The Tophams

To McKenzie

2012-02-14T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking that I need to take some time to write down all the stuff I love about McKenzie so here it is:

I love that you are a total goof and love to play around. I wish I could be like you and not be so serious all the time.

I love that you can be a wonderful example to me and Dad. You have unconditional love for so many people....even when they aren't the nicest to you!

I love that you love to dance and sing and perform. You used to be so shy, I was worried about you, but you have definitely come out of your shell and love the be the center of attention.

I love that you love Justin Bieber and fake faint every time you see a picture of him.

I love that you love gymnastics. You are so much more talented than you think you are! Not very many 6 year olds can do a round off back hand spring like you!

I love that you like to follow the rules and choose the right.

I love that you like to go to school. Even though you don't like reading, you are so good at it! You are good at everything you do!

I love that you want to have a baby brother or sister. You practice with your dolls and are going to be an amazing big sister someday.

I love everything about you!

Love, Mom.

Catch Up!

2012-01-28T12:53:00.000-08:00

We have been busy for the past few months. Things have finally slowed down a bit. Here are a few of the highlights!

Halloween....Several halloween parties, tons of candy, and one cute little Princess

Leia...who has a major crush on Han Solo!

Lost her 2 front teeth...which are taking their sweet time to grow in! She lost them around Halloween and here it is January...still no teeth. We are going to the dentist next week! I almost don't want them to grow in. I think she looks so cute!

Thanksgiving (and new family pictures) at home with just the 3 of us and Mere. I love to go to St. George with my family for Thanksgiving, but every other year, when Bodie is on call, I really like hanging out at home by ourselves. Our holiday weekend was spent eating, Black Friday shopping, sleepovers with cousin Grace and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Topham. We were all in heaven!

Santa Claus came to visit McKenzie and we didn't even need to leave the house! We wondered if Conan got on the naughty list because he growled at Santa when he came in the door (even though he has met him before)!

McKenzie's dance recital. She is taking a hip hop class and absolutely loves it. She has some great teachers and some fun friends in the class. She is a talented little dancer. We are so grateful for supportive family that came out to see her perform in the recital. McKenzie loves to be on stage! It is funny because she used to be so quiet and shy, sometimes she still is, but for the most part, she loves to be the center of attention. She wants to get on the competition team for gymnastics so that she can have the spotlight on her for her routines!

Annual grandkid pictures at Tyler and Janece's house. I couldn't get a good picture of all the grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa, but I did manage to get this one of McKenzie and Maddie. McKenzie gets lonely being an only child, but thankfully, she has great cousins who are her very best friends. I couldn't ask to have been born, or to have married into, better families.

Our traditional Christmas Eve...beginning with ice skating. Then going to Grandma Diane's house for a Mexican dinner complete with a pinata that the kids love hitting so much, that now Grandma buys 2 so all the kids get enough turns to hit it. Even my little 1 year old nephew Noah was excited about the pinata. We did white elephants, cousin gift exchange, and listened to the Christmas story read from the Bible. It was a wonderful night.

Christmas morning. McKenzie was so excited to get an orange in her stocking. She had a lesson in primary where the kids were told of a little boy who got an orange in his stocking every year. (There was more to the story, but I didn't get to hear it as I was busy getting the primary kids gifts ready!) After she heard that story, McKenzie was obsessing about whether or no she would get an orange in her stocking. We enjoyed our Christmas day going to church, and then to Grandma Diane's for breakfast and time to play with cousins. Then we came home to spend some time together...just the 3 of us. It was a perfect day!

We have spent our January trying to get back into a routine after so much celebrating during the previous months. We did find time to go down to St. George for a weekend with Grandma Diane for Bodie's work, where I won a $50 gift card to the spa. I can't wait to use it!

McKenzie was also picked to be the student of the month at school. I am so proud of her. She works hard at school and is such a great example to Bodie and I in the way she always makes sure she is following the rules. In fact, I totally blew past a stop sign the other day...I really didn't see it until it was too late....but McKenzie was stressing! She was not happy that I didn't stop!

Here's to new adventures and a happy 2012! We wish the same for you!

