Magic Kingdom

So we went to Magic Kingdom on Tuesday. I know that at this point you are probably thinking "Really Kari, that was like a month ago now", but really the pictures are worth mentioning. We ended up being there all day. We did take a break about 1 o'clock and went back to the hotel, had lunch, and took a nap. Though I have to say the last picture is pretty telling of what it did for Kenzi. She liked everything. She wanted to talk to a lot of characters. They all were so great with her. If they were characters that could talk like Snow White, they would actually have a conversation with her about her favorite color. They were tipped off by the shirt and ears! I think Snow White even talked about cheesecake with her. If they could not talk, like Mickey & Minnie, they would mime and give kisses. I have to say that Mickey and Minnie were adorable! I almost forgot they weren't in a cartoon. Really, Magic Kingdom we could have done in two days because with Kenzi she wanted to see everything, and there is only so much detail you can cover in one day. I have had a friend ask if it was worth taking her and did we feel like we got our moneys worth. I would definitely say yes, but if you are planning to take your children, here are few things to ponder. Are they into attractions such as characters or rides? If they are into rides are the going to be able to ride with the height requirement? If they like characters on television, how are they with Santa or Chuck-E Cheese? And if your kids tires, definitely make arrangements to rest during the day. It made a world of difference in Kenzi's attitude the rest of the day! We had SOOO much fun. There are a ton of pictures so viewer beware! Enjoy! Kari

Downtown Disney

So on Tuesday we went to Downtown Disney. We were able to make our family t-shirt and ears for Kenzi. We started out with lunch at T-Rex Cafe. It was very cool! If you ever have a chance you should go for lunch or dinner. And if you have any children that like Dinosaurs then they will flip their lid! Kenzi had Shark Water to drink, which was Sprite with Coconut syrup and blue! Our meals were actually good and we had desert that was unbelievable! The pictures of Kenzi in the sand is the Cafe's Dinosaur dig. She made a sand angel. We also went to Disney Quest. That was a little disappointing due to the fact that Kenzi could not do a lot! Though Carter tried a virtual game and almost pucked! So we enjoyed the walk and all of the fun stores. That is where Carter was able to get his Penguin champion shirt! He was a happy camper! Papa and gramma had to go back to the hotel due to the heat so JT got dragged around with us. He seemed to keep up OK. Hopefully we did not wear him out too much that weak. I am sure he might have had to recuperate! Anyway, enjoy! Kari

About time...

Hello all, I know I promised this a week ago! I was trying to be all fancy and it blew up in my face. So now I am just going to stick with what I know works. So over a month ago we took a family vacation. We drove through Louisiana (stopping overnight in Baton rouge), Mississippi, Alabama, and then Florida, with our final destination being Orlando. We met up with Papa and Gramma G., and uncle JT. Uncle Alex stayed home for basketball camp. On Monday we went to the Kennedy Space Center. We actually had a lot of fun and Kenzi liked it too. We were able to see the Endeavor on the launch pad as it was set to launch the following Monday. Has that launched yet? Kenzi liked running around! She especially like the Snoopy dressed as an astronaut. The thing that Kenzi was bummed about was... there was a simulation ride and she was not tall enough to ride it. Try explaining that to a 4 year old that wears size six clothes! We had a lot of fun playing with gramma and papa and JT. And seriously Alex, you were missed! There are a lot of pictures so you get the full effect of our visit! Enjoy!

It has almost been a month....

We had such an awesome time on our trip and took over 600 pictures in two weeks. Needless to say I am still soring and trying to pick what pictures to put on here. So hang on and I will get something up by Sunday! Sorry for the delay!

Happy Father's Day... a little Late!

OK, so I had this grandiose plan of having Kenzi sing a Grampa song and posting it for Father's day. Little did I know, there is not a Grampa song in the primary library! So I thought I would have her change the one word of the Gramma song to Grampa. We practiced a handful of times and she could not change gramma to grampa. I then thought well she can sing a Dad song and I would post that. Well as you can tell from the lack of post I was not able to get her to know the song well enough and get us packed up for our trip. Given all of that... Cal, Dad, Mike, Grampa Emmett, Gramps and Carter... Kenzi and I hope that you know how very important you are and were to us! We appreciate the love and support that you constantly give us. We appreciate the examples you were/are of being good men. Thank you for the fun and love that you give to us! You ROCK!

