Cody's in AFRICA!

I realized that I hadn't posted at all about Cody and his mission, so here it is! Back in Mayish (? I think) Cody was called to serve in the Mozambique, Maputo mission in Africa, Portuguese speaking . When he opened his call and tried to pronounce the place we were all shocked! Africa?! Crazy. The date he went into the MTC though wasn't until July 19th so he had awhile to wait. A few weeks later he got a letter from his mission president saying that he would most likely serve in the Angolan region of the mission, a different country on the other side of the continent. This region is pretty new and there were only about 20 missionaries TOTAL who had gone there. So we didn't know much about it. He got his Visa for Angola and left for the MTC. He spent 9 weeks there and really enjoyed it. I think he learned alot about himself as a person and the Gospel and Our Savior. When the time came for Cody to go to Africa I think everyone was a little nervous. He was going halfway around the world and we couldn't communicate with him by anything but email for 2 years...weird. He got there and we found out there is no mail system in Angola...meaning mailed letters and packages were pretty much an impossibility. If we do want to risk sending him a package it would cost about $200 and the chances of it actually getting to him are slim to none. So we get a weekly email and that's about it. Haha!

He is really loving it there though...you can just tell he is so happy! Cody's mission presidents wife keeps up a blog about all the happenings in the Angolan mission. Cody is currently serving in the city of Luanda. Here are some pictures of him and his zone...my favorite is the one of him and his companion in their apartment...pretty sweet! I especially love the dolphins on the wall.

These are some pictures that Sister Walton posted on the blog of scenes of Luanda. Cody says they have no traffic laws there. He said it's like being in LA traffic with no laws. Scary! It's all dirt roads. He said that people really carry baskets on their head...so cool. And in many places there isn't electricity so they do all their washing (dishes, clothes, etc.) in the river. It's really crazy to realize that there are still places in the world that are like this. 

Cody is doing really well, I'm sure we don't hear the bad stuff that is actually going on, but he seems to really be enjoying himself. And we get to talk to him in about a week! We actually might get to skype which would be really fun!

If you want to keep up with him and how he is doing we have a blog where we post all his emails. It's http://farewlltotheusahelloangola.blogspot.com/. You can also check out the Angola mission blog at http://angolaluandamission.blogspot.com/

Daddy's Reindeer

Last Saturday Alan told me and the girls that he wanted to do a Christmas activity for lunch. I was all about that! I don't think they've eaten as good as they did that day for a long time!

 He got out the bread, peanut butter, pretzels, raisins, and fruit snacks.

 Madison even spread the peanut butter all by herself.

 And they made little reindeer! They were so cute and the girls were really excited!

 Ken gives these looks quite often. She looks confused and thinks we are a bunch of weirdos. haha.

 That's more like it. She really is the happiest girl!

And she sure loves her daddy. They both love him so much. When he's around all they want to do is play and wrestle with daddy. If Alan's around I'm pretty much chopped liver.

Madison's princess mirror

Madison has really enjoyed all her spoils from her birthday, but she was especially excited to decorate her princess mirror that Beth got her. Everyday for almost a week she would say mom can I do this today. Finally we had a day that we weren't busy so we sat down and prettied it up! (of course Ken was down for a nap!)

She had so much fun with the jewels and stickers and glitter glue...I need to let her do stuff like this more often. She is so proud of her mirror!

Ken's first piggies!

 Kennedie's hair has grown really slowly...well slower than Madison's. It's a lot thicker than Madison's was, but it's finally long enough to get it in piggies! She sat pretty still to do it, which rarely happens. It turned out so cute! It didn't stay in all day, but it was fun while it lasted.

 

I can't believe how big my baby is getting!!!

Sleep

Alan and I are tired. Always tired. 

Sleep was never something that Madison struggled with. Since she was about 2 months old she's slept completely through the night. She loved naps. We were so spoiled when it came to sleep with her. 

