Part girl, part fish

Kaitlyn has taken quite a liking to the swimming pool this year. The other day at Wal Mart she informed me that she needed a snorkel and some new googles since her other pair had broken. I obliged and purchased the said items. At first she wanted to try them out in the tub. I agreed and watched while she donned her new purchases. Next it was out to the pool. She took to it like a fish to water!! The freaky part is when she is chasing you around the pool and laughing through the snorkel. Something just isn't quite right when you hear laughter coming up the tube! She has learned to float and will do it all on her own now. She loves to dive and pick up the dive sticks at the bottom of the pool. She thinks that since she is in the pool every day, she doesn't need a bath at night. I told her she needed to wash her hair and she asked it she could do it in the pool!  Now if we could just cure her swimmers ear!

4th of July

I love the 4th of July. Next to Christmas it is my favorite holiday. Nothing beats the smell of gun power on a hot summer night! Unfortunately this year the 4th fell in the middle of the week making it for not much of a holiday. But we tried to make the best of it. Since my parents are on their mission we didn't all get together for the parade but we did make it to the balloons that morning. Kaitlyn loved walking around while they were inflating them. She was able to look up inside the Bank of A.F. piggy bank balloon and was even more excited to watch it take off.

 

I got tickets for the Stadium of Fire to go see the Beach Boys for their 50th anniversay concert tour. Considering that most of them had to be in their 70's it was a really good show. From the time they came on stage until their final song, they sang the entire time. I got a good laugh watching the "older generation" literally get up and dance in the isles. There was a family next to us that made for some good entertainment! Kaitlyn loved dancing on the benches.

                      

The fireworks as usual didn't disappoint. By the end of the night we were all ready for our beds. To bad we didn't get to see them until about 1:00 in the morning by the time we finally got home!

Cat fish Queen

Ed took Kaitlyn down to American Fork boat harbor to go Cat fishing the other day. Anytime she can go for a ride in dad's boat is a good day for her. The first fish she hooked into was a 7lb catfish. Ed couldn't understand why she was taking so long to reel it in. He held the tip of the rod up so she could reel it in a little easier. She told him "Dad, I think I caught a whale!!" When she finally got the fish to the boat he happily agreed. She caught one more that wasn't quite as big but none the less still a good catch!!

Mountain High

I decided we needed a little sight seeing road trip one weekend. So we loaded up some coolers and headed out. I had heard the Mirror Lake Highway and the weather was perfect for a ride in the mountains. Ed had never seen the Upper Provo River Falls so we stopped for a few minutes to take in the sights. Kaitlyn loved looking at the water falls.

 Then it was on to Mirror Lake for a picnic. I couldn't believe how many little lakes there were all along the drive. The one on one side of the road was named something and the one directly across from it was a totally different lake. On our way back down we took a ride up Soapstone and took in the sights up there. Kaitlyn decided she was tired of looking at trees and rocks and thought a nap sounded better. It amazes me how kids can sleep in those car seats. It looks so uncomfortable!

 We went for a ride up American Fork canyon with the side by side. I think the rest of American Fork, Highland, Alpine and Cedar Hills decided to do the same thing. Holy people!!! We ate our fair share of dirt for the first few miles but once people turned off the different trailes it wasn't so bad. We found a nice spot in the Quakies for a picnic and Kaitlyn tried her hand at driving. Coming back down the trail I spotted a small bull moose that Ed decided to chase with the Prowler. Unfortunately I had just put my camera away so sorry, no pictures!

 We stopped where the road crosses over the river to wash all the dirt off our faces. Kaitlyn and Ed decided to go wading. Kaitlyn asked me to come in. No thanks, to cold for me!!

Memorial Day Weekend

It was time once again for our annual pilgrimage to Starvation for our Memorial Day Weekend  camping trip and once again Mother Nature was a royal pain in the keester!! We unloaded the boat on Friday morning and by noon the wind was blowing and it NEVER stopped!!! It did calm down a little on Friday night and Kaitlyn was able to go and fishing off the dock with Ed. She caught a good sized small mouth bass which she was rather proud of but refused to touch! I did get her to hold it with a stick through its gill plate. After Friday night the wind blew and blew and blew and you guessed it blew some more. Kaitlyn and I never set foot in the boat the entire time. Instead we made sure the motorhome didn't blow away and kept ourselves entertained watching movies. And like most camping trips it finally started to get nice around noon on Monday. Just in time for us to be heading for home! Typical!!

