Kenzi talks to Santa!!!

So since before Thanksgiving, Kenzi has been talking about seeing Santa. She kept telling me that she wanted to talk to him and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. I kept telling her that she would have to sit on his lap to do so. And she promised me that she would sit on his lap. So we decide to go to the village to try.

At the village there is a maze. Well, as I was walking into the maze I made the statement, "Oh this is a maze." To which a little boy said "This is not a real maze, there is only one way in and out."
They also have a caboose with stuff for the kids to play with. You can actually rent this out for birthday parties.

Kenzi taking a picture for me with Blitzen. She got to pet Blitzen and thought that was pretty cool.

When Santa came back from his cookie break he came through the line to say hi to all the children. I was shocked that Kenzi actually gave him a hug!

So we waited in line for at least an hour and get to where we might actually get warm, inside. And Kenzi starts to panic. We somehow calmed her down and waited in line for another half hour. So when it was our turn Carter had to carry her to Santa, but then when Santa said he had a coloring book, she walked over and talked to him and sat on his lap. I was shocked! Does this mean we are over the whole talking to Santa being scary thing?!?!? Maybe! Later, Kari.

Kenzi goes to a Christmas party...

... with her babysitter. Carter & I had hired Shanette for a date night and that same night her ward was having a Christmas party. So Shanette took her and they had a great time! Kenzi loves Shanette!

Chipmunk movie boycott...

So last night, Carter was putting Kenzi in her bed for a story and I hear this...

"Kari, come here please." As I come around the corner to the hall, Carter informs me "I am banning all chipmunk movies in this house. Listen." To which I find Kenzi jumping on her bed saying "Booyah, shake what your mama gave you." To which she turned around and shook her bum at us. I had to get my bearings, but then inquired as to where she got that because that line was not in the first Chipmunk movie. Both Carter and Kenzi inform me that it is on the preview for the new Chipmunk movie! I then walked away and kept laughing, because let's face it ... it was funny! Love ya, Kari

Anderson Ornament Exchange

Every year Liz has an Ornament exchange. It is an Anderson Family tradition that Liz has been able to keep up here in Texas. It was so great getting to know new people and having fun with the ornaments! Here is the group of friends! Thanks Liz for such a great time and tradition!

Santa's #

So last night little one had a hysterical meltdown over having to clean her room and bath tub toys. Sent her to her room until daddy got home and she fell asleep. Today, told her she had to clean her room and pick up the toys that was not done last night and she started to have a meltdown. I calmly stopped her and said... "You have two choices. You can either clean up your room. Or you can take a nap and I will call Santa Claus." To which she said she did not want Santa to be called and went to work! After she finished she proudly showed me she did as asked, she then asked if we could call Santa to tell him she did good?!?!?! Anyone know Santa's #?

Gingerbread Tree

So ever since we had Kenzi, we have wanted to start a tradition of putting together a gingerbread house! We were successful when Kenzi was 18 months. Talk about sugar coma! However, We have completely been unsuccessful every other year! But for the past two years we have gotten a gingerbread house and gingerbread tree. So I said that we were going to put them together this year or this tradition is dead before it ever really started! We got out the house and the icing was rock solid. So I said I would make icing and we could do it another night. Then we got out the tree and the smart people at Wilton had a powder mixture that you add water too. So thus we were able to put together the Gingerbread Tree!!

Kenzi licking the spatula from making the year old icing powder!

Kenzi still eating and me working!


Kenzi wanted to take a picture and this is what she got. We may have a natural on our hands folks!

Family portrait with our finished product. Not bad! Leaning a little, but not bad!

The spoils after your work is done! I think Carter got the bag about 2 feet above Kenzi's head!

We had such a great time doing the tree we all are looking forward to doing the house! Happy Holidays, everybody!

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.