't get enough of. They are her best friends when we are visiting. Evan and I are not big cat fans, but it is cute to see her so happy around animals.
On Saturday we headed home and stopped by San Francisco on our way. Evan's family was there dropping kids off at the airport so we were able to do lunch with the gang. It was fun week/weekend. A very memorable Thanksgiving 2007.

Billy Joel

One of the great things about living in the bay area is the concert scene here. I grew up going to several concerts. I love them. Evan does too. It is the best date for us! I wish we did it more often. We were lucky to have great seats at the Billy Joel concert on Saturday night. We were the youngest ones there, but still enjoyed ourselves. The lady sitting next to me said, (after asking how old we were) "Your parents sure taught you well." She was impressed that Evan and I were singing the songs outloud and that we were just as excited as the rest of the 5o something year old crowd. What a fun time we had! Joel delivered a wonderful 2 and half hour concert that balanced his fan friendly hits with lesser known tracks. He played a lot of the sing along classics like "We didn't start the fire," "An Innocent Man," "Its still rock n roll to me," "My life," "New York State of Mind," "Only the Good Die Young," and many many more. He of course ended the show by encoring with "Piano Man". We loved it and had a great time, even if we were the young kids there.

A Happy Halloween

These last few weeks...

We have spent a lot of time with family this month. It is great! Here is a quick slideshow of just some cute pictures.

Happy Birthday to Evan!

Each year as Evan's birthday approaches, I think "I want to give him the best birthday ever!" And each year it seems that life is too busy, or we just shouldn't spend the money to do what I want for him. I suppose it is just about celebrating him! And what an amazing guy to celebrate. I feel incredibly blessed to have him as my husband, and my best friend. I am grateful for his hardwork every day on the job. I am grateful for his unconditional love for me and McKenzie. I love how smart he is and yet how humble he is. I love waiting to give him hugs and kisses when he returns home from work. I love that he is always happy and optimistic. I love that his testimony of the Gospel is solid and that he truly honors his priesthood. I love that he loves to learn, that he knows almost everything, but he isn't a "know it all." I love that he is a researcher; that if he wants to learn something, you can bet he will. I love his computer talk, (even though I don't understand it.) I love how much integrity he has. I love that he supports my role and desire to stay home with our daughter. I love that he makes me feel loved and important. I love that he is always making me laugh with his witty and sarcastic humor. I love that he plays the guitar at night. I love how much he loves his parents and siblings. I love that he loves playing with McKenzie. I could go on and on... Happy Birthday Evan!

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Its been a while since I posted anything. For some reason, life has been busy lately. Although we are not huge Halloween fans (well, I am not), I figured I had to show our little trip to the pumpkin patch (which included a little pony ride). I love the whole pumpkin patch adventure and the carving pumpkins tradition. I've just never been into dressing up and eating lots of candy. Now, if everyone passed out pizzas or burritos at their doorstep, this might just be my favorite holiday. McKenzie got to pick what she wanted to be this year. She loves monkeys, so we found a cute and warm costume for her. We'll be sure to post our halloween pics after the fact.

Hats

McKenzie loves wearing hats. She always has. Many moms have told me how lucky I am that she will keep it on for more than 30 seconds. She loves her sun hats in the summer and her warm hats in the winter. I wish I looked cute in hats too!

Ferry Boat to Alameda

Our ward recently had a really fun activity day! We met in San Francisco and then took the Ferry to Alameda, where we had a picnic and flew kites all afternoon. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed being with so many of our friends. I love the bay area.

The Office Fun Run and The MOONLIGHT RUN

Toby: Where are we?
Kelly: I don’t know. Like five kilometers from the office.
Toby: He couldn’t have made it a circle?

Forgive me for quoting "The Office," but because the episode last week involved a funny charity run, it goes perfectly with this post. This is the quote that kept going through my head as I ran a race on Friday night! It was so much fun. It was called the Palo Alto Moonlight Run. My good friend Joni and I ran the 10k and had a blast. We scored really nice long sleeve shirts, lots of glow sticks, chapsticks, water bottles, frisbees, and tons of free food! I have never run a night time race, so it was quite the experience. It was down along the bayshore on levee and paved roads. We wish we had brought a camera on the run! Although, the only thing you could see was the picturesque sky. We felt as if we were running blind hoping and praying that we did not step in any potholes, ditches, etc. The Harvest Moon was supposed to provide sufficient light for the runners, but it didn't really. We still had a blast and will definitely sign up next year!