Mothers Day 2012

It's hard to believe that this is my 3rd Mothers Day! This year seemed a little more special to me. Kaitlyn is now in Primary and of course all the primary children got up during sacrament meeting to sing for their moms. I knew I wouldn't be able to control the water works so I brought a few kleenexes for the occasion. When it was time she followed all the rest of the kids up onto the stand and sang her little heart out. I watched her with tears streaming down my cheeks so greatful that she had chosen me to be her mom. I marvel at how much she has learned in such a short amount of time. I watched her the other day as she was proceeding to roll up the garden hose onto the hose reel. I asked her if she needed any help to which she replied, Mom, big girls don't need help from their moms to do stuff. I hope she realizes that no matter how big she thinks she is I will always be here to help her do stuff!

I want to ride my bicycle

I knew the day of Kaitlyn wanting a bicycle was coming, I just didn't realize it would be this quick. When I got home from work I saw it sitting by the back door. She came running out, holding up her hands telling me, Mom stop right there, don't move. She quickly buckled up her helmet and climbed on to show me how fast she could ride! Wait a minute, is this my little 3 yr old?! I don't think I have seen her legs move that fast! I couldn't belive how quickly she had picked up the steering and turning and braking all in a couple of hrs. Now all she wants to do is have you come and watch how fast she can ride. We go for walks at night and I am on a trot to keep up with her. I finally told her just wait for me at the corner and don't cross the street! As much as I hate to admit it, it won't be long before I am watching her drive away in a car! Scary!!

Called to Serve

My parents have been called to serve in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Mission

They reported to the MTC on April 23 and headed to Pennsylvania on the 28 of April.

We all headed over to their house for our final goodbyes on Saturday morning. I have to admit it was a little strange seeing all the furniture covered with sheets, the fridge all but empty, the car loaded so full that you couldn't see out the back window even if you wanted to. My dad asked my mom just before leaving if she was ready for an adventure? We said our emotional and tearful goodbyes then headed out the door for one last picture with all the grandkids and to wave goodbye as they drove away.

Say Cheese!

My mom informed me that she needed updated pics of all the grandkids before they left.

So since I did such a fantastic job of taking Kaitlyn's 3yr old pictures,(not) I decided to take her

3 1/2 yr old pictures. She has gotten into the cheesy smile phase and the "I want to pose like a model" phase. The posing doesn't bother me I can work with that, but the half hearted smiles or goofy grins drive me crazy! I tell her to smile normal and I get this constipated panic look! So out of the almost 50 pics I took, these were the cream of the crop! I can't believe how fast she is growing up!

So Eggciting!!

This is a little pathetic that I am posting Easter pictures when it's almost Memorial Day but,

better late than never right?!

Once again it's the annual Easter Egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's only this year was a little different.

This will be the last hunt for a while without Grandma and Grandpa. They have been called to serve a mission in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Mission. They will be leaving (okay, by now they have already left) on April 28.  At least this year Easter was half way decent weather and the Easter Bunny hid the eggs outside! That Easter Bunny puts them in some pretty sneaky places but Kaitlyn's good eyes found

every one of them!

                                                                                

Christmas and New Years!

After taking a trip to Disneyland for Christmas, the Holidays seemed to creep up in a hurry this year and before we knew it, it was Christmas Eve! We squoze in a visit with Santa and a special Elf named Jake came to live with us during this festive season!

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We made special Reindeer food for Santa's Reindeer. Kaitlyn insisted on leaving carrots for them too!

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Santa made an early visit to our house that night and left us special Christmas pajamas!

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We left "homemade" cookies and milk for Santa. Kaitlyn kissed Jake the Elf goodbye since he would be making his return trip to the North Pole with Sanata when he stopped at our house.

