Thanksgiving (and Pre-) Celebrations

Our Indian Kylie (she was supposed to be "Blue Sky", but decided she just wanted to be "Kylie").

T-ball, anyone?


Football?


Batter up! She was awesome!

With great-grandma

The masses. Defend your plate and space!


The "after party"

Thanksgiving 1/2 Marathon

Coming in at 1:37:55 (7:29 pace)

Breathe, Water, Recover. Repeat.

The very enthusiastic and

very sleepy waiting crowd.

Shortcuts=Longcuts

Yesterday I was in a hurry to make dinner, so I decided to boil the egg in the microwave instead of over the stove thinking it would save some time. Now, I know that you can't boil an egg in the microwave without it exploding, but I was in a hurry and that thought did not even cross my mind. Needless to say, it exploded and I had a huge mess to clean up. So much for the shortcut. I spent the majority of the remainder of the evening cleaning the mess. Said Kylie, "Why do you keep messing up? You must not be too good at this". Thanks, Kylie.

But, you know, this happens often in my life. I try to take too many shortcuts - not reading enough in my scriptures thinking that the 1 verse I read will suffice, reading just one book to my children so I can do 'other' things, counting the hello kiss to David as time spent together, the list could go on. Always in the end, they become longcuts to get it done correctly. And I always say to myself just what Kylie said to me.

It may not change overnight, but I am now trying to do it right the first time without having to clean up any messes in the end.

Character Traits? Hobbies?

Ashlyn enjoys cleaning anything - her toys, her feet, her place at the table (now if she would only clean up her messes).




Kylie enjoys lining objects up in a row (she dislikes things to be stacked) and then 'teaching'
them something (how to play a game, how to read, etc.).





What will it be for Spencer? Any suggestions?

Sweet girl

Last night Kylie got sick in the middle of the night (gotta love 1:30 am clean ups). One of the first things she said was, "Daddy this means I can't go to school tomorrow." She loves school and hates to miss out on things (sounds a bit like her mom) and was looking forward to being the prayer helper today. Sweet girl, hope you feel better soon.

What being 4-years-old doesn't make you too old to do...

Eat baby food. I was organizing and inventorying my pantry (thank you, Kathryn, for motivating me to do so) and Kylie kept begging me to eat a jar of baby food (green beans, mind you). I told her that I did not think she was going to like this kind, but she kept on insisting. She "accidentally" opened a jar, so I had to give in. To my surprise, she gobbled it up and asked for more. I guess the girl really does know what she likes. Lesson to me: listen more and don't doubt my child (that can apply in many areas).

We love to see (and go inside) the temple...

Poor Little Man (or 'Midaman')

From Ashlyn kissing him,

to him being forced to share his one toy,


to being smothered in the morning,


to being smothered always (in this case by a cat and a naked child),

he still remains smiling - what a Little Man!

Before

and After....

Check out the talented husband (and brother-in-law) I have. I've been waiting a year and a half for this and I love it! Thanks for helping, Jared!