Dress Up

I walked into my room this morning to find McKenzie trying on clothes, yet again. She was standing there wearing Daddy's big church shoes and a pair of my running shorts. As I stood there laughing at her she said..."Mommy, let's go running to church." It was the perfect statement to describe her attire. :)

Daddy's Girl Weekend

McKenzie loves her daddy of course, but for some reason, she was just eating up every second with him these past few days. I smiled a lot watching them laugh and play all weekend. (Pics not from this weekend, but good addition to the post) :)

We miss Aunt Cami

We were lucky to have Aunt Cami (my sister) stay with us this summer. She returned from Sweden, where she had been living for over a year, and lived with us for 6 or 7 weeks. Because she had been living over seas for most of McKenzie's life, it was a great opportunity for them to get to know each other. McKenzie LOVES Aunt Cami and still calls the twin bed that is in her room "Cami's Bed." Cami was a good sport for sharing a room with Kenz! We miss her and hope that she is doing well with her new life in the Big Apple! She moved to New York last week in hopes of pursuing a journalism career. She will be living with her roommate from Sweden actually, and I am sure together they will manage to have a little bit of fun. So to Camille: Don't forget to call your family here in California...your home state by the way! We love you.

Funny Kid

Ok, so maybe we should change the name of our blog to "McKenzie's Blog," or "Proud Parents of McKenzie." Its a little much I know, but when you only have one kid it is easy to laugh and talk about them all the live long day. So here goes again.
We have always known that she is a funny kid. Come on, look at her dad. (I guess I was a clown way back when too. I have become boring in my old age though.) Lately, she has said and done some really funny things worth blogging about.

She recently lined up all her babies and covered them with dish towels as their blanket. She has started saying things like, "How's it going man?" to her little Winnie the Pooh animal. She is constantly telling me and Evan "I'll be whight back" as she holds her hand up in the air and then runs to the other room. Whenever she spills something (which is often) she exclaims "OH DEAR Mommy!" She likes to climb up on my lap and get really close to my face and ask "whatcha doin mommy?" Often times she will put my face in her little hands and say "hi honey." McKenzie loves to compliment a persons shoes, "cute shoes." At music class, she stands in the middle of the room and dances her little heart out. The other day we were at Costco standing in the check out line when she decided to sing, at the top of her lungs, "I am a child of God." Good for her, but kind of embarrassing, lets be honest. I could go on and on. I am sure all of you with kids can relate. I spend the majority of my days laughing at or with her!

Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival

We went to San Francisco on Saturday with our friends Ben, Brittany, and Baylee. We did the usual stop at the Fishermans Wharf for a warm bread bowl with chowder then off we went to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival. This event featured a variety of chocolate delacacies. The event itself was free, however you had to purchase a "chocolate tasting ticket" in order to sample chocolates, cookies, milkshakes, gelato, etc. It was all very yummy, but we were disapointed with the sample sizes and the LARGE crowd. At least I got my chocolate fix for a while!

Friday Fun at the Farm

Today we visited a nearby "historic farm from the 1890's which has been preserved in a modern world." It is open to the public and is a fun and inexpensive little adventure for anyone. We saw cows, sheep, horses, pigs, and lots of chickens (they even ate our pb sandwiches). McKenzie loved this place! We went with a few other friends and their two year olds. The highlight of the day was riding the horse drawn train around the farm. I believe they said it is the only horse drawn-railroad left in the United States. It was a fun activity for us. I love that she is getting older and really enjoys little field trips like this one. I also love that I have other mommy friends around to do these things with. The weather here is finally cooling down, making today a perfect day for an outing. To top it off, it is Friday!

And the calling is...

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we are all asked to serve in different areas of the church. For the past year and a half, Evan and I have been teaching Sunday School to the 14-15 year olds. I loved it. To be honest, I really loved the team teaching with my husband. I learned so much from him and from the kids! Well, those days are over as of yesterday. I received the dreaded (did I say that out loud?) calling...Nursery. Didn't McKenzie just head off to nursery a few months back you ask? Yep. And I just started to enjoy being spiritually revived at church since I could actually pay attention. Oh boy do I sound ungrateful and unwilling to serve in any capacity. I am not really. Naturally I am a little bummed, but it will turn out ok as long as I do it well. I know there is a reason I am there. Just wish me luck with the two year olds!

