Welcome Home

Dear Kids

Grandma and Grandpa have moved home to Utah, for good!
They've lived in other countries since before Lulu was even born.  It was fun to get to visit them in Mexico and Chile, and thanks to modern technology we could talk to them whenever we wanted!  We also did the webcam a few times so they could see your silly faces.
Even though they came home to visit us and we kept in contact, it will be different having them home.  We can get Grandma and Grandpa hugs pretty much whenever we want!  They will get to come to birthday parties and dance recitals and barbecues.  It's pretty exciting.
To welcome them home, Daddy, my sisters and I planned a little surprise party for them.  Well, Grandma actually started the planning by inviting Great Grandma and us for pizza.  We added to the fun with nachos, ice cream, and a pretty sweet pinata.  The pinata was the best part for all three of you.
My sisters and I also brainstormed some helpful (ie amusing) hints for their re-assimilation into American culture.
Here are a few pictures from our little party:

"Nacho Libre" movie quotes by the food

Nacho Libre Mexican Wrestling Mask pinata that you helped me make from scratch!

Breaking open the pinata, with Grandpa's help. Lulu, you helped too.

Grandpa enjoying his Hints book (illustrations by Uncle Brent)

Ice cream on Grandma's new deck

Your cousin, Aunt, Grandma, and Great Grandma

We had a great time didn't we?

Love you my party animals,

Mom
PS check out some of the candy from the pinata on the counter in the last picture?  Who do you think ate most of it? I'm guessing Uncle Brent, but maybe it was Aunt Laura. We'll have to ask them.

The Kids Were Here - Messes

 New bag of flossers dumped into the sink with a dirty swim suit and other things from the counter

 Milk

 Crayon Wall Art

 Fruit Loops

 

The hose on for who knows how many hours, flooding our yard and the neighbors

You're 2 already

Dear Mr T,

You are two years old now! You had no idea what a birthday was, or what it meant when we kept telling you Happy Birthday.  Then you got to open lots of presents, and each one was so exciting!  You really really liked your Angry Bird cheezits I found for you.  After lunch when we set one of the Cookoo Munsha cupcakes in front of you with a lit candle, you thought that was really cool.  We all started singing Happy Birthday to you and I loved the look on your face.  You were surprised and excited and so happy, especially when everyone clapped for you when you blew out both your candles on the first try!  But the best part was when I noticed I didn't have my memory card in the camera so we had to reenact the whole thing.  This time around you knew exactly what was going on.  You tried to sing along and clapped your hands and really loved all the attention.  It was so cute.  We could have reenacted that 10 more times and you would have loved it more each time.  But twice was enough, since I got pictures and we were ready to eat the cupcakes.
Even though you thought the cupcakes were really cool, you didn't particularly enjoy them.  Coconut isn't very kid friendly apparently, because neither you nor your siblings nor your cousins would eat the cupcake tops!
So we had a great day celebrating you and giving you lots of love and attention.
You are such a sweetheart. You love to snuggle with mommy and often when I leave the room you tell me "coming!" and follow me wherever I go.
You love to sing Popcorn Popping, although it's mostly just watching mommy sing it and saying a few words.  The same thing happens with I Am a Child of God. But your eyes light up when you hear either of those songs.
You sleep all night lately, which I am really appreciating.  You wake up a little early for me, but you still take a nap most days.
You love to dance.  You bounce to the beat and then twirl until you fall over.
You love water and dirt.
You are just learning how to "ride" the big wheels bikes that we have.  You can push yourself forward with your feet on the ground instead of only backwards like before.  You love that you can play with the big kids now.
You don't like your vegetables, except strangely broccoli. I still offer a few to you every night hoping you'll try them and learn to love them. It will happen.  I keep telling myself that anyway.
You love juice and cookies and fruit snacks and cheddar cheese and strawberries and eggs and fries and milk.
You are starting to say 3 word sentences now, and you are working on learning your colors.
You surprised me a few weeks ago when I heard you count for the first time!  This is how you count: 1,2,3,6,7,8,9,11.  Pretty good!  I was so impressed, I hadn't even heard you count to 3 before!
You love to build "water towers" with the big legos.
Usually you and Pluto just ignore each other outside, each doing your own thing.  But sometimes you like to pat him and say "puppy" and sometimes you like to bug him by pulling his tail or getting in his face.  He is very gentle with you so you are not scared of him at all. I like how you call him "Peedees" more than "Pooto". 
You are a little obsessed with the Angry Birds game.  You would play it all day if I let you and you cry "Angee Birds!" when I take it away.
You are really a fun kid.  You play well with Hammer, most of the time. You follow him down to the bottom of hill to look for "peeto bugs".  Lulu just adores you.  She kisses you and tells you how cute you are and reads books with you and watches out for you all the time.  I love making you laugh, and you love making me laugh too.  I love your snuggles and your giggle and your wavy red hair.  Sometimes when I look at you I am just amazed at how handsome you are. You are just adorable. Daddy and I are really enjoying watching you learn new things and enjoy life.
Love you my birthday boy,
Mom

I love to see the temple

Dear Kids,
For Activity Days today I took my 5 cute girls to the temple to take pictures.
It was very sunny and windy, as you can tell from the pictures.  Not prime picture-taking weather.  We did the best we could though, since this has been planned for months. We still got some pretty cute ones, if I may say so:

Since this acticity was during the day, I took you guys with me too. You didn't want to be left out of the picture taking of course, so here are a few cute ones of you:

There's always a special feeling at the temple, and everyone loved walking around and admiring it's beauty.  One of my girls wondered if we were going to have a tour inside the temple, so we peaked in the front doors and saw where the recommend desk is. Some day when you are old enough to understand and you have been recommended from the bishop to enter, you will get to go inside!  That will be an exciting day.
We ended the activity at a nearby park with a picnic and time to play on the toys.  It turned out to be really fun, even if our lunches almost blew away.
Thanks for being good for me!
Love you my cuties,
Mom

Ready for Summer!

Dear Lulu,

Today is the last day of Kindergarten. You loved school! You told me that you would be ok with having school all year round.  I think you're going to love summer too though.  We are going to have a lot of fun! We have made a big list of things to do that we will add to our summer jar.  But I also have a surprise for you when you get home today.  I made you a few summer tickets that you can choose when to use.  They say things like Good for one Redbox movie, or one slurpee.  I think you're going to love them!
The end of the year means you had your dance recital and Kindergarten program.  I took some pictures and some videos from both of the fun occasions.
I didn't get great video of your ballet number, but this will give you the idea.  You weren't nervous at all, as you danced away on the back row.

 

 

The tap number I was able to get a little closer, plus you were on the front row.  Look how good you did! We were proud of you.  Dad says you were the star of the show!

 

Here you are in your dance outfit, after the recital.  Don't you look so beautiful?  You were dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, and you were really happy about getting your own flowers!

And here you are at your Kindergarten program. You presented a painting of a mountain that you painted for your talent. 

At the end of the program your teacher gave you a certificate of Kindergarten completion and then posed for a picture. You loved Mrs E:

Here are two videos of your class singing some songs you learned this year

Lastly, here you are on the last day of school this morning.  You wore the same shirt you wore on the first day of school.  Think you've changed at all?

I can tell that your shirt is shorter on you now, and your face has matured a little bit. But it's hard to tell from a picture how much you've learned and changed this year, mostly in how well you read.  You are amazing. It will be fun to see how much you learn next year too!  But for now, let's bring on summer!
Love you,
Mom