Sister Love

This captures a pretty common scene at our house. Kenzie loves Brynn a little too much. When Brynn is not being squeezed by her big sister, she is laughing hysterically at her. Good thing she thinks McKenzie is still funny despite her rough love. I love my girls.

An Inspiring Story

I have been meaning to post this for a while. I often watch this video as a reminder to have "more of a vision and bigger dreams," as she says. She is Melissa Stockwell, a friend of mine from college. We rowed together. From Baghdad to Beijing... she is making the most of life. She did not win a medal in the Paralympics, but she has inspired so many. Thank you Melissa for your service and your example!

Click here to watch her interview on ABC

It really is Magical...

Disneyland and family combined makes for a magical vacation.

Although she was scared of the characters, Kenzie couldn't get enough of Disneyland or her cousins. On top of going to Disneyland and California Adventure we also enjoyed a breakfast with the characters, did a great deal of shopping at Downtown Disney, and ate until we were all sick. It was a memorable time at the happiest place on earth.

A Fun Filled Calendar

October has been a fun month for us. We recently celebrated Evan's bday. I didn't write a tribute to him on our blog like I wanted. I'm sure he's ok with that. But really, we love love love his bday. It is a great time to reflect on how lucky our family is to have him. Evan is an amazing husband and father. Words don't really do justice. We had a fun time celebrating him.
(Thanks to Greg and Debbie for this Chevy's photo. It was fun to go out to dinner with everyone.)

We have also enjoyed the Halloween fun these past couple of weeks. It was nice to make the most of McKenzie's costume this year. We have been to two parties (Church and Google) and tonight we will do what every other kid on the planet does...beg for candy at our neighbors' front door (if it doesn't rain too hard.) McKenzie can't wait to Trick or Treat. Holidays continue to become more fun the older she gets. She is a very cute Orphan Annie by the way. Brynn was our sweet little pumpkin. Very fitting.

Although today marks the end of a fun filled month, it is the beginning of what begs to be another fun few weeks. Vacation starts tomorrow for Evan. He is taking next week off! And to top it off, we are heading down to Disneyland for our much anticipated trip next week. McKenzie can hardly control herself when we talk about it. We can't wait. Hard to believe that soon after that, it will be Thanksgiving...and then Christmas. What a fun time of year. This is when it starts to fly by.

A Good Game of Hide N Seek

For some reason McKenzie could not find Evan when they were playing their regular game of hide n seek on Sunday morning. I was laughing so hard. I guess she is used to this robe hanging on the back of our door.

All the while, Brynn was laying on the bed looking cute.

Cool Kicks

More McKenzie-isms

The other day I told Kenzie that her shoes were on backwards. She looked down at her feet, studied them and then replied "Mom, they are not on backwards. They are on forwards. I think you mean they are the wrong feet."

On our way home from Trader Joes, McKenzie's balloon flew away. After crying for a minute, she asked "is my balloon floating up to Heaven? Does Heavenly Father like balloons?" I quickly said "NO he does not." HAHA. "Think before you speak Brooke," I thought. I couldn't help it. I can't stand balloons. I promised her we would get another one when we return to the store in a few days.

On our way to gymnastics as I was throwing on some lip gloss (yeah, I go all out with the makeup) Kenzie asked "when my face gets bigger can I wear makeup?" I think she meant when she gets older. Funny kid. "Grandma lets me wear her make-up." Thanks a lot mom.