Labor Day Weekend

We just returned from a nice trip to see Evan's family. They live up near Yosemite on a beautiful ranch. We even got to visit Great Grandma Rae and Great Grandpa Max, who live down in Fresno. It is always nice going for a visit. We love that we are near family. They are all so good to us and they love McKenzie so much. It is nice to go on vacation and have a lot of help with your kid. Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Ray and Uncle Sam love to play with her. It is too bad that the rest of Evan's siblings are in Utah. We miss them! Hopefully we can get out there soon. After all there are MANY of you that we would love to visit there.
Also, we wanted to congratulate Boz (Evan's brother) and Maegan for their new baby. Evan and I finally have a nephew! :) We can't wait to see him.

"And it Came to Pass"

Reading scriptures with a two year old can seem pointless sometimes (forgive me for saying this). We really don't think she listens at all. No matter how hard we try to ask her sit quietly for a few moments each night (this is impossible for my child), she insists on reading her own book or playing with her babies. Well, a funny thing happened last night that reminded us that little kids DO listen and pick things up. After Daddy finished reading outloud, McKenzie grabbed the scriptures and said as she pointed to the words, "And it came to pass. And it came to pass." This was too cute.The real kicker was later when she was going to bed. She said "And it came to pass, McKenzie goes nigh nigh." Perfect. Kids are the best.

Family Picture

The New Helmet

McKenzie has been asking for a new helmet for a few weeks now. The neighborhood kids have them and so she thinks they are "berry cute." We are happy that she wants to wear one and thankful that it will be easy to teach her that a helmet is a requirement, even for riding the tricycle. So we finally went to the store yesterday to let McKenzie pick one out herself. After having someone help us find the right size, she picked the one with Bees on it and off we went. She LOVES it and won't stop wearing it. It is quite humorous. We can only hope that wearing a helmet will always be this much fun for her. After all, the older you get the less cool it becomes to wear one.

She wanted to wear it as soon as she woke up this morning!

I should add that our neighbors are biking experts and think it is a crime if your kid doesn't wear one. Otherwise I wouldn't have thought about getting her one at such an early age. :)

A New Look and a Visit from Grandma

I decided to go with a different look on our blog, I think I like it better.

Grandma Liz came to visit yesterday. We love spending time with her! I don't think it is me or Evan that she is dying to see ever. Lets be honest, we all know where a Grandma's heart is.

Our Little Swimmer

Anyone who knows our child knows that she has a lot of energy and is very daring. This makes for a scary time at the nearby pool. She is also very independent (where does she get that hmm? I can hear my mom laughing) and doesn't like to be held when in the water. Thankfully there is a baby pool that is only a foot and half deep. We thought it might be a good idea to enroll her in swim lessons, so she can start learning to swim. So earlier this summer, we did just that. She and I have been attending a "water babies" course every week for the past few months. She loves it and has learned to kick while being under water. Maybe it is just that she is getting older, but I think the swim lessons have really helped her to understand that you don't just float if you let go of mom. At any rate, it has been a fun little activity for her and I to do together. Earlier this afternoon we visited to the nearby community pool with some friends. McKenzie is becoming quite the little swimmer!

"The Beach House"

This is the view from our room.



We just returned from a nice big family trip to the beach. We spent about 5 days just south of Santa Cruz at a wonderful and relaxing resort called Seascape. For the last 22 years, Evan's family has spent a week at this beach. It used to be that they rented a beach house in the area, thus we all call it the "beach house week," but a few years ago they decided to rent out condos at the nearby resort instead. It is beautiful and we had a lot of fun again this year. McKenzie loved it all; the family, the sand castles, the waves, and best of all her little cousin. We too loved spending time with everyone. Evan got to skim board with his brothers, as well as enjoy a few games of "home run derby" on the beach. I took advantage of the early morning low tide and went running by myself a few times. It really was a nice vacation. We left wondering why we don't visit the beach more often. After all, Kenz was a big fan. We look forward to next August when we can return to this resort. Until then, we are going to do a better job at taking mini beach trips.

Happy 2nd Birthday

Our little McKenzie is not so little anymore. Today we woke her up by singing "Happy Birthday." All she could say was, "Elmo Birthday Cake?" Yes, I will be making her an Elmo cake for her little party this weekend. Let me just say, thank goodness for cute shaped baking pans. We all know, I am not the one to try and shape my own little Elmo out of cake.

We celebrated the real bday by going out to ice cream this evening. Aunt Cami has been staying with us the past couple of weeks, which adds to the fun! So we all ventured downtown to help celebrate McKenzie and watch her indulge in ice cream. She was thrilled to have her very own cone. What a cute mess!

We must have sung "Happy Birthday" a hundred times today, and each time she smiled big and joined in. She was a happy little girl today. We are blessed to have her in our family.