"I Love To See The Temple"

Mckenzie loves to go to the temple and talks about it all the time and sings the primary song "I Love To See The Temple" ALL the time. So, she was thrilled when Bree wanted to walk the grounds of the temple while she was visiting. It's amazing how even a 3 year old can recognize the sacredness and the beauty of the temple. We happened to run in to some good friends of ours at the temple, which made for some great fun! What a terrific place to be with friends (and of course we had to get some lunch and ice cream afterwards)!

Mckenzie and Abby's STATS

The girls had their check-ups the other day and I was so thankful that I had Bree with me. They were absolute terrors in the doctors office. Mckenzie can't stand her pediatrician and no matter how hard he tries to interact with her (he even gave her a birthday present), she still gives him dirty looks, runs in the corner and refuses to let me stand more than a foot away from her. Abby is Abby and although she wasn't a happy camper, she was somewhat cordial with the dr. *Please don't put a comment on my blog saying that I should change pediatricians...* Anyway, here's their stats and how they're growing. Sorry, I don't have their head circumfrances. It's amazing I dug up their height and weight measurements.

MCKENZIE:


3 YEARS OLD
Weight: 30.8 lbs.
Height: 37.25 inches

ABBY:


19 MONTHS
Weight: 23.12 lbs.
Height: 31.25 inches

Father's Day

Father's Day was a bit weird. I (Jessica) woke up early and took my sister Bree to the airport to fly home (we miss her already). When I got home, Dan was waiting with the girls all dressed for church! I didn't have to do a thing, not even feed them. Once I got home they all went to church and since I was exhausted, I got to stay home. So, for about 2 hours I had a VERY quiet home. I took a nap and when they got home from church, Dan closed my bedroom door and fed the girls. I eventually woke up and found out that his plan was to let me continue to sleep and he'd put the girls down for their naps! Later that Father's Day, we went to a going away party for some friends who are moving to Georgia and sure enough, Dan got the girls ready for that too. So, all in all it was a great Father's Day for me (Jessica). I should probably do something fun for him next Father's Day. Oh, as a side note at the end of the day Dan made a comment of how being a single father would NOT be easy and he's glad he doesn't do that every day!

Strawberry Picking

We went strawberry picking the first Saturday Bree was with us. It was tons of fun, we ate lot's of strawberries and ended up taking 16 lbs of strawberries home with us! Mckenzie loved finding the good strawberries with no white on them and Abby loved climbing through the strawberry patches and eating as many strawberries as she could. Mckenzie's nice white shirt she wore has now been thrown away. The strawberries were delicious! Not AS good as the ones we ate while in Watsonville, CA last summer, but close! We made tons of strawberry freezer jam, strawberry milk, fruit pizza, etc. I'm still not sick of strawberries! They were so yummy!

Tic Season

Last night we took my sister Bree to the "Wayside Inn" for dinner and left the girls with babysitters. When we got home, Mckenzie was sleeping in our bed which was fine and at about 1:30am I went to move her to her own bed so we could go to sleep (yea, we don't go to bed at decent hours). I went to lift her up and found a tic on her leg. Of course being a mom and never having experienced a tic before I freaked out! In the process of telling Dan, I found ANOTHER tic on her other leg. AHH! How does one get 2 tics at the same time? Although New England is known for their tics, we didn't play in the forest yesterday. We went to the New England Aquarium, so we're a bit confused as to where she picked them up. Anyway, Dan was able to get the one out, but the other one broke off and there's some still in her leg. We tried and tried to get it out, but we couldn't. Anyone have suggestions? I'm planning to call the dr. tomorrow and see what they want me to do. I'm sure it's fine and no big deal. I hate the thought of anything creeping and crawling. Well, I'm off to go sanatize and vaccume my home.

Mckenzie's 3rd Birthday!

Mckenzie had been anxiously awaiting her 3rd birthday for about 2 months and for some reason she got into her mind that she was going to get a purple present and that's all she'd talk about. Anyway, we loved celebrating her birthday this year. It was a lot more fun this year, probably because she understood what was going on more. My little sister Bree always has to be with Mckenzie for her birthday. They sure love each other. So, the night before her birthday she flew out and was a great present for Mckenzie!
The day was beautiful and we were able to go swimming with some of our friends and have yummy fruit and delicious cupcakes (thanks, Heidi)!


While she had her birthday nap, I made a "Carebear" cake. I'm not creative, artistic or talented when it comes to anything artsy, so it was a challenge, but last year I had decided to make a fun cake for each child for each of their birthdays (last year I made Mckenzie an "Elmo" cake. click on June 2008 for pics).


