Who Mormons Are and Aren't

This is a pretty cool video you should watch when you have a couple of minutes.  Enjoy!

http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/media/mediaplayer.swf?media=http://broadcast.lds.org/newsroom/video/flv/12-10-2007_13_Million_Newsroom.flv&type=FLV

They grow up fast!

I can't believe how much our kiddos are growing, and how quickly they are doing so!  Here is a brief update on each of the kids:

Kennedy is a very proud sunbeam.  She is so excited every week to go to Primary and absolutely loves her teacher.  She has come home the last two weeks and asked us if we could help her learn the songs they sing in Primary since she hasn't known them.  We realized how serious she was today when she asked Rich to talk to Carrie (our neighbor who is the Primary President) and find out what songs they were singing.  That was the first thing she said when she got in the car, "Dad, did you talk to Carrie?" She was a little miffed when he said that he hadn't but that he wouldn't walk across the street to talk with her when we got home.  So, when we pulled into the driveway, she was out of the car and across the street before we had even gotten Zach and McGuire out of their car seats!  Unfortunately, they didn't answer...but her persistence doesn't end here.  After dinner, 3 hours after getting home from church, Kennedy said, "Can you PLEASE call Carrie now so I can learn the songs!"  Phone calls were made and we have the music for the entire year that we will be working on now!  She is also very proficient with the computer and has enjoyed playing games on Rich's laptop this weekend!

McGuire has discovered his love of baseball!  Rich had the kids, along with several neighborhood kids, involved in a baseball game Friday night.  McGuire came up to bat, swung at the pitch, and HIT THE BALL!  I wasn't there, but Rich said McGuire was so proud of himself!  I was talking to a mom of one of the boys who had been playing and she said her son had talked all night about McGuire!  He said, "Mom, McGuire is only two and he is so good!  He hit the ball and everything.  That is really good for a two year old!"  On Saturday, that was all McGuire wanted to do.  We would say, "Hey buddy, let's eat lunch." And he would respond with, "No, I play baseball!" He was so happy when we finally took him outside and he got to play again.  We headed to Target Saturday night to buy our own bat and ball so we can play with him anytime (they had been using the neighbor's equipment).  It is also so funny to me sometimes to hear McGuire talking in complete sentences and sharing his opinions in very thoughtful and expressive ways.  It always throws me off and reminds me how old he is getting!

Zachary is doing awesome!  He is loving eating food.  He enjoys rice cereal, green beans, squash, peaches, and prunes.  He did not really care for applesauce of all things.  We put him in the booster seat to eat tonight and he loved sitting up at the table with his brother and sister.  We will be moving him into a bigger car seat this week as he is too long for the infant car seat now.  His new funny thing is that you can call his name and he won't respond at all, but when you say, "Hey, munchkin!" he whips his head around to look at you and starts laughing!  He is already becoming a tease.

We love our kids so much and feel so blessed every single day to have them in our family.  It is so fun to watch as they learn and develop and explore their world around them.  Each day is always a new adventure!

Zachary is growing up!

Zach has two teeth that showed up today (bottom front)!  I couldn't believe it this morning when I discovered them...that explains his low-grade fever, throwing up, and general fussiness!  He seemed much better today now that they have popped through.  I can't believe they both came through at the same time!  He is also sitting up better and better each day.  Yesterday, he would do it for just a few seconds at a time and if he shifted his weight at all, he would immediately fall over.  Today, he was sitting up for minutes at a time and was even able to move his head around without falling over!  Aaaah the joys of parenthood!  Kennedy gets quite a kick out of it and cheers for him every time.  McGuire gets excited and just wants to tackle him. :)

Christmas

We had a fantastic Christmas!  Santa brought the kids pajamas on Christmas Eve.  The kids are amazed that they were at the Christmas tree, which is by our front door, and never even heard Santa on the doorstep.  He is a tricky guy and rang the doorbell and was gone before they got there.  Kennedy was VERY excited for her nightgown...it was the only thing she asked Santa for this year!  McGuire loved his new jammies as well and Zach was just happy to have some lighter weight jammies that don't get him so hot at night wrapped up in his blanket!

Christmas morning, Kennedy crawled into bed with us around 7:45 am.  Rich asked her if she thought Santa came.  She said, she hadn't heard him so he must not have come yet.  About 15 minutes later, she crawled out of bed and started to walk downstairs.  Rich and I heard her squeal and then come tearing back into our room at full speed.  She screamed, "He came!  Santa did come!" and immediately ran in to wake up McGuire.  They were so excited to open presents and we had a great time watching them.  Kennedy got a pink kitchen from Santa, but if you ask her what she got, she will immediately tell you, "MAKE-UP!" which is the tube of lipgloss that was left in her stocking.  The next thing she will tell you is her nightgown, and then finally (with a little prompting) she will mention the kitchen!  Note to Santa that he can keep things a little simpler in the future!  McGuire got a basketball hoop, but when asked what he got, he will tell you about his shake-and-go airplane!  They both love playing with all their gifts though!  Zach also got a couple of new toys which he loves!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, watching movies, playing games, and having the kids "cook" us food in their new kitchen.

Riding the Polar Express

In Williams, AZ the Grand Canyon Railway train turns into the Polar Express every holiday season.  We ventured up north for the train ride the Thursday and Friday before Christmas.  The kids had been watching the Polar Express movie for quite awhile before so they were very excited about riding on the train!  We headed out Thursday afternoon and had an enjoyable 4 hour drive.  It was fun to see snow on the ground as we headed further and further north.  All Kennedy kept saying about the snow was that she wanted to make a snow angel.  Apparently, Tigger on the show Tigger and Pooh made a snow angel that left quite an impression on Kennedy.

We got to our hotel and checked in and then headed off to the restaurant by the train depot for dinner.  There was a miniature train that went around the entire dining room which entertained the kids for quite awhile.  Then it was off to see Santa before our train departed.  McGuire was so excited to see him, until it was actually our turn and then he cried and cried.  Kennedy and Zach both sat on Santa's lap and had a great time!

We loaded up on our train and they brought us cookies and hot chocolate.  The kids LOVED it!  A few minutes into the ride, the Polar Express story begins.  The kids weren't as interested in this as they were watching the dark shadows out the window (by this time, it was about 8:45 pm).  We came upon the North Pole and the kids were so excited about all the lights and buidlings they saw.  As we headed back to the depot, they asked if any kids wanted to lead the train car in song.  Kennedy, without hesitation, headed up front and asked for the microphone.  Unfortunately, the lady thought she didn't really know the songs and called another boy up there to help.  We were still so proud of Kennedy as she stood in front of 50 people and smiled her beautiful smile and sang as best she could!

Santa entered our train car, which made the kids so excited!  McGuire stood on his bench, jumped up and down waving and yelled non-stop things like, "Hi, Santa!"  "Hi, Santa Claus!"  "Over here Santa!" "Santa, SANTA!" It was so hilarious and even had the people around us laughing at his excitement!  Once we got off the train, we headed back to see Santa to try to get a picture of the kids with Guire smiling.  The photographer even remembered our family and was amazed at the change in Guire's attitude as he stood by Santa and flashed is huge smile!

We had a great evening and wonderful day.  We stopped at a deer farm on the way home.  We were all surrounded by deer as we walked in with our cup of food.  The kids eventually got enough courage to feed them out of their hands.  One deer started to eat Zach's blanket and the back of my coat!  We also finally found a place for Kennedy to do her snow angel.  She was SO happy!  She started throwing snow at Rich until she realized it was making her hands really cold and then she started crying and was ready to go!  Fun memories!!