Rexburg Temple

Kylie has been so interested in learning about Temples lately. I think it's partly due to the fact that they look like princess castles and she dreams about all of the magic and fairy tales that goes along with it.  She's really not far off. There is a certain "magic" that you feel when you are there. It's one of the only places on this earth that I feel the most peace and clarity. Kylie often tells us about how when she's big like Mommy she's going to marry her prince in the temple and then they are going to daaaaaaaaaance and dance and dance.

We lived in Rexburg, attending Brigham Young University-Idaho, when this temple was announced. We watched it being built and drove by it everyday. We watched as the statue of the Angel Moroni was placed on top and were in the temple during it's dedication. (President Monson even stopped by the chapel we were in and waved hello to me, but that's a story for another time.) This beautiful building holds a special place in my heart and I was so excited when we made the trip up to Idaho and were able to teach our girls about this magical place while we stood on it's grounds.

Directly across from the Rexburg Temple are these gorgeous golden fields that go on and on as far as you can see. It is absolutely beautiful and just adds to the majesty of such a beautiful place.

Read more...

Back in Idaho!

It had been faaaaaar too long since we had been to Idaho so as soon as Mike was done with his school orientation we headed up to the Gem State to spend some much needed time with family. It felt so good to be back. I didn't grow up there, I really only spent a few years there (and every year I would gripe about how I couldn't wait to get out of the snow), but now, going back makes me feel like we're going home.

The girls had so much fun playing with their grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was just another reassurance this is where we need to be; out west and close to our family. The girls stayed up way past their bedtime every night and ate way too many sweets, but they were so happy the whole time we were up there and isn't that what visiting family is all about?

One of the days we were up in Idaho, we drove up to Rexburg to take a little walk down memory lane. Mike and I both did our undergraduate studies at BYU-I and we really loved that quaint little town. We made "Aunt Tatie" tag along with us too because our girls just can't get enough of her! We drove around and played the "remember that one time..." game and did all of the fun things that we never did before we had kids. I never realized how completely family oriented Rexburg is, but then again, I've never had kids while I was there either. One thing that I always wanted to do but couldn't justify doing was riding the carousel at Porter Park. It is so Small Town USA and I love it!

Mommy only brought enough cash to ride the carousel once :( so poor Ky had to sit outside the gates and just watch as the horsies spun round and round.

Emily, on the other hand, really wasn't that impressed in the first place so she was cool with it.

Read more...

Grandma Linda's

Everybody loves Grandma Linda's house, especially our little girls. She has fun toys, lots a room to run around, puppies, kittens and horses, and she'll sneak you some sweet treats when no one is looking.

We spent the morning at Grandma's house and had so much fun. We swung on swings, jumped on the trampoline, played with kittens and cousins, ran from the puppies, and ate a divine breakfast. I've already said it once, but we are so happy to be close to family again. The girls are soaking up all of the extra attention.

Emily was not too sure about the kittens (and is still terrified of dogs) but Kylie would not put them down. She named a few of them (I think they were actually all named Meow-ie) and begged to take them home with us when it was time to leave. We had to reassure her that we would come back real soon so she could hold them again.

We all love it at Grandma Linda's and can't wait for our next trip up. Or maybe she should come down here... hint hint... :)

Read more...

Happy Birthday Ky Ky!

Our little Ky Ky is a big girl now. She turned the big 0-3 on the 19th and according to my babycenter.com updates (yes I still get those ), she's a preschooler, which makes her a big girl. Is it just me or does three seem so much older than two???

To celebrate her birthday we had a great day planned. Papa T came in all the way from sunny California to spend the weekend with his favorite little birthday girl (just like he does every year on her birthday)! When Ky woke up first thing in the morning, Daddy and I had a few presents for her to open right away. No one else in the house was up yet so she got to have some special time with just Mommy and Daddy. She enjoyed that :) One of her presents was a brand new Sleeping Beauty dress that she had been asking for since Sleeping Beauty became her new favorite princess. Because it was her special day she got to pick out whatever she wanted to wear for the day. Can you guess what she picked? She wore that hot pink dress all day and everywhere we went people would comment on her pretty dress or point out, "she must be a princess!" She would giggle and smile and exclaim, "I am!" She definitely felt like a real princess.

