Singing at the Creche

So as I mentioned before I helped to set up the Nativity exhibit the was hosted by our church. I actually had a pretty big section and was grateful to have gotten it done Wednesday night. Kenzi sang at it on Saturday with her primary. This is the first time Kenzi has performed so it was really cool. It is funny to watch her get distracted and then remember that she has to sing.

Fortunately she is singing in this picture!

So before and after her singing we took a look at all of the Creches. It is amazing to be apart of such an event. It is such a great way to kick off the holiday season and remember the true meaning of Christmas. Kenzi's favorite exhibits were the Fisher Price sets. We saw two and that was enough for Kenzi to say "Hey we need to get my nativity!"

So we came home after taking a couple of pictures and instantly got he Nativity out. She has been playing with it ever since. Today we set up the family Nativity, that she has gotten strict instructions to not play with. Which fortunately she has been really good about. So we hope that you have a wonderful holiday season!

Thursday...

This week was nuts! I helped to set up a Nativity Exhibit hosted by our church. thankfully I was done with that on Wednesday, because the other major thing I had going was getting some baking done for Carter's work party. So on Thursday, I picked Kenzi up from school early and we made our way to Grand Prairie. Kenzi had a great time. She pretty much ate the whole time. She ate so much that we didn't have a dinner and she went to bed without reminding me! (Note the tiara! She decided that morning when I was doing her hair that she wanted to wear the tiara all day. So yes she wore it to school too!)
Some of Carter's co-workers. They did a white elephant gift exchange and it was pretty heated! Some people could not keep a hold of a gift!

The food was amazing! I loved the chimichungas! Linda and her family can cook!!!!

Needless to say Kenzi was worn out. She fell asleep on the way back from the party to her skating lesson.

This is Kenzi actually skating the ten minutes that the class skated. I actually am not too impressed with the Allen Community Ice. They spend a good 10 minutes sitting on the ice. Yes I said sitting! I am not sure why and if this does not get better we will not be signing up again at the end of this month! But she seems to like it, so I will hang with it for as long as we paid for it which is just a couple of weeks away.

Enjoy, Kari!

Park time...

So Kenzi loves to play with Abby. And they don't get the opportunity to do that often. So Angie and I got them together and they played great together. Kenzi loves her friends!

Transplant Thanksgiving

Every year our friends, Dave & Liz, host a Transplant Thanksgiving. It started because a lot of us moved to Texas with no family in site. We invite anyone who wants to come, even native Texans. I think my favorite thing at this point is ALL of the kids play together. Jillian is the oldest at 8 and the youngest that is mobile is 2. Ryhs technically is the youngest at 6 months but he doesn't quite run yet. But he sure is entertained by the children. Anyway, here is a picture of all the kids watching a movie in the office and having a great time. We are thankful for friends who help us to have family around! Later Kari.

Thanksgiving 2009

So every year on Thanksgiving Eve we go to the new family/Christmas movie for that year. Before we had Kenzi we went to the last showing. We tried that once with Kenzi when she was small and it did not go over well, so we go to a matinee for the time being. Kenzi saw this display for the Chipmunks movie and wanted a picture with it. Carter totally graciously offered for mommy to take her to this movie! :0)


So Carter snaked a recipe off of a co-workers desk for Blueberry Heavenly Delight. He wanted to try this desert for Thanksgiving. So I made it and it looked like a Blueberry erupted. It was a really good desert. Don't worry we are having pumpkin pie today at Dave and Liz's Transplant Thanksgiving. I did not feel the need to make pies twice. We hope that you had a happy and safe thanksgiving. Love ya, Kari

Gramma pics...

Enjoy! Kari

Texas High School Football...

So I went into Target to find a cable and it was not on the shelf so I asked if they had any in the back. An employee comes over with scanner and is helping me to which I saw this...
I asked Sean "What is this bad boy for?"
Sean: "For Allen High School State Champions last year"
Me: "You have got to be kidding me! High school?"
Sean: "Yes ma'am." To which I went on to explain that I do not get the hype about high school football in Texas and I of course was insistent on taking a picture to show Carter and the rest of the free world. So that ring ladies and gentlemen is for for a high school championship! So if any of you native Texans can explain it to me, feel free. I just don't get it! BTW, Sean is going to the community college for this year and will be going to Texas Tech next year. So in the meantime Allen high school champions work at Target. Oh and Shanette, he said he does remember/know you. Later, Kari.

