Just One Year Ago...

W-O-W.
Looking at Kayla's new baby pictures I am stunned all over again at how much my baby (and all babies obviously) grow and change in just one short year. One year! She went from tiny and helpless and new and hardly capable of looking straight to big and strong, almost walking, babbling, opinionated and full of personality. I love her so much, why does time have to fly so quickly when you are enjoying it? Wasn't it just last month I was writing about putting my doctor in a headlock? Kayla, why do you have to grow so fast?

Maybe because of her birthday, but lately I have really been trying to re-evaluate the quality time I spend with my girls. So often I find myself putting them off so I can pick up, clean the floor, work on dinner, etc. Other times I'm just plain distracted thinking about all my to-dos, or who knows what floating around in my head. To-dos are good and necessary, but sometimes I realize the whole day has gone by (or the whole week!) without me really playing with my girls, enjoying them, and letting them lead out and do things they want to do. Especially Kayla, because it's so easy for me to just tote her along with whatever Leyna and I are up to, I hardly ever stop and play on the ground with just her. I've suddenly worried that Kayla's whole first year has gone by, relatively in a blink. Have I paid enough attention to her? No, my definition of a good day was if she hadn't cried while I tried to get stuff done.

I have recommited myself to doing better. I'm trying to pay more attention to my girls, not half mindedly respond to or play with them (which I am usually apt to do), but wholeheartedly be in the present moment, watching them, talking to them and soaking them up as much as I can. I know that someday I will ache for this time I am in right now when I can hold them, love them, play with them and take care of them and their relatively simple needs.
Some days are hard, obviously, to keep that perspective. My girls cry, a lot, often over rather silly things. Some times I'm tired, worn out, or just plain impatient. Sometimes I'm irritated that Kayla wants me to hold her so much, and then I think...this is such a short window of time that I GET to hold her! She just wants some love and I that is something I can easily give.
I'm not perfect, I can't always keep this perspective but when I can, and when I remember that these precious children are mine on loan, to influence, hold, love and teach, I am so much happier and so is my family.

So thank you sweet Kay May, for being such a wonderful part of our family. Thank you for being patient with your dominant and loud but also very sweet and loving big sister. Thank you for always wanting to hold me and give me loves. Thank you for being so excited to see Dad when he comes home. Thank you for being an amazing sleeper, for having such beautiful blue eyes, for being so fun to chase after, for being a good eater, and for having a great laugh. And cute hair.
We love you so much and celebrate with great happiness the day you came to our family!
Love forever, Momma
Last 3 Photos by Halley (aren't they cute!? She's wonderul)

My Funny Girl

A little indoor picnic we had, just me and her. Please note all three purses she wanted to bring for the event...

Some of my favorite things Leyna has said/done lately.

Leyna and I were laying on my bed and we were discussing some things she had really been wanting for awhile now, and that she's brought up several times with me. Namely, a lunchbox and a water bottle.
Leyna: Mom, don't forget I really need a lunchbox and waterbottle.
Me: Ok, you're right.
Leyna: (Little pause while she thinks) And jewelry (said very matter of factly).
This made me laugh out loud and Leyna thought that was so funny that she kept saying "jewelry" in this silly voice and then would giggle hysterically just so I'd keep laughing. It was so cute, what a girl!

Me: We are planning on staying in a hotel
L: Why are we staying at Taco Bell?

Me: Leyna, what song do you think I should sing at Auntie Doris' wedding?
L: I think you should sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Oh! Or I know, Old MacDonalds!

Leyna: (singing) For the temple is a house of God/ a place of love and booty...

In an effort to teach her some more genteel manners I sometimes use a "proper lady" voice when teaching her to ask for things nicely or share something with a friend. She loves it and she does it on her own all the time and will say things like "Thank you my dear" or "I love your pretty dress" in a high, squeaky voice, all while giving me this very demure look and batting her little eyelashes.

The other day when our home teacher was over he was talking to Leyna about being obedient and how we all need to repent and Leyna said "Yeah, especially Kayla!"


It's really hard for me to remember or take time to write down all the funny things she says because I feel like she says funny stuff all the time. And most of the time it's hard to explain why it's so funny with out being there or a lot of context (so maybe these aren't that funny to any one else). Oh well, hopefully I can just tell her someday that I laughed a lot when she was this age.

