Playing catch up, yet again!

At the beginning of the year I promised myself, and others, that I was going to be better about updating the blog and I have failed. I can't believe how fast time goes by. After Christmas we all got really sick. It started with the girls getting colds and coughs. Mekensy ended up with an ear infection and of course Arcadia was fine in a couple of days. Then the world seemed to stop when BOTH Richard and I ended up with the flu. For me getting sick is pretty common, but for Richard it isn't. He has only taken 2 sick days in the entire almost 8 years we have been married and this flu kept him home for a week. After a few days of being sick I felt worse than I ever have in my life and found out I had pneumonia. It is never a good combination when both parents are sick. We wouldn't have made it through it all with out our family and amazing neighbors. Thanks to everyone who took our kids and brought us meals. Most importantly I have to thank Richard. Even though he felt horrible he took really good care of me. I'm lucky to have him.

Unfortunately for me the sickness has continued. While trying to recover from the pnuemonia we got some exciting news! I am PREGNANT!! Baby #3 is due September 17. So far this has been a rough pregnancy. I was never sick with my girls, but this time I have had a really hard time. Maybe this means boy?? Rich would LOVE that. We are all so excited to have a baby in the house. Arcadia is so happy. Mekensy is a little more reserved. Occassionally she will ask if she can say hi to the baby. It is really cute! Here's to 6 more months!!

I have been really bad about taking pictures so unfortunately this is the only for the past month! :(
The girls had a great time building their snowman with Dad. The next day Arcadia told me they had put raisins on the nose so the snowman could have boogers. It is obvious Rich needs a boy around here!

The Girls Rooms

The girls rooms have been a work in progress for a few months now. We have been waiting for Christmas to have the finishing touches. Arcadia's still needs a few things, but she loves it. Last night when I finshed Mekensys she walked in to the room and said "WOW"! That makes all the hard work and waiting worth it. Thanks to my parents for the cute chairs and Richard's parents for the lamps and other accessories. Arcadia's "Pepto-pink" room

Mekensy's fun animal room!

Christmas 2010

We had a great Christmas this year. It was nice to be in our own home celebrating our first Christmas here. It was also a fun year because both of the girls were excited and knew what was going to happen this year. They were both so excited for Santa to come. (Well, Kensy wasn't too excited for Santa only the toys!) We had a great time eating and giving gifts with family. Here are a few pictures from the big day.
The picture would be much better if we didn't have red eyes!Coloring on Christmas EveArcadia wearing Uncle Zach's white elephant gift The girls with all their Christmas gifts, most of them anyway!
It looks like Santa is going to have to do even less next year. He tried this year and they still ended up with WAY too much. Thanks to all of our friends and family for the wonderful gifts and great company. We love you all!

Gingerbread Houses and Cookies

Each year my family decorates gingerbread houses. It has become quite a competition for the adults, okay just my sister and I. We had fun this year coming up with ideas and trying to beat out the other! Here are the finished products.
From left to right- Staci and Troy's; Zach's; Mine and Richard's

Arcadia and Mekensy had cookies to decorate. As you can tell Arcadia enjoyed all the frosting and sprinkles.

Christopher Pop-In-Kins

Last Monday for FHE we had a visitor knock at our door! The girls were so excited to find a bag from Santa on the porch. They had been waiting for an elf to come. Inside they found Christopher. Christopher is an elf that was sad because he never got to meet the children he helped make gifts for. Santa decided to make him children's elf and let him live in children's homes from late Novemeber til Christmas Eve. Christopher is magic and "pops" around the house to make sure they are being good. So far he is helping the kids remember to be good. Hope it lasts a couple more weeks! Opening Christopher. Arcadia had been a little nervous for a few days because she thought there was a real elf coming. This was the only time they could touch him because touching him will make him lose his magic. That rule is great because then he doesn't become a toy!Christopher, Arcadia and Mekensy listening to the story.
After reading our story and talking about being good we went to check out some Christmas lights. I found a house online and the kids were amazed. They have their own radio station and the lights go on and off to the beat of the songs. The girls could have stayed there all night. We highly recommend checking it out. The website is www.christmasutah.com.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

We had a great Thanksgiving. Our day started off with the boys (and Staci) heading out to go shooting. They packed up all the pumpkins and junk from around the house and headed out just West of Utah Lake. While they froze outside my Mom, mother-in-law, me and the girls went to see this movie:
We all loved the movie. Arcadia's favorite part was when Rapuzels Mom said, "Do you want me to be the bad guy? I'll be the bad guy". Sometimes I wonder why certain things stand out to her?!

After the movie my Mom came to help me get the turkey ready. We had Thanksgiving at our house this year with my family. The girls were very intrigued by the turkey. Who knew that kids would love watching to women pull things out of a turkey. After some coaxing Arcadia did this.
Then they watched the turkey cooking in the oven. It was not cooking fast enough for them.This is what I did while the turkey cooked

Halloween ...I know, way behind!