ACO boxes

So we had Rhys and Sophie visit for most of the day yesterday and I wanted to do something fun with them and Kenzi. OK, so Rhys just watched, but I think that Sophie and Kenzi had a good time. They painted boxes for our community outreach's thanksgiving boxes. The ACO puts a thanksgiving dinner in every box and then donates it to families who need it. What I found interesting is that Kenzi jumped right in. I totally thought Sophie would follow suit for two reasons... Kenzi is peat and Sophie is repeat! And remember this post? Anyway, Sophie would just put a finger in the paint and swirl it around. Then I took her hand and smashed it and swirled it around to which she picked up her hand and said "Messy, Need to clean!"


Rhys, chilling, watching us paint. Doesn't he look like Winston Churchill? We call him Winny for short!

Don't those hands look great!

Enjoy! Kari

Best babysitter ever!

It is no secret that we love our babysitter, Shanette. And while she was watching Kenzi Saturday night they did a project. I asked her to take a picture so I can scrapbook it and thought I would share.

Kenzi informed me later that she ate the apple and the candy, but not the tooth picks. Glad to see natural selection did not get Kenzi this time around! Kari

Happy Birthday Carter!!!!!

So for Carters birthday we decorated the house, had his favorite dinner, a three layer cake, and gave him presents. I think his most favorite and he will have to correct me if I am wrong, was Kenzi wrapped a plastic pumpkin , all by herself. Inside was a plastic hot dog. She did inform him that it was a candy hot dog. When Carter thanked her for the pumpkin present, she said "Your welcome. Now I should probably put it back in my kitchen." To which Carter and I died. Guess the present had a shelf life! Anyhow, we had a fun day getting ready for daddy to come home. Happy Birthday, babe. We hope you know that you are very important to us! Love you, Kari.

Rocket Park...

So, a friend has decided to have a playgroup for children that are in school. Which takes place after school every Wednesday. This last Wednesday we went to Rocket park. And oh my! The rocket is 3 stories! Kenzi LOVED it! She wants to go back and take Sophie. Dude, they never had this when I was a kid. What did my parents play on, cardboard boxes?!?!?!?!

Kenzi and her friend , Ben.

Enjoy, Kari!

Sophie...

Need we say more?!?!?!?!?

2500 Hours of community service...

So it has been 25 years that our church building was built. And to celebrate that Our Stake participated in a 2500 hour service project. Men, women, and children were asked to do various jobs from picking up trash and debris to sewing , and cover boxes for Allen Community Outreach Thanksgiving boxes of food. Our family signed up to clean up where they are build a facility called "Arts of Collin County". We had an interesting experience. The pictures below will explain...

Walking to the site from where we parked. Kenzi had to borrow my gloves. They are a little big to say the least!

And yes, that is a toilet seat that Kenzi and Carter found.

And the big gray thing that is leaning up against the dumpster was found my two favorite people. And Kenzi did try and drag that over too. Our girl is strong!

We had a good experience and are grateful for the opportunity of teaching Kenzi about service! She is an awesome helper and did an awesome job! Later, Kari.

Pumpkin Patch

So last Friday Kenzi's preschool went to the pumpkin patch. Yes I was surprised too, to be going after Halloween and it pretty much met my low expectation as to not a whole lot of pumpkins, but the kids loved it the same. Here are some pictures to show you. Of course we got home that day and she had the meltdown of all meltdowns from being tired. So I had to let her know that if she continued with that behavior she would not go on another preschool field trip. Needless to say she took a nap!

A picture of the M-F 8:30-2 class. Kenzi goes to the Tuesday and Thursday. And her class joined the Monday, Wednesday, Friday class for this field trip. The teacher on the right is Ms C and the teacher on the left is Mrs. G. Kenzi's primary teacher is Mrs. C.

Kenzi fed a cow, goats, and sheep. She thought the goat was the best because they tickled when they ate the food out of her hand.

Kenzi being VERY proud of the pumpkin she found to take home. Now she brags that she has two pumpkins and daddy and mommy have one. Of course we have not carved the two big ones yet and I am thinking that maybe we are not going to. Oh well! We tried!

We were leaving and Kenzi had another "Hey, mom, how about I sit here and you take my picture." And again I could not resist!

This is Sheridan, Aliya, and Kenzi. The other two girls rode in our car with us along with Sheridan's mom, Stacey.

We had a great time and Kenzi will be happy to tell you all about it. And I met another scrapbooker! Small world! :0) Later, Kari.

Happy Halloween...

