Where did the last year go?

Okay.  So I have been a blog slacker and apparently have lost the last year.  The kids are getting older.  Sam turned seven in April and just started second grade.  Kelsie just turned four and is obsessed with dinosaurs.  She is a new dinosaur every day and gets upset if you don't call her the correct title (mud spinosaurus, whysaurus, etc).

Here are a few pics of the girls...

Samantha lost her first tooth a few months ago.  We made her a tooth pillow to put the tooth in for the tooth fairy.  And it worked.  She got a shiny gold dollar the next morning.

I'll try to do better at posting...but no guarantees.

"Happy Birthday to You!"

Today was Samantha's sixth birthday. It's hard to believe she's been part of our family for 6 years already. She is happy and sweet, loves to help her sister and parents, remembers all sorts of things that surprise us, is curious, funny, has an impressive vocabulary, and is a wonderful friend. She is sensitive, beautiful, and gives the best hugs. I love to hear her say that she loves me and it brightens my day to see her smile. Happy birthday, Sweetheart!

Sam wanted a puppy cake for her birthday. So this is what she got. I didn't show her how it turned out until it was time for the cake. On our way home, I told her it didn't turn out looking much like a dog and kind of looked like a tractor. Why a tractor? First random thought that popped into my head. She even told me it was okay, that maybe a tractor would be alright. Cute.

Sam asked for a bike. Matt came through and wheeled out this beauty with balloons tied to the handlebars. Sam jumped right on it, gave her daddy a hug and said, "Best birthday ever!" Go, Dadddy, go!

Happy birthday, Samantha!

A Saturday of Sledding

On Saturday, we took Sam and Kelsie to go sledding with their cousins. This was their second time going sledding...ever. My girls are snow-loving kiddos. I frequently have to ask Sam to stop eating snow. She just loves the stuff. Now, Sam has always been a little hesitant to try things that require much bravery, but she has really taken to sledding. She'll grab a sled and be down the hill before I can even ask her if she's ready. And then there's Kelsie. She is way worse. At one point, Matt set down the sled at the top of the hill while he went to check on our niece. As soon as Kelsie saw a vacant sled in "starting position", she was on it and starting to gather momentum down the slope. Fortunately, I managed to dive and grab the sled (sacrificing my knees in the process). Matt and his oldest nephew had the idea to build a jump on the hill, which led to a few runs where we got some air. A fun day, and not nearly as cold as the 4 degrees the previous weekend with the Provo cousins.

Sam with Hailey at the top of the hill

Kelsie going down the hill with Mommy

Saying "cheeeeese!" for Aunt Carrie

Sledding in the Superman style...no hands...she's flying!

Kelsie going down the hill all by herself

And loving it!

Mommy and the girls all ready to go

Matt getting some sweet air over the jump

Merry Christmas with Love

A free ecard by Smilebox

On the Move

What have we been up to lately? Here are a few hints.

We've been packing, driving, unpacking, and just generally trying to get settled in Utah. Matt is going to be going back to school at Weber State to go through their nursing program, so we've moved to the Beehive State. I'm going to be teaching fourth grade in Herriman at a pretty new school. It's all exciting and stressful at the same time.

Sam is still a bit sad about leaving her friends in San Jose (we all are a little bummed about it), but is making new friends in Primary at our new ward. Plus, she'll be starting Kindergarten in about a month and a half and will find plenty of friends in her class. Fortunately, we are able to keep in contact with her San Jose friends, too. So, for her San Jose friends, here she is singing one of her Charlie and the Chocolate Factory favorites: "Veruca Salt".

The Big Scary Cake

So this past weekend, my little sister Ashley got married and she had asked me (read: told me) to make her wedding cake for her. Now, I like to cook and decorate cakes, but a wedding cake is different. It's huge, fancy, and presented in front of potentially hundreds of people. I was terrified of making this beast. I baked all of the cakes, made all the frosting, fillings, and fondant and got ready to tackle this. She requested a three-tier cake--bottom layer was lemon, middle was chocolate, and top layer was white with a cheesecake layer inside. All of this was to be covered with fondant. At first, she wanted white and navy blue designs on all the tiers. I talked her down to a simple white cake with white designs on it. Now, I was feeling better, but then I stacked the layers together and the bottom tier was HUGE--6 inches tall, 14 inches across, and about 30 pounds. Scared again. So I continued this stressed, scared, worries cycle all throughout the construction of this beast. I finished it about 30 minutes into the reception and we walked it out to the reception area. It felt great to set it on the table and be done. I thought it was cute...and delicious. Mission complete. A big "WHEW"!