Kennedie is an awful sleeper!!!! I have no idea what to do with her. She has a hard time falling to sleep. She wakes up more than once in the night still. Many times she is wide awake and wants to get up and play. I've tried to get her up and just cuddle her back to sleep, but she always wiggles away and ends up playing, which is not something I think she should do at 3:00 in the morning.She is a light sleeper. If an alarm is too loud she wakes up. If someone opens the front door, she is up. She nearly always is awake by 7:00 or 7:30 no matter what time I put her down.

I've tried just letting her cry it out in the night and that used to work. For the past couple of nights though she just keeps crying. My rule is to let her cry for 20 minutes and if she's still crying I'll go in and give her bottle back and let her know I'm still there and then leave...and then if she keeps crying the time resets and I'll go back in 20 minutes later. Last night she was up for over 2 hours crying for me to come in and get her. She wanted me to get her up, but I was not going to do it because she doesn't need to get up and play at 3:00 in the morning. She is so stubborn. I have no idea what to do with her. Has anyone else had a child this old that won't sleep? What do I do? Any advice is welcome PLEASE!

Madison is 3!

 3 years ago I became a mama for the first time! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. I remember like it was yesterday holding my sweet baby girl in my arms and being happier than I had ever been! Madison is so much fun and such a joy to have in our lives!

We started the day with a bunch of balloons and singing happy birthday.

 And of course Ken loved them too!

 For her birthday all Madison wanted was to go to Jumpin Jacks and get some cake...so that's what we did! She loves to go to Jumpin Jacks and she had some friends come too. We all had a really fun time.

After we were done jumping we went back to our house for cake and presents. Madison got lots of fun things and was so excited.

 Mommy and daddy got her first big girl bike! Now we have to teach her to ride it.

Here is what her cake looked like. She was so excited for the Minnie and Mickey on top. I washed them off and she played with them the rest of the night. And then took them to bed with her. What a fun girl and what a fun day!

I'm back!

Sooo...It's  been FOREVER since I've updated my blog. We have been so busy and it just hasn't been my top priority, but here it is. We are doing really well. It's Christmas time! The sounds, smells, weather...this is my favorite time of the year! 

Alan has been working so hard at school and will hopefully be done this semester. The bank has definitely been keeping him busy as well. They are in the process of hiring 3 new tellers right now. That means that only 1 teller was left on the teller line and the managers have had to step up and fill in. He's been working so hard and I'm incredibly proud of him. He takes such good care of us!

 Kennedie has been keeping busy...really busy! This one never stops unless it is to yell at me for hurting her feelings. She is generally the happiest girl on the planet, but full of drama. She has been from day one. She loves giving loves and kisses and is my cuddle bug...unless daddy's around, then she's his cuddle bug. She will be 14 months on the 11th and is getting so big. She's a climber. She's into EVERYTHING. She loves to make messes. This past week she's had an ear infection and when I took her to the doctor she weighed 19 pounds. That's only about 3 pounds less than Madison. She's a MUCH better eater!  

 Madison will be 3 years old tomorrow! I cannot believe she has gotten so old! She is a little mother and loves to help out. We've been working on learning her letters and she loves to point out letter "A's" that she sees all around town. She loves nursery and is excited to start primary in January. She is officially potty trained! She still has a few accidents when she gets to playing and doesn't think about it, but she does really well! Yay for no more diapers! Her favorite thing these days is to dress up. She is constantly sporting a new tutu or necklace or multiple tutu's and other dress ups. She loves to sing. She sings everything she says. It's really funny to listen to actually. She's really excited for Christmas this year. I think it's going to be lots of fun!

 My girls are getting sooo big! I can't handle it. When Ken was born my friend Kristin made these dresses for them and now they finally fit so I was excited to put them on. They are seriously best friends. Madison tells me all the time that Kennedie is her favorite. They love to play together and for the most part do really well. Kennedie loves playing with Madison and really wants to be just like her. I didn't realize how much she would imitate Madison.

 We're all ready for Christmas to come at our house. The tree's up! I debated putting it up because I knew Ken would be all over it, and she has been, but I couldn't not put it up. It just won't stay as pretty as normal, but hey that's life!

 My sweet helpers!

October: Ladies night, Ken's birthday, Halloween!