So for Halloween we went to the Dallas Arboretum, our ward trunk-or-treat, and trick or treating in our neighborhood. Kenzi had a great time and it was so awesome whenever I would hear someone say... "Awe, she is a powerpuff girl!" I was nervous to have people not know who she was. I know that if people do not know the show they are not going to know, but I did not want them to not know because of a crappy costume. My mom did a great job with the dress. I was extremely happy that the head came out the way I thought it would. We had a lot of fun. Enjoy the pictures. Kari
Buttercup with mom and dad at the Pumpkin Gazebo. We had to work around the head. :0)

Gramma B and Kenzi. Gramma loved the big head!

This is Kenzi's friends at Trunk-or-treat. Rhys, Ben, Kenzi, Sophie, Ella, and Sadie the dog. It has become a tradition to get a picture of our children together every year. I love it! Aren't they adorable!

Buttercup and Professor Utonium out trick or treating. Kenzi wanted to go to the scary houses. About 8:45 Kenzi tells her dad... "Daddy I am done. I have enough candy. I don't want to get a tummy ache." So we then went home and Kenzi went to bed. Yea, I am not sure when she turned 25!?!?!?!?!

Thank you mom for helping me with Kenzi's costume! I am so proud of it! I am so happy that we could achieve what Kenzi wanted. I am a little nervous for next year. Who knows what she is going to come up with!?!? Love ya, Kari!

The costume of choice is...

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and children of all ages, I proudly introduce BUTTERCUP!

It is that fun time of year again, where Kenzi decides what she wants to be for Halloween and we get the lovely task of trying to make it happen. Obviously, this year she wanted to be buttercup. I was not so concerned about the dress as I was the head. So my mom helped me with making the dress and I made the head. In order for Kenzi to see we needed to cut a hole for her face and this is what she looked like...

And since we could make it happen, Carter and I dressed up as well. If you know the Powerpuff cartoon (If not just click the link and you can go to the website), Carter was Professor Utonium and I was Ms. Bellum...

These pictures were taken at the Tornado Hockey game Friday night. I will post more pictures in another post of Halloween day. Enjoy! Kari

Gramma B.'s surprise...

So a week ago Thursday Carter tells Kenzi and I that he has a surprise for us that he thinks will cheer us up. But he had to work late and he would be home around 9 or 10. (I should have caught on then, he never says what time he will be home unless I push.) So he gets home and says "Kari come here" "Kenzi is coming is that OK?" " Yea, come here!" Well Kenzi is 3 steps ahead of me and turns the corner and says "Gramma!" To which I thought was odd and then turned the corner and saw my mom! I had to process what I was seeing and all I could think was that my mom lived in California, so she can't possibly be standing in my kitchen! She then said hi and I lost it. I couldn't even walk towards her, she had to come to me and give me a hug as I kept bawling! Carter gave me a hug and I was still bawling. Mom asked me if I was OK and I just shook my head. I could not speak except to say "Is someone going to explain?" So it turns out that they had this planned for a month! My brothers & dad knew. Which if you know my dad it is a miracle that he did not say a word. Keri and Neal knew! I was amazed that they pulled it off! And if you know my relationship with my mom, it is truly amazing that she did say anything to me. We tell each other everything!

So she stayed for ten days! and one of the things we did and we do every time she visits was get our toes done. Kenzi was with us and she get her toes painted. Here are a couple of pictures! Enjoy! I know that I did! :0)

Kenzi drying her toes where you normally put your hands! :0)

And Kenzi talked us into using the same color she used... you guessed it, PURPLE!

Later! Kari

Texas State Fair...

OK, so we decided to go to the State Fair on Friday. Here is my fashionista ready to go with her "Batman" glasses.
The first thing we hit was the "Amazing Dog show" It is fun to see the dogs do the tricks and I get a real laugh if I try and imagine Dax and Georgia doing them. The first thing we ate on the way to the dog show was funnel cake. Mmmm! I love funnel cake.

We then went to feed the animals. This giraffe was way more interested to try and get the leaf in this fan that they he was not even looking our way! We saw Ostriches, which we stayed away from we still carry a grudge from the second year when the ostrich attacked our daughter and goats and baby goats. I had no idea that baby goats were so cute! We then tried Fried Peaches and Cream. That was gooood. I refused to try Fried Butter. Though the line was huge for it.

Kenzi remembered Big Tex from last year and said that we had to go find it after we went and looked the cows and sheep that were getting ready for show. Big Tex told everyone to wash their hands before they eat and that has stuck with Kenzi that she tells me every time before we eat that she needs to wash her hands. Fine by me!