After a yummy lunch in Salt Lake with Papa T we went over and explored the Children's Discovery Museum at the Gateway. (Daddy was in school so, sadly, he couldn't join us.) The girls loved it (and it was actually pretty cheap to get in, which is always good). They had a great toddler-sized doll house. Kylie was so excited to cook in the little kitchen and kept insisting that she needed to go grocery shopping to get some stuff for dinner. Emily tried to close the door (that doesn't close), she's kind of stuck on closing every single open door she sees.

I don't think Ky sat still for even a second the whole time we were there. She was so excited and in her own little world. It was alot of fun to watch my big girl being a big girl.

While I followed our big girl around, the little one got to hang out with her Papa T. She was his little buddy the whole time he was out here, following him around everywhere he went.

Since we moved into our new house, Emily's new favorite thing to do is try to climb the stairs as fast as she can before Mommy and Daddy yank her down because it's (wagging their finger) "not safe for little babies." Naturally, they were one of her favorite things at the museum too.

There was a cute little baby area with a fake lake, rowboat and giant swan. Kylie liked the swan...

Luckily for Kylie, there was a grocery store so she was able to buy everything she needed to make dinner in her little house. It was really fun watching all of these kids interact with each other. The bigger kids took on the roles of running the store and helping the little kids do their shopping. It was neat the way all of their little imaginations were playing together even though they were years apart in age and didn't know each other at all. Watching Kylie shop was like watching an episode of Supermarket Sweep. Arm straight out, sweeping everything on the shelf into her cart. (You know you always wanted to be on that show just like I did!)

Kylie planted, watered, and picked that pretend carrot so the she could feed it to the giant horse. And then she insisted that she was now Princess Belle riding on her horse, that is, until she hopped off, then she was Sleeping Beauty again.

Em loved cruising around in the little cars, even though it may have been a little too big for her.

Upstairs they had a giant piano (that looked like a mancalla board?) When you danced on it it lit up and played music. Emily was a little curious about it...

...and Kylie knew just what to do! Ha!

We had a ball at the museum! And we'll be going back many many more times.

We finished off Kylie's third birthday celebration by meeting Daddy for dinner at the "Pinch Pinch House" aka Red Lobster. The staff made her dinner so special and made such a big deal about how it was her birthday. The manager even brought over a lobster for Kylie to pet (that was actually kind of weird...) Ky gobbled up all of her popcorn shrimp, enjoyed being serenaded by the entire restaurant, and happily skipped back out to the car and then on to a giant cup of pink frozen yogurt. The smile on her face when we tucked her into bed that night told us that she had a good day. It was a good day.

Happy Birthday Kylers! We love you, you crazy kid!

Read more...

Princess Party with Mimi

One thing you should know about my mother is that she loves to throw parties. (Honestly, I think everyday is a party to her :) When we were right in the thick of trying to unpack after only having been in our new house for two days, my mom insisted on throwing a princess birthday party for our two little girls. She missed Emily's 1st birthday and Kylie's 3rd was just a week away so she needed to have a celebration. I kind of freaked out when she told me her plans, but then she reassured me that it would only be us and the girls (and Aunt Chris), and then I was okay with sharing my messy house with a party.

When the girls woke up from their afternoons naps Mimi and I went upstairs and told them they need to get their prettiest princess dresses on because there was a special surprise waiting for them downstairs. They were much excited. 

We started with a very special princess tea party.

Then they opened some ridiculously girly princess presents. (I think Ky was still a little sleepy...)

Mimi gave Kylie her first princess Barbie doll back at Easter time, and for her third birthday Kylie got her 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Barbies. I wish you could have heard her reaction to this box of princesses. She gasped, screamed, "Princesses!" and then started naming them all and couldn't wait to get them out. She hasn't stopped playing with them since. And we've only lost a few shoes...

Emily LOVES the Little People brand toys. They fit perfectly into her tiny, chubby little hands and she's always carrying the little people around with her. She got an entire zoo of Little People animals. It was pretty exciting. It quickly became a favorite of hers too.

Then Kylie decorated cupcakes for all their party guests (while Daddy made dinner- which was super delicious by the way). We ate some yummy dinner, indulged ourselves in way too many sprinkled cupcakes and enjoyed a pretty good sugar rush for the next few hours.

Mimi always throws the best parties. The girls were completely spoiled (as usual) and they both had so much fun.

Photo very carefully styled by Mimi :)

Read more...