Part of the reason I have put this all off for so long is because I didn't have my camera so I am waiting for everyone to get me the pictures they took! We had a great Halloween filled with many parties, carnivals, and parades. The girls were both dressing up as ballerinas and then they became ballerinas with wings. We had family and friends over on Halloween for soup and a little football. Luckily the rain held off long enough for us to go around a neighborhood. It was fun for almost all the neighborhood kids to go around together. Nothing like having to pass out candy only 2 or 3 times! Not many trick or treaters for us!!

Pictures from Arcadia's Preschool Parade

First Day of Preschool...Again!

Hopefully this is the only time she ever has 2 first days of one grade! Arcadia started school again today. She was so excited for a new school and a new teacher. Last year she went to a preschool near our old house and we were lucky enough to have a referral from her old teacher for this new school. The past couple of weeks before school started she wasn't not very happy about not having Miss Lindsey again and getting a new backpack. I think she wanted it to all be the same. Plus there would be not Shuggy at this school! She had a fun first day and if what she says is true managed to get in a little trouble on the first day! No surprise there! Good luck to her and her teacher this year!
First day of school picture and the first time in front of the new house!
With the new "packpack". Thanks Grandpa Mike and Grandma Jeanene. Mom never would have bought it for her!
Mekensy had to get in on the picture taking!

Looks Who's 2!!

I can't believe that Mekensy is already 2 years old! She has had an eventful past year and needless to say does not like going to the doctor. This past year she has learned to walk which quickly led to running, do some talking, broke and arm which required 2 separate castings, had nursemaids elbow, and multiple xrays on the other elbow. As you can imagine she DOES NOT like going to the doctor at all. She sure has cost us a lot in doctor bills this past year! Sometimes I wonder if she should have been a boy. She doesn't like princess movies, prefers to watch Up, Cars, Monsters Inc, and Bolt. She likes throwing rocks, digging in dirt and playing with sticks. She also has to do whatever her big sister is doing. This is sometimes a bad thing. We are working more on her talking and hopefully potty training soon! Fingers crossed! This may be the most boy Richard will ever get. Richard was out of town for school this year for her birthday, but we made the best of it. Thanks to all the family who made the day and weekend memorable.
"Driving" the car at Incredible Pizza. It was funny how serious she was about it. She wouldn't look up for a picture because she was so busy turning the wheel.
She was so excited to ride on the mini merry go round. I never let them do it at the grocery store. I'm a horrible mom!
Talking on her new phone. Richard's mom has one of the originals and she loves it so we got her a new pink one. The only problem is the cord is a little too short. She has to lay on the ground to talk in it.
Waking up to the traditional birthday balloons!
Sitting in her new chair taking care of her baby!
Pushing her new stroller. That night she begged to take it in her crib.
The princess cake and cupcakes

Long Lost Habels

Wow, has the entire Summer gone by and I haven't done a single post? I would like to blame it on a busy Summer, but I think it is me just being lazy. The past 3 months have been filled with new adventures and some old familiar ones. I'm just going to give a small recap of the events.

At the end of May we went to Manti with my family for our Annual Winn Family Memorial Weekend. We had a great time with my cousins and their kids. Arcadia took charge of all the little ones, big surprise. She was pretending to marry one cousin, and trying to act like mom to another. We had a fun time catching up and enjoying some down time.

In June we moved to our new house. After moving out of our West Jordan house in November we were all more than excited to have our own house again. We had a great time at Richard's parents and they were so awesome to put up with our craziness. The girls were sad to leave, but have really enjoyed having their own rooms. We have settled in and have made our house a home in a short time. The girls both have made friends quickly and really enjoy having a playground to play at everyday. We love our neighbors and look forward to many fun years here.

Here is a picture minus a garage plus a garbage can!

In July we celebrated the long 4th of July weekend with lots of food and friends. We went to the Murray parade on Saturday morning followed by a long day at Lagoon with Rich's family. The girls loved Lagoon and went on most every ride they were big enough to go on. I am terrible with pictures and think I might have misplaced a memory card so pictures to come! We then had my family over for another BBQ on Sunday. We had a great time eating sloppy joes and doing fireworks.

Over the 24th of July we went to Island Park with my family. We stayed at a very nice cabin there. Arcadia was able to practice her fishing skills by catching a moose, elk, bear, and cougar. I'm not sure how I feel about dead animal heads on the wall, but the girls enjoyed it. While there Mekensy caught the only fish with the help of Grandpa Mike. Thanks to Troy and Staci for the cute Princess and Barbie fishing poles! In Yellowstone we saw 4 bears, a huge 6 point elk, buffalo, and deer. The girls thought it was great, but I think Richard was the most excited. A couple of times he jumped out of the car barely remembering to put it in park and not turning it off.

In August Arcadia took swimming lessons for the first time. She loved her teacher and did pretty well. The first day she scared me a bit by walking further and further in the pool. It seemed like it was getting a little too deep and her teachers back was to her. As I stood up to yell to her the lifegaurd also stood up. He had been watching her too. Eventually she realized she should go back with her class.

More posts and pictures to come. We have had a great summer and are excited for school to start!