She has also just started making up stories, which are awesome, especially when they are scripture stories. The plot is all over the place, as is the character development, but we don't mind! The other day she was teaching our family home evening lesson on Jonah (sometimes referred to as Donovan). I'm pretty sure Jonah/Donovan didn't get eaten a second time by the whale while he was at home eating his lunch, but, hey, it could have happened...weirder things have...When I asked her how the whale got into the house, she said he knocked on the door and then ding dong ditched. And whenever she didn't know what else to say in her story she would insert, "welcome to family home evening". She even brought out a visual, a toy flashlight that Jonah used while inside the whale.

She also makes up games now like "dart board" and "window beads". Dart board consists of using knobs she took off of a drawer and throwing them at a piece of paper. Window beads is grouping beads together on the window sill, and then using a coin to flick them to the other side of the window sill. She's really into her made-up games and wants to play them all the time!

She just figured out how to take her own pictures and wants to use the camera whenever she can get her hands on it (aka when mom forgets to put it up high).
Her preferred method of drinking water is using her spray bottle and a spoon. She just sips on her water, a spoon full at a time. The funny thing is, she knows it's silly too, so when she catches me watching her she starts cracking up at herself!

But, my all time favorite is the other day I was reading an entry from my journal and it made me laugh out loud for several minutes. It's from this past summer when were camping with our great friends, Ryan and Cheryl and Ashby. And I quote:
"I was getting Leyna dressed and we were standing just outside our tent. I lifted up her shirt and she said "Someone's gonna see my belly button!" So I told her I would hurry. She took half of the oreo she was holding and covered her belly button with it and said "This is my breast pad"!

I think Leyna knows a lot more about being a woman then some grown girls...

Speaking of breast pads, here she is "nursing"... and I'm pretty sure it's a little towel... and she's pretty serious about it too, I might add.

Back By Popular Demand...Pumpkin Soup!

Picture by Angela Wyant
Here is the Southwest Pumpkin Soup recipe that I keep getting asked for, which I got from a Relief Society Girls Nite Out, made by Sarah Neilson.
It is really, really yummy! I make it all the time, especially during the fall because it is so good and really easy. It's basically canned items, cream and spices. I've had this on my blog before, but this time I'm putting it in a post so it can be searched later.
Happy fall, hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Southwest Pumpkin Soup- Sarah Neilson
2 T olive oil
3 cups vegetable stock (broth) -I just use chicken if I don't have vegetable on hand
1 15 oz can drained black beans
1 cup heavy cream -again, I use what's on hand, sometimes light cream or half and half
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
2 15 oz cans pumpkin puree
1 T curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne powder- I usually use chili powder and/or paprika
Garnish with chips, sour cream and chives

In sauce pan over medium heat, add oil and saute onions 5-10 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, beans and pumpkin. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Add rest of ingredients and simmer. Add more salt and black pepper to taste as well as vegetable broth if the soup seems too thick.
This soup as a lot of kick- adjust spices to family taste (that's why I use the chili powder or paprika instead). Eat with chips, sour cream and chives if you have them.

Gramps and Gramma do New Hampshire!

*Warning, long post ahead!*

I'm finally posting about my parents, who decided to use their anniversary trip in September to fly all the way across the country (we realized that we are almost on as opposite ends of the country as we can be from each other) and come visit us in our new home and state! It was SO great to have them here! Larry kept saying "I love when your parents come, it's like we're on vacation too!" For real. After they left I had to put myself on a sugar ban for two weeks just to make up for all the bad behavior while they were here.

Mom and Dad got here late Monday night and rented a minivan so we could all explore together. We set up an itinerary that went something like this:

Tuesday: Explored Concord's Main Street and hit up a Granite Candy Shoppe AND the Chocolate and Bread Bakery. Yum. Also there is a really great antique store that I love to poke around in, and Leyna loves to find anything miniature to play with, especially if it involves a tea set.
Yeah! Me and the girls "helping" Gramps choose treats to buy. It's a very serious job.


Around the corner from our house. Pretty, huh?
We also went to Meadow Ledge Apple Farm, which has famously delicious apple cider doughnuts (but, we found out they are only hot and fresh on the weekends) so we settled for not fresh and they were still pretty good. Shucks, now I'll just have to go back and try them fresh... (PS People here in New England are REALLY into doughnuts, I've never seen so many doughnut shops in my entire life) Also, ate at the Common Man resturaunt which turned out to be REALLY yummy. Really. Mmmm.... Can you see a common theme occurring from the types of places we are visiting?? They seem to all center around food...

