A White Christmas

Samantha was very excited to be going to Utah for Christmas because she wanted to play in the snow. It hadn't snowed in a while when we arrived, so the only snow around was the dirty old piles that had been plowed in the shopping store parking lots. Of course, Sam ran over to them and grabbed up a handful and attempted to eat the snow. Fortunately, I stopped her and reminded her that you only eat new snow, not old snow (and never yellow snow). On Tuesday before Christmas, it snowed all day. New snow!
Samantha was itching to get out and play in the snow. She made snowballs, snow angels, a miniature snowman, and ate a lot of the cold white stuff. She and Grandma Shirts even collected some to make Snow Ice Cream (cream, sugar, vanilla, and 2 C snow). Well, Kelsie wants to do everything that her big sister does, so she headed out into the snow, too. She had to have been freezing, but seemed completely unfazed, even when the snow tumbled down into the crack of her bum that was exposed. Both girls had a wonderful time!
I think the coldest I felt was when we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the Christmas lights. It was 15.8 degrees outside when we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Very cold. I think I will be happy to be back in my California weather, but have had a great time with family here in Utah!

Merry Christmas with Love

Dear Family and Friends,

We wish you a wonderful Christmas and New Year from our family. Both of our daughters are looking forward to the two weeks of spending time with mommy and daddy. We are so grateful for the blessings we receive every day and for our Savior whose birth we honor this season. Merry Christmas!

Fall Festival 2009

Tonight we went to our ward's Fall Festival and Trunk-or-Treat extravaganza. It was fun and Sam was running everywhere at once, it seemed (and that was before she ate any candy, too.). She had fun playing the carnival games, walking in the costume parade, and going from car to car collecting candy goodies. Sam dressed up as a dalmatian puppy and Kelsie was a pink poodle puppy. Both of our canine kiddos looked so cute!

Sam tried eating a doughnut on a string. She managed to get glaze in her hair and on her little doggie nose.
One of the little girls at the party followed Kelsie around the lawn for about 10 minutes, walking with an arm behind her and helping her up every time she fell down. Too cute!
The three of us girls in costumes. Happy Halloween!

Pumpkins for Munchkins

This past weekend, we took the girls to a nearby pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins for our Jack-o-lanterns. Kelsie was cruising around the patch in (what seemed like) always the wrong direction to where I wanted her to go. She loved the big orange things that were all over the place. She'd march over to one and bang on it like a drum and then move on to the next one in the instant I'd try and take a picture of her. What a good girl.

Samantha felt so big this year. She was sitting on top of all the pumpkins and running around them like they were little obstacles for her enjoyment.
Sam and Kelsie both enjoyed crawling into the big pumpkin that had a bench inside. Kelsie liked it so much that Matt had to crawl in after her to get her to come out.

We had Sam's friend Aerin with us for the day and we all went on a hay ride. Aerin just looks thrilled to be there, doesn't she?

Naturally, about half-way into our expedition, Sam climbed on top of a hay bale and started looking distinctly like she was in need of potty. But were there potties there? Oh no. Fortunately, upon questioning her, she told me she was just "portending". Whew! Disaster averted.

Wii Love to Play

Samantha loves to play on the Wii we got for Christmas last year. Kelsie is very aware of what everyone else is doing and knows that you use the white remotes to play the games. She insisted on being on the couch the other night and showed off her mad Wii skills.

In the Magic Kingdom

Earlier this month, we had the chance to go to Disneyland for Matt's company's annual trip. We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and stayed until Saturday afternoon. It was both of the girls' second trip to Disneyland, but they both seemed more aware of everything. We had been in Disneyland on Thursday for about 2 minutes when we learned how Kelsie felt about giant fuzzy creatures. She screamed at poor little Chip (Dale wasn't around). She soon warmed up once he was out of sight and we proceeded to only have Samantha be in the pictures of characters.

Minnie was dressed up for Halloween.

Of course we had to go on the flying Dumbo ride. It was Sam's first request and Kelsie liked it too.

One of the things I remember about Disneyland as a child was exploring the caves and treehouse on Tom Sawyer's island. We crossed the river on the rafts and spent some time exploring the pirate's tunnels and the rest of the island. Sam liked the crow's nest...

...and Kelsie was at the captain's wheel.