Bowling...

So Another summer activity we are doing this summer is Bowling. There is a program going on right now that Kids Bowl Free! Just click HERE to see if there is a bowling alley near you that is participating. So anyway, today we went with Sara, Dekan, Chandler, Camden, Tamara, Elizabeth, Jillian and Isabel. The kids seemed to do pretty good bowling. Kenzi got an 85, Jillian 75, and Isabel 72. I am not sure what Dekan and Chandler got, maybe Sara could help me out with that. Kenzi had a difficult time sharing the balls and not being territorial. About half way through the second game Kenzi was still having a difficult time and had to sit and watch everyone else play. Hopefully the attitude will stop by the time this program is over. Or she is going to have a long summer of watching her friends play! Love ya Kenzi! Let's have a fun summer! Kari

Movie Tuesdays...

So for the summer Cinemark has a Summer Movie Watch series. We did it last summer and Kenzi loved it. We watch a movie every Tuesday at 10 am. These are a little older movies, but like I said Kenzi loves it. We saw "Surf's Up". We were able to bring Jillian and Isabel with us. I believe the girls had fun and they enjoyed their Crystal Light! Gotta love those mustaches! Kari

Allen Summer Sounds

Here is a great picture of Carter and Sophie. She was attempting to take over Carter's Snow-cone while he and I were talking. Lucky for him his "spidey sense" was tingling and caught her before her mouth got on it. He did share of course, because let's face it Carter is a nice guy! I love our friends and their kids! Kari

Family pics...

So we got our pictures back from our photo shoot. I will only post a couple, but I think Kenzi looks amazing in all of them! So enjoy... Kari

The rest of our trip...

So after our eventful fishing trip we saw "Up" and went swimming. Put a life jacket on the kid for the first time and WOW what freedom she felt. Here she is swimming on her back.

Cousin Kayla left Wednesday for Trek and she sure looked the part! I heard she had a good time and came back safely! Mom was relieved I am sure!

Here are the newest members on my dad's side of the family. Second cousins to me actually, at two weeks old. They are identical twins and oh my gosh, so tiny! Around 4lbs 12 ozs! Welcome to the world Tristan and Austin!

And here are two proud Grampas. My Uncle Richard on the left and my dad on the right. Can you tell they are brothers?

We had such a great trip. The morning we left I told Kenzi it was time to go home and she begged and pleaded with me to stay. I told her it was time to go see Daddy and her response was, "Can't Daddy come here to Uncle Mike's?!?!?!" What can I say, she loves her Uncle Mike, Aunt Shauna, Kayla, Emmett, & Kami! I can't really blame, her, I think they are pretty awesome too! Thanks for such a great visit! Love ya! Kari

A great time in Utah!

So we have been having a great time hanging out with my brother, Mike and his family, Shauna, Kayla, Emmett, & Kami. My mom and dad and my brother , Ken and his wife Norma. Kami had her baptism on Saturday. We decided Monday morning that we would go fishing. Loaded everyone up and got all the kids ready!

Mike, Kami, Kenzi and I take the boat and get to the lake. Get to the spot where we think is good. We get Kami's pole in the water and then Kenzi's. At that moment we started talking intently about the weather. It was about to dump and did we want to wait it out in the boat and get soaked or do we want to wait it out in the truck and stay dry? We decided truck. About two minutes later, poles up and out of the water and the motor working as hard as it could! (About 5 miles an hour!) And we got dumped on. We beached the boat and ran for the car. While we were running my parents, Shauna and the rest of the kids showed up. By this point Kenzi was bawling so I asked them if they could take Kenzi and we ran the rest of the way to the truck. We decide that we should get the boat because there could be another storm behind this one. Mike goes and gets the boat and gets it on the trailer. When we were pulling out it was clear blue skies! I was laughing so hard that I almost peed my pants and I got so wet anyway! Thanks for the fun experience Mike! Maybe next time it will clear! Later! Kari

Kenzi & Family go A-Kon...