A Berry Good Day

This morning, we loaded up the car and drove over to Watsonville to visit a berry farm. We went to Gizdich Ranch to pick strawberries and olallieberries (kind of like a blackberry). The girls had alot of fun. Kelsie preferred picking the strawberries and Sam was really good with the olallieberries. Kelsie wanted to pick everything that was even a little bit reddish, so I got to chase after her and refocus her on riper fruit. Sam would race ahead and come jogging back to show us the great berries she picked. Everything got added to the box and we brought home about 7 pounds of fruit. We enjoyed ourselves and we bought an olallieberry pie to bring home with us from their pie shop. Looking forward to trying it tomorrow.



On our way home from Watsonville, we stopped by Gilroy Gardens to get further use from our season passes. The girls (mostly Sam) were very excited about playing in the water splashing area. Last time we were there, we didn't have swimming suits for the girls, so Sam didn't get to try out the water slide they have there. This time, we were prepared. Sam was getting wet and cruising down the waterslide, but Kelsie decided to be water-phobic and just hung out with me.

One of these things is not like the other: Sam is getting wet and Kelsie is trying to get the camera from me. She really wanted it. Imagine the following conversation (which really was imagined, because she is not nearly this articilulate): 1.) "Mommy, could I please hold the camera?" she asked while cozying up to her mother. "No sweetheart, it's not for you," mom replied. 2.) "But Mommy, I need it!", Kelsie begged while reaching to grab the camera. "Sorry sweetie, I'm using it right now." 3.) "Aaaahhh! Give me the camera!" she screamed persuasively. "Fine. Here," Mom resigned. 4.) "Thank you mommy! Was that so hard?"

Birthdays and Dancing

In the last couple of months, we've celebrated birthdays for both Samantha and Matt. Sam wanted a flower garden party with her friends at our house. We've always tried to avoid parties at our house, because then we'd have to clean up--both before and after the party. At her party, Samantha and her friends painted their own terra cotta flower pots and then planted a flower to take home with them. I let Sam choose what she wanted for a cake, and she asked for cupcakes with roses on them. It's always fun to try and pull off what she asks for when it comes to cakes. The party was a success and all the kids went home happy with flowers.


In May, Sam's dance class had their little recital. It was very cute. They changed costumes and performed for the audience. Sam was thrilled to have all of her grandparents there to see her dance. Of course, anything Samantha gets to do, Kelsie also wants to do, so she needed to put on the leotard and tutu when we got home and did her own little dance.

Matt had a birthday in May, too. We made him a big cookie instead of a cake and I let Samantha decide how to decorate it. So, Matt had a manly cookie with pink flowers, a heart and ladybugs. Nothing screams Matt like ladybugs, huh?

Naughty Little Leprechaun

For the last few days, Samantha and I have been working on building a leprechaun trap. We knew St. Patrick's day was coming and that those little green guys would be up to their usual mischief, so we were going to try and catch them and get their pot of gold. We made a rainbow and a big leprechaun hat. On the top of the hat, there was a big hole that we covered with green felt so it would give way and the leprechaun would fall through the trap door and get stuck in it. With a few bits of gold on top, he'd want to climb up to get it. At the bottom of the hat, we posted a sign saying "Do not climb ladder!". With a sign like that, he'd be sure to climb up (leprechauns are notoriously naughty).

Well, when we came home today, we found that some little person had fallen for our trap. Unfortunately, he also climbed out (he used a paperclip and string as a grappling hook to climb out). Once he got out, he did all sorts of naughty things like jumping on Sam's bed and turning the milk in the fridge green. Maybe we'll catch him next year!

Family Portraits

In the middle of February, we had our family photos taken at Vasona Park in San Jose. We got lucky and the weather was beautiful. The girls were mostly happy, but never at the same time it seemed. I thought they came out great! Here are a few of my favorites...

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!