Wednesday: White Mountains. This was a nice day to be together as a family and spend time with each other, but there was someone who had it in for us this trip because we were thwarted in several of our attempts to do stuff (like not getting those fresh doughnuts on Tuesday. Still bitter). But this was even worse. We kept trying to find covered bridges on our drive up to "ooo" and "ahh" at them, but we either couldn't find them, even though we had TWO maps and a GPS, or the one we did find, the road to it was closed. :(
On to the Flume, a beautiful and very cool hike we had heard great things about. We got there, watched the video, and then realized that there are lots of stairs and we couldn't take the stroller the whole way with the girls like we had planned and be able to fit in the tram ride. We opted not to carry them the whole way and moved on to the tram.
Got to the tram and just as we are getting to the top, major wind and cloud cover! The whole point of the tram was to see this amazing view, all the way to Canada. What could we see? Nada. Zilch. Not even the valley floor. It was kind of eerie knowing we were that high up and yet not being able to tell because we were literally walking in the clouds. We just kept laughing about it all, it was a funny day.

The view. Ha ha

On the way home took a little detour on the Kangamangus Highway, which not only is a very beautiful drive (ideal for seeing the colors!), it's name is just plain fun to say.

Thursday: Boston!

The girls rocked this day and it turned out to be really fun because they were so good (and I wasn't driving!). Next time I would love to go back with out them though and get a chance to really explore with out having to worry about navigating a big double stroller. I was noticing all the other strollers around the big city, and they were all the really fancy ones where the younger baby hangs out in a sling thing under neath. Really cool, I'm sure there's no way you could live in a big city with out investing in a really nice, lightweight, compact stroller. My friend Halley is always telling me, "It's your car when you live in a big city. You just have to invest in a nice one!"
We walked some of the Freedom Trail,

played in a city park

where Leyna joined in an impromtu game of ring around the rosy with five other girls (it was really cute),

ate at a model of the Cheers restaurant and had some really good Chowda,

and spent all afternoon at the Boston's Children Museum. Leyna was in HEAVEN!
She's in a giant bubble, cool, huh?
I think this was Gramps favorite room too!

Poor Dad though was SO tired by the end that he laid down on the floor and fell dead asleep! Kids running around, music playing, Kayla crawling over him and everything. Out cold. It looked so funny that a guy came up to us and asked us if the gentleman on the floor was with us and if he was ok. We assured him that he was just tired. What a talent he has, huh?

All in all, it was a really cool city, I'm excited to go back sometime soon.

Friday: We made the pilgrimage to Sharon, Vermont, the Prophet Joseph Smiths birthplace.

It was so beautiful and wonderful. I loved it. The drive up there is gorgeous and serene, and the place itself and the atmosphere is literally breathtaking. It didn't hurt that the girls fell asleep in the stroller and I got to enjoy the beauty in a little peace and quiet. It was sooo nice.
Me, pretending I'm an only child. Ha!
Happily it is only a little over an hour away, so I hope to take Larry and go again and again. If you are ever close by I encourage you to go, it is well worth it. Supposedly it's pretty great to go at Christmas time as well, it's lit up and you listen to MoTab Christmas songs and they give you cider and donuts (of course!). On the way home we did finally find three covered bridges to admire and finally cross off of our "To Do" list. We decided they were kind of overrated, but we SAW them!

Saturday: Walked up to Whites Park and then drove out to Beech Hill Farm for some yummy ice cream. Came back home and quickly said our goodbyes!

Oh we loved having them here so much. My biggest regret is that I didn't know what I was doing better as their host and guide. We were learning about these places together, but it made for a few setbacks (no hiking Flume), and some stressful moments (parking in Boston, yikes!). But, no fear for those of you still reading, and who are saving your monies to come visit us; my mom LOADED us up on maps, a few books and pamphlets on New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. I literally have a whole desk drawer devoted to them. Hopefully this trip paved the way for future ones for them and other visitors to come!
Thank you mom and dad for coming, WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH! MISSING YOU ALREADY!