We also spent some time at California Adventure Park. Sam and Kelsie both enjoyed the rides and things to do in the Bug's Life area with Flik's Fair. They liked running around with the "jumping water". They both got a little bit wet this year, but we avoided any full wardrobe changes after the water fun.

We had a wonderful time at Disneyland!

Washing Up Kelsie

So Kelsie isn't the cleanest and tidiest of eaters. This evening, anticipating the mess that would follow, we stripped her down to her diaper before giving her some watermelon. (This was after her ninja-fast reflex move to swat the incoming sweet potato-corn puree off the spoon and all over her onesie...of course.) We've discovered the easiest way to wash her up after a meal is to hose her down in the sink. She is not afraid of the water in the least, but I'd never seen her bend down to drink from the faucet like a drinking fountain. She's a funny girl.

Our Day at the Beach

Yesterday we went to Seacliff Beach for our ward's Beach Party. All I can say is that the girls had a lot of fun! We all came home covered in sand and wetter than we expected.

Kelsie was taking it all in from the shore.


Sam was all ready to go, though. Can you tell she's ready? Two thumbs up!


Pause for a family photo. See...we all were there!


Kelsie absolutely loved the sand. She loved crawling in it. She loved digging her little hands into it. She loved using the little shovel to dig it up like she saw Samantha doing. She even loved the gritty feel of it in her mouth (apparently), as she must have eaten five or six handfuls of it during the afternoon. I have a theory on this: since none of the baby foods she gets have any salt in them, I think she just like the salty flavor. Ya never know.


Samantha loved being splashed by the waves. Considering that she is terrified to let go of either Matt or I when she is in a swimming pool with us, it was remarkable to me that she would run out to the waves and when a big one (up to her waist) would come along, she would sit down on her bum or lay down on her tummy with her feet pointing towards the water. Of course we also played "wave tag" and tried to run ashore before a new wave could get us wet.


Some of the kids were making a tidal pool on the shore and were trying to dig a hole for the water to get trapped in. Samantha was using her bucket to help and she decided to go get some water from the ocean. Of course she wasn't paying attention and when a wave startled her, she dropped the bucket which was then washed out to sea. She was distraught about this so Matt was looking for it. There was a mad dash for the flash of pink in a wave and Matt came out of it victorious--the bucket in hand and wet from head to toe.


Now, when dads get involved in the building of a sand fort or pool, things really get moving. Using buckets, Matt built a self-digging tidal pool. The water from the waves would wash ashore and get trapped while some would escape down the beach again. As the water moved back towards the ocean, it carved out a deeper path for the water to travel in to refill the pool again on the next big wave. Genius!


The girls got to enjoy the fruits of their daddy's labors floating on a boogie board in the tidal pool.


All in all, it was a fun day at the beach. Fun was had by all, and sand was found in all sorts of places.

Kelsie's First Birthday

Yesterday, Kelsie celebrated her first birthday. It's hard to believe how big she has gotten and how much she has changed in a year. She is such a sweet girl--warm, gummy smile (no teeth), crawling all over the place, exploring new things she encounters, and such a cute little giggle.

Kelsie's Stats: Today: 18 lbs, 1 Year ago: 7 lbs, 5 oz

Sam was happy to help Kelsie open her gifts.


Kelsie was having a great time checking out her new toys. She got a classic rock-a-stacking toy and a See 'n Say.


Kelsie seemed surprised by her rubber ducky cake.


When we put a little cake in front of her, it took her a while to figure out what to do with it. Oh, she tried a little of the cake, but she seemed more fascinated by the feel of the cake and frosting between her fingers. I don't think she actually ate very much of it. And as for being messy, she only had some frosting on her fingers and a smudge on her cheek. Not the sticky mess I had envisioned. Happy birthday, Kelsie!

"Happy Birthday, Dear Matt!"

For Matt's birthday, I told Samantha that we could make a cake for Daddy's birthday and that she could be my helper. I asked her what kind of cake we should make for him and she decided to make a "fishie" cake and that it should be orange like a goldfish cracker. After a bit of carving and frosting and rolling and cutting out pieces, we created a goldfish cake. And yes, Sam was a good helper. We used the end of a turkey baster to cut out the circles for the scales...and Sam would blow on the hole on the other end to pop out each little circle. What a helper she is!



Daddy loved his cake...



Kelsie loved her balloon...



And Sam took a nap. All that hard work sure wore her out.