Poor poor Kennedy

This week has been a rough one for Ken, let me just list some of her mishaps:

-getting her hand caught in the doors of an elevator (and giving her mom a heart attack)

-slipping and falling flat on her back in blockbuster

-wearing her tap shoes to Albertsons and slipping and landing on her butt twice

-Mike opening our door with her on the other side, pushing her big toenail and separating it from the toe...bloud, screaming and cursing Dad.

-pinching her hand in a jewlery box at Target

As most kids do, Kennedy says some pretty funny things. This week she said some real doozies!

-After putting her to bed and yelling from her bedroom "Mom I need something to tell to you"

-"Dad, a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do"

-"Consider it done, Mom"

-"Here Mom, let me move these toys out of the way for your big booty so you can play with me"

- "Prettyfull"

Sisters, The Temple and Crafts- oh my!

We are two months into sisterhood and Kennedy is still not quite grasping the "be soft" factor. Sophie can almost sense her coming close. I snapped a funny face Sophie made the other day when Kennedy was holding her which pretty much sums it all up.

Kennedy's new thing is to tell us that she hasn't held Sophie in the particular outfit she is wearing that day "Mom I haven't ever held Sophie in that purple shirt" etc. Sophie is a very expressive little baby and her face usually says it all.

We had a really fun primary activity today and even though Kennedy isn't technically in primary they let us come and help drive kids. It was so sweet to hear the kids sing to the temple president and his wife. We got some cute pictures of Kennedy and some of her little girlfriends. After the temple we went back to a ward members house for a pool party where Kennedy practiced floating on her back.

And finally... we were watching Martha Stewart the other day and they did a little picture craft with beans so Kennedy and I did two pictures ourselves. We did a butterfly and a flower.

Smiles and Frowns

This week we hit a milestone for Sophie, she started to smile. This is my favorite thing that babies do, it almost makes me cry every time. I can still remember Kennedy's first smile- at her Uncle Blake, it was so sweet. Sophie is eating and sleeping a lot and each time she wakes up she looks bigger to me. She is such a good little baby. Kennedy is a little ticked in this picture because I was trying to take a picture of her injury from earlier that day. Ken and I were at the grocery store and she was running up and down the isle singing and just off in her own little world when all of a sudden she ran full speed ahead without looking up and ran right into our shopping cart. She fell to the ground and let out the loudest scream! I immediately checked to see if she was okay and then I got the giggles. It was such a Mike thing to do, she saw something sparkley and was distracted, classic. Maybe now she will listen when I tell her not to run up and down the isle.

Dad's Many Hats

My Daddy's Many Hats

Kennedy as Mike reading his Dungeons and Dragons books in bed.
Getting ready to go mountain biking.
She's ready to play some ball...
I wouldn't mess with her, would you? Kennedy did a little check-up on Sophie, just like Daddy the nurse.

Kennedy and I took several pictures of her posing as Mike in his various roles or "hats" he wears. For Fathers Day we thought we would take pictures of Kennedy dressing up like her Daddy to thank him for the many things he does for us and to spotlight his many talents. He is a nurse, a student, a reader, a ball player, a mountain bike enthusiast but most importantly he is an amazing Dad and husband. He is actually with the boy scouts tonight with his friend Casey. They took the boys camping; I am still trying to figure out where you camp in Texas but no matter where they are I'm sure they are being eaten alive by bugs and sweatin' bullets. While he is gone we will be getting a candy card ready for our "Big Hunk", since his first love is sugar. We are going to make pepper steak (his favorite) and have chocolate pudding for dessert, another fave. Kennedy can't wait to show him the pictures, I told her they were a secret and although she kept asking me in front of Mike if she could tell the secret- she never actually did. We also wanted to thank Grandpa Loosli and Grandpa Voorhies for being incredible Grandpas and Fathers, We love you both so much and can't wait to see you in a month.

Bliss

Me and Mike at the Salt Lake Temple 6/11/02
Mikey feeding me the wedding cake.
Outside of our reception at Heritage Gardens.