When Dan came home, we went to Olive Garden. Mckenzie loves Olive Garden and always wants to go there when we drive by it. Her favorite dish is the fetticinni alfredo which I'm happy about because it's the cleanest of the sauces.
After dinner, we opened presents. Thanks to everyone for the wonderful gifts!


To top off the night, two of Mckenzie's favorite grown-ups (besides Mom and Dad), Mike and Ashley, came over to have cake and icecream with her.


It was a long, busy and super fun day! I love celebrating birthdays. I love the anticipation, the excitement the happiness. I love watching Mckenzie grow up. It's hard to believe that it's been 3 years since she was born. Mckenzie has brought more joy to us than we could have ever imagined. I know, cheesy, but it's true. She has a way of making us feel true hapiness. She has a heart of gold and her quirkiness and energy fill our home with everything good. We sure love our Mckenzie!

Who reads this?

So, I'm curious who actually checks our blog. I think it would be neat to see how many people are keeping in touch with our lives via the blog. Will everyone please leave a comment of their name to this post?

Thanks,
Dan

"UP"

My sister Bree is visiting us for 3 WEEKS! It's wonderful! We love having her with us. She makes things fun, she cleans the house, keeps the girls busy and is just great! Dan has decided that he wants to take the girls to a movie for each of their birthdays. This works well because they both have birthdays when the "blockbusters" are coming out. So, the other day for Mckenzie's, we went to see "UP". It's one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It's funny, it's clean and it's a great story. Best of all, the girls were TERRIFIC! Granted, they sat there and ate popcorn the whole time, but they actually watched the whole thing as well. Mckenzie laughed and giggled through the whole movie and it was so sweet. I wish I had it on video. When she laughs, she can't stop. If you haven't seen the movie, go see it! It's worth the $10!

President Uchtdorf visits Yekaterinburg

Recently, President Uchtdorf visited Yekaterinburg, Russia. This is the area where we served our missions. I read an article and found a quote the sums up the wonderful people I call part of my family in Russia.
"President Uchtdorf noted that the Ural Mountains are sometimes called “The Gates of Siberia.” Then he said: “You are the gates to the future of the Church. You are true pioneers in the best sense of the word, and others will follow. Generations to come will praise your name because you are not ashamed of the gospel and you did not have fear.”
They are an incredible people and the Lord loves them dearly. I am so happy to know that President Uchtdorf visited them and that they had the experience of listening to him speak to them face to face.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MCKENZIE!

Today is Mckenzie's 3rd birthday! I've been thinking a lot about the day she was born: the urgency, the anxiousness, the excitement, the worries/fears. Since she was born, no since she was inside me, we knew we had someone special come into our family. Here's a list of some of our favorite things about Mckenzie:



1. Mckenzie is full of love



2. Mckenzie is our energizer bunny (also known as the "hare" and Abby is the "tortoise")



3. Mckenzie LOVES the temple



4. Mckenzie loves to sing and knows tons and tons of songs. She is always surprising people when they see how many songs she does know.

5. Mckenzie has an immense talent for music (I had a professional voice teacher tell me that finding children with Mckenzie's musical talent is like a dream to her and others in that field)
6. Mckenzie is a go-getter

7. Mckenzie is stubborn, opinionated and independent (yes, these are qualities we love about her, although some days they drive us crazy)



8. Overall, Mckenzie is a very obedient child



9. Mckenzie loves Jesus and she demonstrates that each day through actions, words, song etc.
10. Mckenzie is a SUPER big sister and is always watching out for Abby. She even shares her special treats with Abby.



11. Mckenzie isn't a picky eater (I'm pickier than Mckenzie)

12. Mckenzie loves books and learning



13. Mckenzie is a fantastic artist. Seriously, you should see some of the things she colors and draws. One of these days I'll scan it and put it up on the blog.

14. Mckenzie is sincere!!!



15. Mckenzie somehow recognizes when someone needs to be loved on and cared for and finds ways to help.



16. I love it when Mckenzie says, "you happy mommy?"


17. Mckenzie is adventurous (which is a good thing considering the fact that she has already been to 19 states)

18. Mckenzie loves to be tickled and loves to tickle.



19. Mckenzie is beautiful!



20. Mckenzie continually amazes us at how Christlike she is. Not a day goes by that we are in awe of Mckenzie. She helps us see why we need to become as little children full of love, humility, patience, and charity.


We are so blessed to have Mckenzie in our family and we love watching her grow and learn. It's a bit weird to think that we have a 3 year old already, but what an awesome three years it has been and we look forward to forever with Mckenzie! We love you, Mckenzie and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!