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!

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.