My Grandpa Howard Barben sealed us, it was really sweet!

Today is our six year anniversary. Thinking back to that day I remember being so excited. I absolutely loved our wedding day- even the reception. Mikey looked so handsome and he seemed so nervous, it was too cute! After that wonderful day we flew off to Australia for our honeymoon. What I wouldn't give to be back there in our condo looking out over the bay at the Opera House. It was so much fun, we have so many great memories from that trip and the many trips we have taken together since then. Because we have a fairly new baby and we are on a bit of budget we didn't really do much this year. We ordered in Macaroni Grill and had a little picnic in the living room with Ken. I do miss our usual stay in a suite at Stein Erickson, soaking in our balcony hot tub looking out over Deer Valley, but watching "So You Think You Can Dance" while pumping breast milk and having Mike on the opposite couch reading a Dungeons and Dragons book is nearly as romantic, right?
You'll notice that since our wedding pictures Mike is a little balder and I'm a lot bigger- good times!

Life is Good!

Two recent events have caused me to think about my little family and I wanted to write my thoughts down. About a month ago one of my Dad's best friends from high school committed suicide. He had lived a very affluent life in Park City and was surrounded by friends with the same lifestyle. After retiring and draining his retirement, he couldn't face life or his friends and family without his money. This just broke my heart and made me think that I never wanted to be so concerned about money or "things" that they defined me or were the main purpose in my life. I have to say that at this point in life when Mike and I are living on student

loans and on a very tight budget I have never been so greatful and content with our life and I feel truly blessed and happy just how we are. I think it is easy for us all to say "things will be great when we have..." or

to look to the future when life will be a little easier financially but when that time comes there will always be something else to look forward to. My uncle John Loosli also passed away this past week, after complications with a surgery. We have had a lot of loss either in our family or in families of those that are close to us. It just reminds me that life is unpredictable and to be greatful for each day we have with those we love. I am greatful for my two crazy little redheaded girls and my wonderful husband. We are so blessed!

Pool Party!

Mark and Ethan having a great time in the pool.
Kennedy and Dallas took turns pulling eachother on the body board.
The guys hung out on the hammock to relax after swimming.
Maddi and Kennedy practically giggled the whole time they swam.
Peter needed his pink floatie in the deep end.
Ben and Jake tried desperately to get on the body board together.

Before we moved, my mother in law told me that the best way they were able to meet people in their ward was to have a new family over every Sunday for dinner. The Voorhies seriously did have every single family over for dinner at their home. I was so impressed with this that I decided before we move we are going to invite a group of families each Monday to have FHE with us and swim in our pool. I hope we can fit in all the amazing people we have met here, I wish we could pack them all up and take them to Denver.

Last night we invited three families to come over, have dinner and swim with us. Well as we all met at the pool we found out that our pool was locked. Luckily we have our great friends the Dawsons who live just a block away who happen to have a pool, Mike made a call and they let us come over (thanks for saving us guys!). We had a great time with the Dawsons, the Christoffersons, the Walkers and the Hooley's. The kids could have swam forever, we practically had to drag Maddi out. We had a great time eating pizza, watching the kids and laughing.

Little Red

Things are going well for little miss Sophie. She had her one month appointment and has gained a pound. She is now up to 8 pounds. She still looks really small with her skinny frog legs and everywhere we go people ask me if she was a preemie. I think people just forget how small babies are. She is still a good baby although she thinks she needs to eat all the time. She does have a bit of a gas problem...which I think she got from her big sis because Ken is constantly telling me "I just tooted mom" (what a little lady). In the picture above Sophie was looking in Kennedy's direction after being smothered by her for the 20th time that day. Kennedy is really enjoying being the big sister and she even refers to herself in third person, "big sister can help with that" etc. She even gave mike and I the play by play of what Sophie was doing in the car the other day, "Sophie is looking out the window, now she is closing her eyes, oop now she is looking at me, now she is crossing her eyes, oh now they are closed." This went on for a ten minute car ride. I just don't know what we would do without her.