The Fair 2009

We went to local fair again this year. It was a blast. We got there early and left at dinner time when it started to get crowded. The weather was perfect, the food was unhealthy and delicious, and Elena got rode a horse! It was a great day. It was a bummer that Dan had school all day is was on call that night, so he wasn't able to meet up with us at all. But: my mom and dad were good company.

This picture may be fuzzy, but it perfectly captures how much she loved feeding the animals at the petting zoo. She spent at least 30 minutes in there.What's this? Pig racing of course!

Two tickets paid for 3 trips down the slide, but Elena opted to only slide once. She had fun but she wasn't feeling very adventurous.

I love him!

Yummy, buttery corn!

Both kids on the carousel at once:

We finished off a long, napless day with a pony ride. She had been tired for a while, but some pink lemonade gave her some energy (and courage).
My super talented friend Summer, has super talented kids. They won first and second place in the fair's quilting contest (kids division). How cute is that???!!!

Kevin's Laugh

Earlier today:

I have to apologize for the fact that you can't see Kevin's face sometimes. Whenever he sees the camera, he stops whatever he is doing and just stares, so I had to hold the camera to the side. I didn't realize that he couldn't be seen when I lifted my knees. Don't worry, you can still tell how amazingly cute he is.

Here's a bonus video of Kevin "talking" on September 13th. I really wish I could do these videos without me talking and making noises, but that's the best way to get a reaction from him. Sorry folks. :) I'll try to put up videos and pictures more regularly for the family (especially grandparents) to see him as he grows.

Kids' Rooms

I haven't shown a picture of Kevin's room yet, because until two weeks ago the only thing in there was paint, a valance, and a pack-n-play. When we moved Elena to her big girl bed in early September, Kevin inherited her crib, changing table, and glider. I was so happy to furnish my little boy's room. I still have some finishing touches to do - like pushing the things further under the crib, so you can't see them as easily. :)
He sleeps in here now and actually makes it 9 hours without waking up to eat! I love just waking up once a night and I will love it even more when I don't have to get up at all.
It is so hard to take pictures inside a small room! What you can't see is:
most of the double window, most of the changing table which has a super cute blue lamp on it, the door, the closet, and a huge bookcase with all of mine and Dan's books on it.
The stripes that my dear Mom helped me paint are only on the one wall - the others are just tan. I love his room!

Here is Elena enjoying her big girl bed which happens to be the same one that I slept in when I was a kid (new mattress and box spring though). I've been told that it's even the same bed rail I used. I bet it would totally fail all the super-strict current safety guidelines, but it works great! My mom made the cute quilt.
We initially put the mobile on the bed rail to ease her into the transition, but she was so excited about the change that it wasn't a hard adjustment at all. She was thrilled to sleep with her glow worm instead, so we gave the mobile to Kevin. She loves her new bed and has not once come out of her room during nap/nighttime (knock on wood). She is such a good girl!!!
Side note: I think it's hilarious that we make sure that the kids' rooms are just the way we want them and then our own bedroom is the ugliest, least decorated room in the house. I guess that's pretty standard though since kids' bedding and furniture is a lot cheaper then ours will eventually be.

Kevin's Blessing Day: August 2

I've been putting off posting about this because I somehow have only a couple of pictures on my camera. There were too many camera's involved that day and mine got put to the side, but I definitely want to say that it was a wonderful day and it was so great to have both sets of grandparents there as well as Aunt Bethany and Uncle Adam. I'll try to remember to update later when I copy my mom's photos. Abuelo y Abuelita:
Kevin looked very sharp in his outfit made by my mom. She used the very last of my wedding dress fabric to make it. She also used the fabric for Elena's blessing gown and her flower girl dress (above). Lucky for us my mom bought too much wedding dress fabric 7 years ago because the left-overs have been put to good use. :)
I am so lucky to have a righteous, loving husband who is a worthy priesthood holder. It was wonderful to see Dan take Kevin in his arms and give him a blessing. I am also extremely grateful to have such a healthy, sweet boy. He will be able to be an example to others and a great missionary as long as we do our jobs well and raise him right. :)

My High School Reunion

Happy Anniversary, Sweetie! The 10 year reunion was on our 7th anniversary (August 22nd). Dan got me some beautiful earrings, but I don't think you can see them in the pic. I am wearing them though.
Dan was a super good sport. He took pictures, chatted it up with everyone, and never once mentioned being bored even though he didn't know anyone. Here are some of the photos that we took that night:
It was amazing how quickly I reverted to acting like an 18 year old again. We (my friends and I) had so much fun being stupid and dancing. Isn't it amazing how easily songs bring back memories?
"The dancing fools" looking normal: Brenna, Becky, me, and Justine.

Hamming it up for the camera:
Melissa and me. She is one of the funniest people I know. I crack up almost every time she opens her mouth.

This is Megan and Mike. Mike is actually married to Melissa (pictured above). They had a baby girl just 2 days after I had Kevin. How amazing is it that they started dating back in sophomore year of high school?

Alison and I first became friends in middle school. Plaza girls.

Shanna and Justine.

I had such a great night. I have not kept in touch with very many people from high school - mostly because I went to college 2,000 miles away - but it was amazing how much hanging out with these people again reminded me what quality friends they were and how much fun we all had. I definitely wouldn't want to re-live high school, but I enjoyed those years (especially the last two) and it was nice to bring some of those memories back and get reconnected with people that I shouldn't have let myself get out of touch with in the first place.

My Babies

Elena's First Day of Preschool

Elena is thrilled to be going to school. It is just her and 3 other kids about her age. The moms (including me of course) are taking turns teaching. "School" is just from 9:30 to 11:45 am two days a week. About half of that time is play time, but there is a lesson each day and activities. We each only teach/host every fourth week. It is a pretty awesome setup.
This first week was my turn, so Elena didn't actually get to go anywhere, but she enjoyed playing with new friends, eating her lunch out of her Curious George lunch box, and raising her hand to answer questions. :) This is how she chose to pose for her first ever "first day of school" picture.

The Coolest Park

We had heard about Dan Nicholas Park from a friend and decided to go when we had family in town at the beginning of the month. We had a blast. We were able to use paddle boats, feed ducks, drink Icee's to stay cool, ride a carousel, ride a miniature train, go to a petting zoo (where all the animals were fenced in and you couldn't really pet any of them but whatever), see snakes and baby alligators, go to a mini zoo, pan for gemstones, and Elena got to play in the water area. There are also parts of the park that we didn't even make it over to: a huge playground and a putt-putt golf course. We're excited to go back when the weather cools off a little bit.
Below are some pics from our day -- they should be pretty self explanatory without captions. Btw: All these photos are from my father-in-law's camera, so I don't have any pictures of him. :( The people in the pics besides my parents and Dan's mom is my sister Bethany and my brother Adam.

On the mini train:
Elena has recently become quite a little scaredy cat, so it was a big deal that we talked her into riding on this little horse. (Notice in the pic above that she only went on the carousel because Dan had her on his lap.)

Abuelita's keeping an eye on Kevin. He hung out and slept in the stroller the whole long morning. He's so easy going.