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Kaitlyn must have been extra good this year because it seemed like the presents just kept going. She got her Princess Castle with all the princesses and a princess scooter which she rides around the kitchen saying "Watch out here comes Scooter Girl". I would advise you to watch your toes and ankles. She thinks it's funny to run over them. We found a bite of carrot that the reindeer left as evidence of their visit.

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Scooter Girl!

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Ed went to Flaming Gorge ice fishing a few days after Christmas and I decided since we hadn't made a trip to Temple Square yet I would take her myself for a girls night out. We rode Trax up from Sandy. The weather couldn't have been better although a little snow on the ground would have been nice. The lights this year seemed better than in years past and they had everything open. We went inside the Assembly Hall and the Tabernacle. They even had all around the temple open. We took our annual carriage ride then headed back home. I don't think we had even made it to the freeway before she was out like a light!

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We rang in 2012 with a bang. I found those ridicules glasses and decided we needed a family pic sporting them. I wasn't sure if Kaitlyn would make it to midnight but when she saw Ed getting fireworks ready she wasn't about to miss that. I gave her a pot and spoon and showed her how to bang pots and pans. We still had some popper left over from the 4th of July which she happily threw on the street. Our neighborhood was pretty much dead at midnight except for the neighbors up the street which came running down the sidewalk banging pots and pans yelling Happy New Year!! Needless to say I cheered them on!!
Happy Belated New Year!

Disneyland!!

For Christmas this year, my parents took our whole family to the Happiest Place on Earth! That's right Disneyland. We went the week after Thanksgiving. It was all decorated for Christmas and looked awesome!!

From Disneyland

From Disneyland

At night Sleeping Beauty's Castle was lit with thousands of blue icecicle lights. After the fireworks it would actually snow on main street. Granted the snow was a foamy bubble substance but from a distance it looked like real snow and smelled like cinnamon!

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Ed bought all the girls and my Dad mouse ears! At first they looked good but after about an hour of wearing them, they started to give you a whopper of a headache!

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Pour Kaitlyn took her first ride down Splash Mountain. I on the other hand remembered it from the last time I was there and in Kaitlyn's words was a scardy cat to ride again. But if you ask her I don't think she will be making a trip down again anytime soon! She has a look of sheer terror on her face!! Her cousin on the other hand, rode it 3 more times after the first ride, not because she liked going down the mountain, but because she liked hearing them sing Zippi-Do- Da!
We spent 3 days in Disneyland and California Adventure. I told Ed I was planning on renting a stroller while we were there, he somewhat politely told me, "Do you really thing she is going to sit in a stroller?" By the looks on her face at the end of each day she was glad I did. Her little legs were so tired it didn't take much convincing to get her to sit in it!

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We saw lots of characters while we were there. Alice and the Mad Hatter were our first encouter. Later was Mary Poppins and Burt.

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Grandma and Grandpa took Kaitlyn and her cousin Paige to Ariel's Grotto for lunch with all the Princesses! The girls LOVED IT! Each princess made her way around to each one of the tables signing autograph books and posing for pictures! Definately one of the highlites of the trip!

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We saw Mickey and Minnie, Goofy and Pluto, Chip and Dale and Daisy and rode ride after ride. We watched fireworks everynight and Soared over California.(I think that was my favorite ride!)

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Kaitlyn's first time at the beach and she was in heaven. She loved digging her toes in the soft sand. We started at Long Beach and then made our way down the Pacific Coast Highway stopping at some of the other popular beaches. I loved seeing the signs that said beach access along the highway. You would find a place to park and literally walk between the beach houses and right onto the beach!

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Huntington Beach
Dad even took off his shoes and socks to walk along the surf!

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At Newport Beach we walked out on the Pier. It was low tide when we were there so you could walk under the pier and see all the muscles stuck to the pier pilons. Kaitlyn thought it was great trying to pull them off. Once she caught sight of the seagulls she was off trying to chase them. She told my mom she was chasing chickens!

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Going for a spin on the teacups!!