I love you so much!

A couple weeks ago we went to California. We were able to stay in the Staker Beach House and we had an amazing time! Kevin, Kenlee, mom and I flew in Wednesday, December 8. We picked up the rental car, went to the grocery store and then ate at the Chart House. Thursday, Kevin, Kenlee and I went to Sea World! Kenlee loved it. The place was no crowded at all; therefore, we were able to have great seats to all three shows we saw (Sea Lions, Dolphins, and Shamu). We spent about 5 hours there and then headed back to the beach house. Kenlee picked out a Shamu stuffed animal. Her and Shamu fell quickly asleep on the way home.

Candie, Dad and Blade flew in Thursday night. Mom drove to the airport and picked them up. Friday morning we got up and headed to Disneyland. I love Disneyland, but it was so crowded. We walked in and saw Mickey Mouse. Then we went to Fantasyland and Kevin and Kenlee rode the carousel. Then we all headed to Pirates and the Haunted Mansion. It was about a 50 minute wait for the Haunted Mansion. :( After that we went to California Adventure Land and had lunch. We all split up at that point so that Candie, Blade, Mom and Dad could go and ride the big rides while our family spent time together. We rode Monster's Inc., watched the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, saw Handy Manny, Chip and Dale, Donald and Mickey again. We rode a quick ride and then saw some of the parade back in Disneyland. Everyone split up again and Candie, Kenlee and I went on Monster's Inc. again while everyone else went on the Tower of Terror! At that point, we watched some TRON stuff, saw the fireworks and then headed back to the beach house.

The next morning Kenlee woke up and Kevin got up with her. Soon she came running in the room to see me and gave me a great big hug and said "I love you so much!". I loved it! She has been saying that since the trip and she has been giving kisses....so many kisses! We spent Saturday and Sunday at the Beach House. The weather was beautiful. Saturday we went to the harbor and saw the lights and had ice cream. Sunday, Scott came down. We had some lunch, went to the beach and just enjoyed the day. Monday the boys (Dad and Kevin) went fishing while the rest of us when to Downtown Disney. We went shopping and had lunch at ESPN Zone. We went back to the beach house and relaxed. Tuesday was full of relaxing and packing. :( We were not ready to go back home. The weather was getting ready to turn raining...but that was the only thing that pushed us to go home.

A fall...

Kenlee is a genius! Okay - I am sure every mother says that about their child...but she truly is one smart little girl. She has been going potty on the big girl potty for a while now. She loves her doggies. She loves them so much that she picks them up and usually it is by the head or neck. Marlee and Charlee have been great sports, but you can tell they are getting scared of Kenlee. Every time she comes around they run and hide (and she finds them) or they start to shake. But they are being good.

Thanksgiving weekend was great. We had Thanksgiving with the Russon side and then came back to our house and Candie and Blade came for dinner. It was nice. Then on Friday I got up and did some shopping and then, Kevin, Kenlee and I went to Kohl's and then grabbed lunch. We went to Tangled (cute, cute movie) and then came home to watch the Jazz beat the Lakers! Saturday was the Utah vs. BYU game. It was so cold, so Candie came over and watched Kenlee. The final score was 16 to 17 for Utah. We blocked the field goal attempt and won the game! Then we went over to Bart and Elizabeth's for Parker's birthday. Yesterday we lounged around. Made breakfast, watched some football, did a little cleaning and then during nap time Kenlee did not want to nap. It was quite a struggle and as I was walking out of the room, I looked back and she was halfway over the side of the bed. Her legs flipped over her head and she landed right on her head. Of course I freaked out and Kevin came running up and took Kenlee. Luckily she was okay. Later at dinner she told Nana about her fall and said "Mommy saved me". :) That made my day!

Funny saying and what Kenlee has been up to...

Kenlee is talking up a storm. Just yesterday I asked her why she does things that I ask her not to. Her response was "because....my mom said so". It is really hard not to laugh when she says the cutest things.

She is really in to singing songs, playing kitchen, taking care of her babies, playing with her friends at school, buiding big castles (with her blocks), painting, watching picture slideshows on the computer, gymnastics, dancing, and doing things by herself. She can climb up on the barstools, has been working on going on the 'big girl potty', loves Monsters Inc. (she calls it the cookie monster), and loves to help me clean. She can tell you that she is two, her name (her full name), what our name's are, and what Nana's name is. She loves Marlee and Charlee.

I can't believe how big she is getting. It seems like she was born just yesterday.

Pictures at Skool Days

A couple weeks ago Kenlee had her pictures taken at her school (Skool Days). Here is what they look like (I hope you like them as much as I do):

Kenlee's 2nd Birthday Party

Yesterday, September 12, we celebrated Kenlee's second birthday. I can't believe she is two! We had over 50 people at our house. Here is who was there: Kenlee, mommy, daddy, Nana, Grandpa Brian, Grandma June, Grandma Helen, Grandma Lynette, Grandpa Boyd, Grandpa and Grandma Russon, Grandpa Lee, Aunt Jen, Uncle Bryan, Rylee, Aunt Stephanie, Ashley, Kalli, Whitney, Chelsey, Aunt Candie, Uncle Blade, Bruna, Rachel, Little Jean, Brandi and her two kids, the Miller's, the Kay's, the William's, the Strong's, and our neighbors the Campbell's. We had a bounce house for the kids, a beautiful Minnie Mouse cake, and cupcakes. It was a beautiful night and it was great to have our family and friends there. Kenlee received so many great gifts and has already started playing with half of them.