 Ok this one has lots of pictures...Sorry!

 On conference weekend my family has a tradition that while the guys go to Priesthood session Saturday night we have ladies night. In the past we have gone to dinner and then to Deseret Book for prizes and then to Roberts for more prizes! We now have lots of kids that don't do well at craft and book stores so we've had to get creative! This conference we decided to do our own ladies night with our own dinner, prizes, and crafts to do. So we invited our lady family members and partied! We even did balloon drawings like Roberts does.

 At the end of our fun filled night my sister in law April and her sister Sarah opened up Beth's front door to find this:

 A HUGE TARANTULA...right outside. The picture seriously doesn't do it justice. This little guy freaked us all out. Everyone had to go to their cars through the garage until Jill got a glass jar and caught it. She is so brave.

Kennedie turned ONE on October 11th! That year went by too fast. That morning Madison and I woke her up with happy birthday and a house full of balloons! Balloons are her favorite.

 This was her smile when she walked out and saw them.

 The birthday princess!

 Playing with her spoils!

 Paul and Alan enjoying a coke outside while cooking the yummy terriyaki burgers.

 Ken loved her cake so much she sat in it!

Things about Ken at one year:

-She is FULL of drama! Don't hurt her feelings or you'll hear about it for an hour.

-She is a happy girl. You wouldn't know when she is sick because she's always happy.

-She walked really early (like 9 1/2 months), but she is so content not to talk. If I ask her to say a word she just grunts at me.

-She idolized Madison. She wants to do everything that Madison is doing. All the time!

-She is starting to be a cuddle bug.

-The list could go on forever, but she is really a sweetheart and I'm so glad she's mine!

For Halloween this year we carved pumpkins. I carved the owl and my mom did the spider. I thought they turned out so fun! Madison painted a pumpkin which for some reason I didn't get a picture of, but it was super cute too!

The Saturday before Halloween my parents ward had a trunk or treat so we went to that with them. Reed and Chelle were in town and Beth and Jeff came too. So everyone was there (except Cody of course).

Peyton was Rapunzel with her pretties.

Ken and Madison were a cupcake and an ice cream cone. Adorable!

Kinley was a candy corn witch.

Gregory was the happiest super hero I have ever seen!

And Garrett was a hunter. I didn't get a picture of JD, but he was a ninja. Such cute kiddos!

 On the actual night of Halloween we went over to Paul and April's to trick or treat. They live in St. James so we got lots of yummy candy.  We had a blast! Happy Halloween!

Up to Norman's and some changes!

In September we went up north to visit Alan's brother Norman. We love going up north when we get a chance and we hadn't been to their lovely home in awhile so we spent the weekend with them. 

 While we were up there Norm took us up Provo Canyon to the waterfalls. It was so pretty and just starting to get chilly...well chilly for us. haha. I'd never done the hike or seen the waterfalls from anywhere closer than the car so it was really fun.

 Our little family.

Norm with Madison and 4 of his 5 kids. Thanks Norm and Taunya for letting us crash with you guys for the weekend!

Also, in September, Alan and I had a huge blessing granted to us. We had been trying to figure out for over a year how we were going to get out of our condo and into something bigger to accommodate our  growing family. It seemed like everything we tried just wasn't working and it was very frustrating. There was no way that we could sale it and with the new housing laws renting it out seemed impossible too. We'd kind of started to give up and just accept the fact that we would have to stay there for a few more years until the market corrected itself, when Alan talked to a friend of his who had recently moved away from St. George. They had kept their house down here and just  planned on using it to come home once or twice a month. Well Alan's friend was venting to him about how they weren't going to come down as much as they thought and the maintenance on it was just too much. He joked with Alan about us renting from them. Well, long story short, we moved in two weeks later and are renting our condo out. It's a hugely long story and if anyone wants to hear it all I'd be happy to tell you, but all I need to remember from it is that our blessings are seriously always answered. It may not be the way we think it will be or when we want it to be, but the Lord has a plan for us and knows best. That is something I know is true and that has been shown to me more times than I can count in our marriage.