This picture was taken at the train station on the way home. Kenzi wanted another hat. When we looked at them there were pink, purple that lit up and white ones that lit up. As you can tell from this delectable picture she settled on the white but not without some conversation.

Kenzi: "I want the purple light up one!"

Me: "No you already have a purple hat and we just bought you pink boots. Pink or white?"

Kenzi: with hands on hips "But my purple hat does not light up."

Me: walking away in disbelief that I was getting schooled by my 4 year old then coming back around, "Pink or white?"

Kenzi: :OK, the white one that lights up!"

I cannot get over my cutie-pie of a daughter! She keeps me laughing too! I love you, fluffy! Kari

Failure is just a word...

So I have always admired people who can write so eloquently that you want to keep reading. And yesterday I found a cousin who keeps a blog and stumbled upon such a posting from her. First and foremost, this family of cousins are absolutely brilliant and amazing. Their parents have done an amazing job with raising them and they have such drive. Secondly Courtney, the said cousin, wrote a post about Failure is just a word. I was a little surprised at what she was saying because I thought insecurities only extended to the lesser population but everything was completely relate-able! We all feel insecurities and I firmly believe that the adversary works extra hard on women. (If you would like more on that topic, let me know and I will be happy to oblige.)

Her point was that failure seems to strike so much fear in us, but really it is just a word. While I completely concur, I know why it strikes fear. It is a very difficult thing to think that you as a person are less than. We do so much to tell ourselves that we are important and unique and loved by many. That when something we try to accomplish does not happen or "fails" you question every fiber of your being. "Is there something that I could have done different to give a better result?" And when you truly feel that you have done everything within your power and it is still not enough, ALL you have to lean on is the Lord.

The adversary is more than happy to derail and help you think that you are not good enough. However, right now, I am making a stand! While I REALLY wanted the IVF to work and get pregnant with quadruplets, yes I said quadruplets, It is not in my plan right now. I KNOW that Heavenly Father loves and cares for me. He knows the pain I feel and wants me to have all of my righteous desires! And for whatever reason we do not get to have more children right now, I am going to trust that everything will made right. And while failure is absolutely one of the worst places to be, I would much rather fail knowing that my Heavenly Father has a plan for me then succeed and have no knowledge of my Eternal blessings!

Thank you to EVERYONE for your love, support, meals, prayers, and hopes! We could not have done this without your charity! You are truly amazing and we are so thankful for you in our lives! Love, Kari

Stuff...

OK, so I know it has been awhile, however I have been so cautious and this is probably the longest I have been in a sitting postion since Tuesday. I really wanted to get a post up, becuz even though I have been laid up things are happening.

So on September 25th we went to an Allen High School Football Game! I am starting to understand that there is a frenzy when it comes to high school football in Texas. I am surprised that I did not eat more dirt or catch a ton of flies while we were there becuz I was just shocked and amazed. First here is our little sister/babysitter who hooked us up with tickets. Isn't she cute? And hey boys she is single. If you want a date you have to go through us!

At times it would get loud. Kenzi has always been sensitive to noise, but this is what she does when it is too much for her. Though by the time we had to go she was telling me I forgot to yell and clap.

Ok, fellow alumnis, remember our band of like 75 at its peak? Are you sitting down? No really, sitting down? The Allen High School marching band has 600 students in it! Apparently it is the biggest high school in the country! Insane!

Now we are shifting to Kenzi news. Kenzi and I bought this desk for Carter since he tends to do quite a bit of work at home. Well this is exactly how Carter has his desk set up when he is using it. Minus the Barbie! Kenzi so loves her Daddy!

Another yippee moment for me. I have been REALLY trying to reduce stress and have found that doing craft projects that I have been meaning to and wanting to really help me. So when Kenzi was about two, my mom was visiting when it was time for her two year pictures. Per my request, my mom took pictures with Kenzi and I. This was an extra print that I had so I decided to put it in Kenzi's room. I needed to put it in a frame becuz Kenzi would carry the picture around. Now at least it is protected and can get drooled on. I basically took a wood frame that I bought at Dollar Tree, for a dollar and modge podged some scrapbook paper to it. I then hot glued the flowers and Rhinestone. I am waiting for pictures of Kenzi and Gram Mac to do the same but with blue paper. As they were wearing blue in the pictures. Then my next task will be to get Gramma G. and Kenzi together. Anyway, Kenzi loves it. I still see her carrying around the picture. Now I don't take it away from her.

So Hopefully you enjoyed this post. I know kinda random, but that pretty much catches you up!Enjoy! Kari