Here are some of the pics:





Her Minnie Mouse Birthday Cake





Kenlee and Grandpa Brian eating some treats


Opening presents

Blowing out her candle


Going down the slide

Kenlee's Photo Shoot

Thank you Taryn! We had Kenlee's two year old pictures taken and they turned out amazing! We went to Star Mill in American Fork and let Kenlee just have fun. She saw the chickens, played peak a boo with Taryn and ran around. Taryn kept saying "Oh my Goodness" and Kenlee started copying her. :) We had another photo shoot with Kenlee's cousins and we can't wait to see those. But here are some of the amazing photos from Kenlee's photo shoot:

Summer

Boy has summer flown by. I can't believe it is already August. Where did the time go? Well, we have had a fun summer. Camping, swimming, the zoo, school and Nana moving in. Here are som pics from our summer:

Camping at Yuba

Swimming on the Fourth of July

Singing and swinging with Grandma Russon and Rylee on the Fourth of July

Our 10 Year Anniversary | Snowbird

Playing at Nana's and Grandpa's house while everyone else was moving furniture

1, 2, 3, 4...10!

Kenlee is starting to get this "counting to 10" thing. We went up to Heber last night and hung out with Shaun, Amber, Lexi and Maddie. It was a beautiful, summer night. We hung out on the front porch and watched the kids play. When the game turned to hide and seek, Kenlee started counting: 1, 2, 3 (free), 4....10! It was so funny! She would say is loud and kept repeating herself.

Fishing at Strawberry

Yesterday we went to Strawberry and went boating. It was me, Kevin, Kenlee and Grandpa Brian. We left around 9 a.m. and got to the reservoir around 10:30. It was an absolute beautiful day. We fished for a bit, but nothing was biting...so, we took a ride up the channel. The wind picked up a bit, but it was a great day.

Kevin bought Kenlee her first fishing pole. It is cute, pink Barbie pole. Here are some pictures from our day:

Yea Sure and Gymnastics

Yea sure, bless you, open it, Izzy is barking....all new phrases from Kenlee McKae! She is so funny. When you ask her if she wants to something or wants to do something, she says, "Yea sure". The other night when my family was out for dinner, Nana sneezed and Kenlee said "Bless You". She told me today to "open it" and told Nana to "open it". She was referring to chocolate. She sure does love chocolate. When Nana was watching her the other day at her house, Kenlee told Nana that "Izzy is barking".

Every day is a new adventure, a new breath of fresh air. She makes us smile, she makes us laugh, she lights up our world. I look forward to every minute and day with her.

Kenlee started gymnastics last Wednesday (May 26). We are going to the Little Gym in Draper and it is pretty much a Mommy and Me class. The first week we played with bells, the parachute, did a little flip, played on the vault and bars. This week we did the bells and parachute again, but we walked on the beam on our hands and she did a somersault on the beam. Then we did a flip on the bars too. Kenlee's new thing is holding her self up on the parallel bars. She is good at it too. Here are some pics from her first class:

Sand Dunes

We went to the Sand Dunes back in April (16, 17 and 18th). It started out with a couple of us and ended up being a lot of us. We had a great time. Kenlee played in the sand, her wagon and LOVED playing with the kids:

Boo

What and wa wa

So, Kevin called me at work the other day and told me that he said "Kenlee" and she turned to him and said "what". :) She is also calling water "wa wa". She can say Boyd, Bry, Rylee, Papa, Mommy, Dadda, No, nap, I don't like that, I want that, sad, fall....just to name a few. :)

She loves her baby and is now has to go to sleep with her. She loves Minnie too and she puts her baby and Minnie down for "naps".

With the weather getting warmer, we went out and rode her four wheeler and she loved it.

NASCAR

What a weekend! We sure missed Kenlee, but Kevin and I had Hot Passes and we had a blast. Here are some pictures:

Pig Tails!

The other day I was looking for a new hair do for Kenlee...so, we tried pig tails and here is how they turned out:

Where did "mine" come from?

Kenlee's vocabulary is growing every day. She now says "mine". I am not sure where this came from, but she can sure say it loud and clear. Not only can she say "mine", but it is accompanied by the taking away of toys from other kids. I am so proud. HA!

Kenlee is also climbing up on the couch, playing my old keyboard from when I was a kid, she knows where to go to get a towel for her bath and how to let the water out when bath time is over. She seems to be growing up so quick!

Bowling!

We went bowling with Grandma Lynette, Grandpa Boyd, Aunt Jen, Uncle Bryan and Rylee. We all had fun. Half way through they turn the lights off and we went Cosmic Bowling!

Bowling with Daddy!

Eating fries with Mommy!

Dancing to the music and having fun!

Sledding at Timber Lakes

We went sledding at the Russon family cabin a couple weeks ago and had a great time. Here is Kenlee the day before we went. We needed to try on her clothes to make sure everything fit. :)

Kenlee and her cousin Rylee. They had a great time on the sled.

Enjoying the snow!

Even though the cabin only got to 50 degrees...we had a great time. We watched a movie, had a great dinner, got up and had breakfast, went sledding and headed home.

New Words and Under the Weather

So, Kenlee has added a couple words to her vocabulary. She can say mom, dad, no, and bubbles. On Wednesday (January 20) out of the blue Kenlee waived and said "bye". Clear as day. It was quite cute. She just walked around waiving and saying "bye". The next day, Thursday (January 21), Kenlee said "baby". Again, clear as day. Friday (January 22) it sounded like she said "no way"....so, at this rate she is adding a word a minute.

Kenlee has been feeling a little under the weather this last week. She had a cold between Christmas and New Year's and then over the last week she got sick again. She had a bad cough, so we took her to Dr. Kelly and he said she has a mild case of bronchitis and maybe an ear infection...she never pulled on her ears and he wasn't 100% about the ear infection. He did know that her cold was in her upper respiratory tract and not all in her lungs. She is on "princess juice" (anti-biotics) and is feeling better.