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.

August

 In August we spent some more time with Alan's family. Earlier in the summer Alan's brother Paul moved to St. George and we have been partying ever since! :) His sister's Alison, Emma, and their families came to visit in August  and we had a blast. 

Here's Matt and Ali...so cute!

 This is Jordan, Paul and April's sweet little boy. He is a week older than Kennedie.

 Ali and Emma's boys' had a blast playing on Alan's Ipad.

 And Abby, as always, was my sweet little helper with the girls! She is such a good big cousin.

While they were all here we took advantage of Clint's parents' boat and had a lake day. Clint is a great host at the lake. My parents were kind enough to take Ken for the day so we could have some fun with just Madison. She had a blast in the sand!

 Alan and Paul swam out to the buoy as usual.

 We all took turns on the banana boat, but I think the most fun time was when all the boys went. And had a "rough" ride. They had lots of fun!

 Also in August I was able to go down to Vegas with for a day with Jill, Beth, and we met Rachelle down there. We went down for a regional conference for Stampin' Up! It was fun and really good to get out for a day with the girls! These are a few of my favorite people! We went to a resort out in Henderson and it was BEAUTIFUL! I want to go back on vacation with Alan sometime.

These are some pictures I found on my camera of my girlies in August. They are so much fun and are growing up so fast! It's crazy, but I love them so much!