OK, so my cousin Andrea and her family came to Dallas to go to the Anime Convention. Anime is basically Japanese cartoons. The Kon was interesting! This is my cousin and her husband, Daniel.

Kenzi got a sleeping dog hat. A funny side note is that we went somewhere today and she was wearing the hat. There was a dog there that started barking non-stop while it was on her head and then stopped the moment I took it off her head. As we were leaving I put it back on her head and the dog went nuts again. It was very amusing!

Daddy carrying Kenzi up high so she can see everything. It is much easier to carry her this way instead of in your arms given that she is now 42 #s! And Carter got about a dozen comments on his Pens jersey. He was feeling good about himself! Hopefully it translates to the Pens winning! Go PENS!



And just a taste of the costumes that we saw while at A-Kon! I did have a moment of appreciation that my husband is not into anything as much as some of the people we saw! You are HAWT babe!

On Sunday my cousin and her family came for dinner and stayed the night. It was nice to have them over and visit. Before I forget, Congrats on your newest addition to your family. Make sure and give us an address change when you move. Love ya! Enjoy! Kari

Kenzi gets up!

So Kenzi has been taking about one and a half semesters of skating and has up to this point refused to fall, if at all possible, and get up. I talked with her instructor about what I could do to help her, but he pretty much said I had to be patient. (How long is that going to take?!?!?!) Well, ladies and gentlemen, the day has come where Kenzi got up all on her own!!! Way to go Kenzi! We were so proud of her that we cheered for her at practice. I know we are such nerds when it comes to Kenzi! Love you Mario! Kari

Kenzi visits baby Rhys...

So today we went to visit with Aunt Keri and Rhys. Kenzi asked to hold him so after he was changed and fed she was able to do so. Thank you to Keri for being willing to have Kenzi hold him. Kenzi especially liked it when we were trying to keep Rhys head up and he would bobble it forward. She was really great holding him and says continually she want a baby brother. Someday kid! Later! Kari

$50 Gift card to Grand Lux Cafe...

I have a friend that is giving away a gift card to the Grand Lux Cafe. It is a sister company to the Cheesecake Factory and it is really good. We ate there one time when my brother Jim was in town and he was the one that told us about it. As part of the give away, I am advertising it on my blog. So click this link and read the details and enter. The short story is that you need to answer a question about Father's and make SURE to leave your email address. That is how you will be contacted if you win. Good luck! OK, not too much luck, I would love to go back and not have to pay! Later! Kari

Kenzi graduates Preschool...

So as some of you may know, I have been doing a Preschool co-op with some other moms this year. Our year has come to an end and I got some video of her Graduation ceremony. I thought it was really cute. Julie did an awesome job putting it together and hopefully, Julie, you were able to get the other 100 things accomplished this week! I enjoyed teaching everyone else's kid. Kenzi really needs another teacher. She loved going to your houses and having the activities. Look at us go! Y'all ROCK! Kari P.S. It is five minutes long so I understand if you are not a grandparent and don't watch the whole thing. Though I am very proud because I put this together myself with the transitions and everything! Enjoy!

Pictures of the new happy family

So since Sophie was hanging out with us I felt like I needed to take her to see her baby brother. He is beautiful! Sophie was more interested in the snacks and shaking mommy's bed.

Though she did take time to take a peek at one point when daddy was holding her...

Kenzi was fascinated by Rhys. She so badly wants a little brother and sister. If only we can make that happen! Someday, right?!?!?!?!??!?!

Congrats to Neal, Keri, & Sophie! We are very happy for you! Love you guys! Kari

Keri had baby Rhys...

My VERY good friend Keri, had Rhys about 5:30 pm CST tonight. I got a call around 12 to see if I could pick up Sophie and I did. And two pushes later, Rhys is here!! Congrats to Neal, Keri, & Sophie! Love you guys! Kari

For Gram Mac...

Hey Look, our flowers and plants are STILL alive! Yippee!!

On the way to church...

On the way to church we had Kenzi's Sunday playlist on and she was singing one of the primary songs that she will be singing in the program this year. When we got to church, I told her that she was doing a great job on learning the songs and I could hear that she knew the words. To which she said... "Yeah Mommy, I am learning songs so I know that I lived with Heavenly Father a long time ago!" I Love these moments! Kari