PS When are you coming again?
PSS My cousin Benji came a couple weeks ago and we got to hang out for a day, and then Aunt Gayle and cousin Andrew stopped by for lunch two weeks ago! Who's next?? :)

It got seriously cold here today

Concord, New Hampshire (Airport)

Updated: 1 hr 0 min 17 sec ago

39 °F Clear

Windchill:

32 °F

And people in our ward on Sunday talked about having their power out in the middle of winter for 6 days due to some intense ice storms. And another lady told me that starting Dec 1st, her and her kids wear thermals every day until the end of April. AND, my friend Halley told me that last winter there was one week where it stayed at -20. For a WHOLE week! DAH! I'm not ready!!!
I don't like it here anymore.


Just kidding. Sort of.

And I know what you're thinking Emily, up there in Alaska...I'm sure you don't feel too bad for me :)

Teefers

This post is for those who were always laughing at Kayla's big gummy smile. No gums anymore, this girl has definitely got teeth and her little smile just cracks me up!
Does she look like Larry in this picture or what?!?
She is such a happy girl, so sweet. I really can't get enough of her. And, the great part is, she loves to give little cuddles! Especially if you are have just picked her up, or if she is crawling around the house and finds something soft, she makes this cute sighing sound as burrows her face into your shoulder or the blanket, stuffed animal, etc. She won't lay there for very long, but it's so cute. My other favorite thing is the way she crawls which is such a crack up. She's all hips, it's like she's cat-walking around the house, but in a crawl form.
It's so fun to see her own personality come out. I know it sounds silly because she and Leyna are obviously two different people with their own personalities. But, it never ceases to amaze me when Kayla does something that Leyna never did. I'm always surprised, as if I expect her to be just like Leyna, but she's not. It's great.
(Too bad this picture is so whited out, can that be fixed on photo shop?)

At last!

Our Camera is here, our internet is working, and I am making myself finally take the time to post some pictures (I only think about it ten to twenty times each day every day- oh the guilt!).
So without further ado:
Front door and little entry way with hall closet, upon first entering the house

Front room. Very empty, I know...but everything you do see (and I mean everything minus Leyna's toddler bed and a dresser and the curtains in the front room) was given or loaned to us, all within the first two weeks of arriving here, so we are GRATEFUL!

Sorry some of these pictures are so dark, I kept trying to mess around with the flash, but to no avail. At least you get the idea.. This is our room
A very dark picture of the second "main room" or "dining room" is what it's supposed to be. That really dark spot to the left is the fireplace and off to the right is a door to the girls room.Larry's little study corner

I'm so excited we have a fireplace! Cozy, huh? Little table and chairs I picked up at a garage saleThe kitchen! Yellow walls, which is what I wanted to paint our last kitchen any ways. Too bad that right when I got a tile floor, we moved into a house with linoleum again!Our landlady already had a cute light house theme going on in here, so I just left it that way. Almost all the curtains through out the house are hers, she was sweet enough to leave them up because they all went perfectly with the wall paper alreadyLeyna and Kayla's room (best angle I could get!)
Leyna loves her new bed (which funny enough, has been our biggest expense so far!) It's cute and I'm glad we found a toddler bed so quickly for her. She is obviously very happy with it.We have a picture of our house, but I'm a little leery about posting it since this blog is public. So to give you an idea of the type of house we are in, here are some picture of other houses in our neighborhood...Pretty cool, huh? There are some that are really nice, like these, and some that are the same style, but run down, and others in the process of remodel. I just love that all the houses are the same New England type style. It's really fun to run through the neighborhoods and admire them
Speaking of neighbors, one of our neighbors looks just like Doc Brown from Back to the Future and he walks around wearing crazy hawaiian shirts and loafers, mumbling to himself (usually swear words). He's really nice, but definitely what I like to call, a New England "crusty". He also has a funny sense of humor as can be evidenced by this next picture..
I'm pretty sure the sign is referring to that big puddle that usually hangs out for a few days after it rains...?Beautiful, very neat park just a few blocks from our house and right across the street from the Law Center.
Other perks about our new home:
Kayla loves that the windows are just the right height!
I love stained glass windows! I wanted to live here as soon as I saw them.

And, lest any of you who lived near us in Utah thought you would miss this scene...
Leyna got lucky and we moved into another house with a mail slot in the door! One of her most favorite past times of yelling "hello" to passersby can happily live on.

All in all, we really do love it here. Love it. Next post I plan on writing about all the reasons why and my top favorite things about NH (and the strangest things I've encountered so far, of course). Stay tuned.