Disneyland

We got to go to Disneyland.  It was so much fun.  Grandma and Grandpa came with us and we loved having them.  Lexi was really excited to see where Lightning McQueen lived.  He is her favorite character right now.  She is also starting to like Minnie.  Lexi was only 39 inches so Aunt Brianne let us borrow the platform sandals they have and they did the trick so Lexi could ride all the 40 inch rides.  She didn't like the fast rides but would go on them anyway.  She got to eat lunch with the princesses and really got into that.  Luckily Makani had just given her a princess dress so she wore it to lunch and liked looking like the princesses she met  The princesses would teach her how to pose for the pictures and she liked it.  After lunch she whispered to me, "I love being a princess!"  It was priceless.  Lexi's favorite parts of her trip were the carousel, parade, and the cars.  Carter did much better on all the rides than we expected.  Previous to the trip he hated rides and would cry but by the end of our trip he was saying wee and smiling.  He liked the jungle cruise and the parade.  He would wave at all the characters and stick his hand out hoping one of them would give him 5.  He would climb out of his pack n play every morning and show up at our bed.  We were glad he was good enough at it to not get hurt.  Lexi loved Goofy.  We saw him twice and each time he kissed her hand.  Everytime you ask Lexi about it she gets bashful.  Grandma and Grandpa were such good sports and helped us out with the kids so much!It was a fun trip and we are so happy we could go.

Cute Kids

The kids are at fun ages.  Carter is full of trouble.  He hits Lexi all the time and loves to spit.  I have yet to figure out a punishment to entice him to stop these behaviors.  He is all boy and much more physical than Lexi ever was.  At his 18 month well visit the doctor called him "Mr. Personality" and I thought that was a very fitting description of his extremely social personality.  He loves to smile at people and try to get their attention.  He will wave at anyone and likes to get people to give him 5.  When we were at the grocery store the cashier told him goodbye and he loved it so he proceeded to tell every cashier we passed on the way out bye bye thank you.  It was pretty funny and sad because no one noticed him and said it back.  He is talking a lot more and has the cutest way of saying Lexi. He started nursery and is doing well there.  He is still a huge climber and is very determined and stubborn.  He is obsessed with my hair and his thumb.

Lexi is the sweetest little girl.  She is easy to be around and is not demanding.  She still asks to snuggle and loves to do anything with her family and cousins.  She counts down the days until the next fun activity we have planned and loves having her life planned out.  She still wants to be grown up and recently asked me if she can borrow my high chair for her kids when she grows up.  She is doing really well at pre-school and dance.  I'm not sure if we will stick with dance though because I think gymnastics was a better fit.  The two girls her age in our ward are moving so I hope someone new will move in that is her age.  She recently told me she likes to snuggle with her belly button when she sleeps (she plays with it a lot).  It made me laugh.  She is always making me smile.  We love these two cute kids.

Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween.  It started on Friday with Trick or Treating at Grandpa's work.  Lexi was so excited to go and to get to trick or treat with her cousins.  Carter had a hard time at first letting go of his candy to put it in his bucket.  He would hold as many pieces in his hands as he could and would suck on the wrappers.  Eventually he got part of one open and had chocolate all over.  He would tell everyone he got candy from, "Thank you Mama."  It was so sweet.  He always adds the Mama at the end of it.  Lexi got to have Halloween parties at pre-school and dance.  The day of Halloween we trick or treated in our neighborhood and then in Grandma's neighborhood.  Carter liked walking by himself and holding his basket.  I was surprised at how long he lasted walking.  It was really fun and probably my favorite Halloween ever.

Lexi Turns 4

Lexi is 4 years old now.  She was very excited for her birthday.  She got to have a friend party with Emily, Makani, Kamryn, Kayla, and Madi.  We played pin the nose on the pumpkin, musical shapes, made glow in the dark bracelets, and did a pinata.  Lexi loved it.  We had a cake party with my family and Lexi got to take a special treat and spotlight poster to pre-school.  Lexi really wanted a scooter like her friend Kamryn's and got one for her birthday.  Lexi is still the best little girl ever.  She is fun to be around and I get teary eyed just thinking about how much I love her and what a good friend she is to me.  Happy Birthday sweet girl! 

Europe!!! (and a little Asia:)

We had the extraordinary opportunity to go to Istanbul, Rome, and Florance.  (My pictures are backwards in order) My Mom and Maleah watched our kids for 10 days while Cole and I went with Marilyn, Dale and Neal.  It was a lot of fun and we learned so much.  Istanbul is a great city with great people.  I loved learning about the Christian and Muslim  history there.  My favorite place was the Haga Sophia church.  It is special to both Christians and Muslims and because of such they have decided not to give it to either party but rather turned it into a museum.  It is beautiful and touched me.  My favorite food item in Turkey was the Turkish ice cream.  It was like taffy and was the best ice cream we had the entire trip (even better than gelato).  Rome was amazing.  We saw more than I can mention but it was great.  My favorite place was the Catacombs.  I was touched as I thought about all those Christians hiding and staying faithful to their new faith.  The small tombs for the many children that were killed made me really sad.  I hope to follow their examples and always stay true to my Christian faith.  I also liked the villa we went to in Rome.  The food in Italy was so good!   We enjoyed delicious pizza, pasta, and gelato.  My favorite part of Florance was the shopping.  It was fun to see all the Italian leather creations.  We had interesting experiences with people throwing up next to me on both the flight to Europe and the flight home but it was worth it.  We had a great time on the trip and enjoyed getting to know each other better as well as new cultures.  We also missed our kids like crazy and were so happy to be reunited with them.  When I held Carter for the first time when we got home he touched my hair and said, "Yeah!"  My thoughts exactly...