Our Trip to California...

Last week, Ken & I woke up & decided to go to Cali.  We were there by 11 pm that night. We spent a week there & had so much fun! Tuesday, we met up with Ken's brother, Tom, & went to Venice Beach. We also got a little tour of the movie set where he's been working. On Wednesday, we hung out with my sister, Jamie, & her family. Thursday, we went to Disneyland & California Adventure all day with my sister & her family. Friday, we went shopping with my grandparents, then swimming, then we hung out with my brother, Slade & his family. Saturday, we went to Seal Beach in the morning & walked down the peir to show the kids where we got engaged, then we went swimming with the family & got totally sunburned. Then on Sunday, after church, we decided to head home & stay in St. George for the night. We stayed at a nice hotel & got some more swimming in, & finally got home yesterday! It was such a fun trip & it was so good to see everyone we were able to see. 

Maeli's 3!!!...

For Maeli's third birthday, we decided to go to the zoo.  The kids had so much fun looking at all the animals.  We ended up buying a family pass to the zoo, so we'll be going there a lot this summer!  One of my favorite parts of the day was when we were looking at the orangutans.  There was a mother in the exhibit with her baby.  The baby kept climbing the ropes & doing flips, so we were just standing there watching & Kenny says, "I'm getting too bored of staring at the baby monkey".  Yes, I'm glad my 5 year old knows how to appreciate things.=)


After the zoo, we stopped at Chuck-E-Cheese's for some dinner & birthday cake.  Maeli picked a Barbie cake.  Kenny gave her a Barbie for her birthday & the money that grandma & grandpa Howard gave her, went towards a Barbie Jeep!  Overall, Kenny & Maeli were both spoiled rotten all day, so we'll consider it a birthday success.  Too bad Sadie was stuck in her stroller most of the day...not many pictures of her.=(  Bad mom...

Our Visitors...

The day after Easter, my sister and her family visited us on their way up to Idaho for my nephew, Charles' baptism. They got here Monday night & left Tuesday after lunch. We didn't have much time, but we made the most of it. Kenny and Charles had a blast together & got to have a sleepover in Kenny's room. The girls had just as much fun together. Maeli loves her cousin Maryn. After we got the kids to bed, the grown ups played games & ate junk food...afterall, that's what I do best!=) Then, after we got our husbands to bed, Jamie & I stayed up really late talking. The next morning, Ken made cinnamon rolls & bread from scratch for breakfast. Then for lunch, we made homemade pizza & breadsticks. I'm sure they were all carbed out by the time they left!=) Oh, and Jamie also took Kenny to the store to buy him a gift for his birthday & they came back with Piranha Panic! He's been begging for this game since Christmas time. Jamie is definitely his favorite person right now!=)

Our Easter Fun...

We had a lot of fun this Easter. Ken had to work Easter morning, so Kenny wrote the Easter Bunny a letter asking him to visit our house Saturday night, so Ken could celebrate with us. Then, after church on Easter, we headed to Ken's parent's house for some yummy food an an egg hunt. The kids had so much fun, and ate so much candy!=)

I spent way too long on Maeli's hair, so I had to take a lot of pictures!=) She was our little Easter Princess!=)

My Angry Princess...

Okay, so I know I never write much on this blog of mine, but I am in a chatty mood, so you're about to get an earful.  Let me just tell you, that I think my kids are the funniest kids on the planet. I thought I'd fill you in on some of the randomness that has come out of Maeli's little mouth lately...so here it goes...

Me:  Maeli, take another bite...

Maeli:  Mommy, you giving me a headache!

Maeli:  Ew, Kenny, you stinky! (as she's waving her hand in front of her nose)

Me:  Kenny's not stinky.

Maeli: Yah, he gross.

Me:  Maeli, you are sooo pretty. (as I'm doing her hair in front of the mirror)

Maeli:  Pretty, Pretty, Pretty...Maeli is a princess!

Me:  Here's your cinnamon roll, Maeli. 

Maeli:  I wanna whole one!

Me:  Nope, you & Kenny have to share.

Maeli:  Nooooo! (She then gets down off the barstool & grunts & stomps her feet. The funny part was that she was wearing dress shoes two sizes too big, so her stomping was a little less than intimidating.)

Me:  (Laughing hysterically)

Yes, Maeli is my angry child, but very confident as well.  Hmmmm...does that make her a brat?=) I just can't help but laugh when she has her little fits of rage. She's such a tiny girl, with tons of personality. She's outgrown naps, but we have rest time everyday. She watches a movie or cartoons while she "rests".  Whenever I open her door to let her out of rest time, she has successfully messed up every single toy in her room. Today, I heard her jumping on her bed, screaming a song at the top of her lungs for about ten minutes.=) She just completely enjoys herself.  

I know that in Maeli's ideal world, she would be an only child. Everyday life for her would consist of these things...

*Playing in the dirt

*Eating steak

*Walking beside me at the grocery store instead of having to sit in the cart

*Giving lots of hugs & kisses

*Jumping up & down & running in circles for hours

*twirling while wearing a leotard

*Riding her tricycle while yelling really loud

*Wearing her shoes on the wrong feet

*Wearing pretty bows in her hair

*Eating toothpaste

*Playing in the bathroom sink

*And Lots & lots of coloring     

If she could do these things all day, everyday, she would no longer be my angry child.  She would be the happiest kid in the world. What can I say? I just love her to pieces. Without her, our house would be kind of boring.=)

Our Latest Adventure...

Yesterday, we decided it would be fun to take our kids to the Dinosaur Museum. We called up our good friends to come with us. We had so much fun! Kenny is sooo into dinosaurs right now, so he ate up every minute.
They had a little area to dig for dinosaurs, so we let the kids play for as long as they wanted, while we got a chance to rest our feet.

Here's the only shot I have of all three kids together.
Here was our crazy group of kids, minus the two babies!
We also celebrated Kenny's birthday last month. He's now a 5 year old! His Aunt Amiee & Uncle Earl mailed him a gift card to the dollar store & these are a couple of the items he chose to purchase with that gift card!=) Yep, that's a grill & ginormous ears! We love this kid!

More of Our California Trip...

This was at one of the Circus Circus shows. I loved their faces!
Bathtime at Uncle Slade & Aunt Sara's house! This is one healthy baby! Haha.
Maeli & Sadie at Grandma & Grandpa Great's house. We stayed at their house the whole time we were down. The kids must have thought we moved there or something!
Kaydence & Maeli had a lot of late nights together! This is a really sweet picture...as it should be...Slade posed Kaydence, she actually fell asleep about 2-3 feet away from Maeli, but we needed a good shot!
Maryn, Kaydence, Charles, Maeli & Kenny. We were waiting for the Bug's Life movie.