The Fair

This year we were able to go visit my parents in Idaho for the Idaho State Fair. Blake and I had tickets to the Demolition Derby, but we took the girls with my parents the day before the derby. The girls loved the fair and the time they had to spend with their grandparents. They loved the petting zoo, and the cotton candy. They were also able to ride rides for the first time. Ashley my adventurous, brave one of course was sad that she was too little for the big rides, but Kenzie seemed relieved she had to stick to the kiddy rides. I went on the carousel with them which made me a little queasy, but was still fun to do with them. There was a little roller coaster that an adult had to ride with them in order for them to go, but I said it was Blake’s turn. Blake declined, but my dad graciously agreed to accompany them. They loved the ride and especially that it was with their papa.
After the fair we took a funnel cake to my grandma’s house (my mom’s mom). We were able to visit for a while and the girls got to spend some time with her. We don’t get to see her very often so it was nice to spend the time with her. We also got to visit my dad’s mom at the assisted living center where she lives. We see her even less than my mom’s mom so it was nice to see her again and how well she’s doing. The girls spent the time we were there trying to coax her cat Babe out of hiding. The next night my parents watched the girls the next night so Blake and I could go to the derby by ourselves.

News

Visit the very bottom of our blog for some interesting news from our family.

Best Friends

You know, sometimes these girls can be each others worst enemies, but at other times, they are the best sisters. Ashley was feeling sad that Blake and I were busy and she couldn’t sit on our laps at the time so Kenzie got Ashley’s blanket and sat down on the couch and let her sister sit on her lap.

Water Sports

So Blake came up with this family activity that the girls LOVE! He turns the sprinklers on in the front using the timers so you never know when one is going to go off or on. Then we get these water balls and soak them in the sprinklers and have a water fight. We did it once kind of on accident, with everyone still in their clothes, and the girls begged every day after that, so we put suits on and did it again, and again. They love it, even if it’s cold they still think it’s the best family activity. Kenzie’s the sneakiest in getting you with water, but Ashley has a good aim and can throw pretty far.

Kenzie started kindergarten this year. So far she’s loving school! Her favorite things are reading and all the new friends she’s made. Her first day she was so excited she was ready to go an hour early and kept insisting we leave so she wouldn’t be late. Kenzie’s teacher is Ms. Kanz. She really nice and does a lot of art projects which is great for Kenzie. She’s also 8 months pregnant. She ended up having her baby the day after Labor Day a month early. So Kenzie has had a sub since, but it’s one of our neighbors so that’s been good. Ms. Kanz was able to return to work right before Thanksgiving, and Kenzie had loved having her back.
Ashley and I took her to school and walked her to her class so we could see it. I don’t think Ashley understood Kenzie was staying until we walked away. Ashley spent the rest of the day crying because she missed her sister. It took a few days, but Ashley finally figured out that she could play with the toys when Kenzie was gone by herself without having to share. Ashley also discovered that she loves cooking with me. She begs to make cookies or bread almost everyday.

The Zoo

We decided to get a pass to the Hogle zoo this year since we’re now so close. We’ve been a couple time since. Here’s some of my favorite pictures.

Kenzie's 5!

This year for Kenzie’s birthday we decided to just have family over to celebrate. I say just, but that still was a lot of people. Our niece Marion had just had her baby the week before so our niece Jennifer brought Marion’s girls Gracie and Carlie over with her 3 kids, Izaak, Bryson, and Morgan. My cousin Shelley also came with her 2 boys Kasen and Aiden. My mom’s cousin Heidi came with her son Noah. Blake's sister Marta also came with her husband Barry and son Bryan. It was a full house but a lot of fun. Being July we thought it would be fun for the kids to play in the pool in our yard, but being in Utah with the unpredictable weather the wind was blowing and the kids got cold as soon as they got wet. So we dried them all off and sent them to the playroom to play. Kenzie had requested homemade pizza and snicker salad (yes it’s a salad with candy in it, we justify it by adding fruit, thanks Marion and Jennifer for the recipe!) for her birthday so I had spent the day making up 4 pizza that I could just throw in the oven for dinner, but thanks to an accident somewhere, we ended up being without power when I needed to put the pizza in. Blake and our nephew Dave went into Tooele and got $5 pizza from Little Ceasars. Not quite home made but still good when you have a house full of starving kids. So over all, not quite the day I had planned, but it was still a great day. Kenzie loved playing with her cousins, and I had a great time visiting with my cousins and nieces.
That weekend we were also able to celebrate Kenzie and my mom’s birthdays. My parents came down and we tried to surprise my mom with a visit from my brother, but she figured it out before he arrived. Thomas brought his girlfriend Sam. It was the first time I was able to meet her. She’s so sweet, we all fell in love with her right away. She spent the better part of an hour Saturday helping the girls make a rock garden in the back yard. It meant so much to them! Hopefully someday we can call her part of our family. My dad took everyone out to Benni Hanna’s for dinner. It’s this really good grill where you get to watch them cook your food right in front of you. The girls loved it and were so good even though it wasn’t geared toward kids. We also found out that Ashley LOVES shrimp. She ate all her own and Blake’s and kept begging everyone else for theirs. It was so good to have the whole family together again! That doesn’t happen very often since we moved to Utah and Thomas moved to Boise.
It’s hard for me to believe Kenzie’s 5 already! It seems like such a short time ago we were struggling to bring her home from the hospital. Now she’s all grown up at 5 going on 16. She’s an amazing girl! She such a great big sister to Ashley and so smart. She loves learning and then trying to teach Ashley what she just learned. She has such a tender heart which serves her well, but also causes a broken heart often when someone says something mean. She understands some things at the age of 5 that I as an adult still don’t completely grasp. Her concept of death has over whelmed me from the time she was 2 and my grandpa died. She’s dealt with my grandpa’s death, Blake’s dad’s death, and the death of a friend of Ashley’s without ever shedding a tear over the loss. She has always been the one to comfort others through the loss and remind everyone that they are in a better place and it’s just their body we’re saying goodbye to. When she was 2 and my grandpa died we went to the hospital right before to say goodbye and be with my grandma. We all had tears in our eyes which Kenzie didn’t understand she walked up to the hospital bed, and held my grandpa’s hand and told him, “Great grandpa it’s Ok, just close your eyes and when you wake up you’ll be with Jesus.” She’s never faltered from this belief.

Happy Birthday Princess! I love yo so much! Thank you for letting me be your mom!