Disneyland 2011

2011-11-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

My family was going to Disneyland this October and I had decided not to go because Bodie couldn't get the time off work. I was talking to one of my favorite sister-in-laws and she talked

me into going. My brother wasn't able to go, so Janece and I drove down together with our girls. We got some condos within walking distance to the park. It was awesome! We did drive on the last day of the trip and it was ridiculous. Finding the parking lot and then a parking space took 45 minutes. It was only 10 minutes to walk.

This was our impromptu party for Leslie. We bought her a birthday crown and cupcakes and sang to her at McDonald's

We started out our trip driving Tuesday to Primm, NV where we stayed the night. We got up Wednesday and drove the rest of the way to California and headed straight for the beach. It wasn't really beach weather, but the kids didn't care! They had a good time getting their "feet" wet. They were all soaked and freezing when we left!

Our first day in Disneyland was on Thursday. It has kind of become a tradition that on family trips, my Dad is in charge of breakfast...this trip was no exception. We started out with a really yummy breakfast and then all 17 of us walked over to Disneyland. McKenzie was all decked out in her Leia costume ready to go to the Jedi training. A good friend told me to have her dress up like Leia and she would for sure get picked for the Jedi Training Academy and she was right! Their training started with the Master Jedi teaching them how to use their light saber. After they all figured it out, Darth Vader and Darth Maul came out and tried to get the kids to join the dark side. All the kids had to fight either one of them to complete their training. I asked McKenzie what she thought when she found out that she was going to fight Darth Vader. She said that she didn't know if he had a real light saber so she was just going to watch a few other people go first! Her turn came and she defeated Darth Vader...there was never a doubt in my mind that she could do it! Then all the little Jedi's forced Darth Vader to leave! It was the highlight of the trip. After Jedi training all she wanted to do was Star Tours...everything else was just a bonus for her. Of course, when I was putting all the pictures on the computer, I accidentally deleted the ones of her Jedi training. Luckily I still have a video of her fighting Darth Vader, but I don't know how to put it on here! Just know that it was really cute and so fun to see her so excited! She wasn't really totally interested in seeing the Princesses or anything. She just wanted to go on all the roller coasters after she did her Jedi training and Star Tours ride. She is definitely her Dad's daughter!

Mckenzie (or is it Leia) and I at the entrance of Disneyland

This is the reason she wanted to do Star Tours more than once...she got to see the REAL R2D2!

We spent 2 1/2 days at the park and then Saturday evening began our drive home. Our plan was to get to my parent's condo in St. George that night. We got there at 2am....we were so tired and I have never laughed so hard in my entire life. Thanks to Janece and Madi for making the trip so fun! Sunday morning we got up and drove home. It was a really fun trip, but we missed Bodie a lot, so it was good to be home! Next time he is going with us for sure!

D.I. Treasures...

2011-09-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

Since Mckenzie has started 1st grade and I am only working part time...on a prn status so it is VERY part time....I have had a lot of time on my hands. I have a very talented friend who finds things at the thrift stores and refurbishes them into something really very cool. I decided that with all the time I have now, I would do the same thing. Here are a couple of my projects.....

Started as this...(for $3)

Ended up as this...using stuff I already had in my basement! (Now I need to work on making this to go on the shelf!)

Beginning product....
Ending product.
I needed something to keep all of McKenzie's hair bows on so they don't get all squished. I know it is very colorful and probably not what I would have picked, but Mckenzie picked out all the colors and she loves it, which is what matters because it is hers!

12 Years!

2011-09-25T13:15:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that this labor day weekend, was our 12 year anniversary! We thought we were being so smart by getting married on a holiday weekend so we would always have time to go somewhere and celebrate. Well, the problem is that EVERYONE goes out of town that weekend, so either we don't have a babysitter or where ever we decide to go is already booked! This year we lucked out. We booked a condo up Ogden canyon near Pineview Reservoir for a couple nights. It was awesome! We got there too late on friday night to do anything, so we just went to bed. Saturday, we went to check out a new place we have never been before. The concierge at the condos told us about Causey Reservoir. It is a fun little place about 20 minutes from Pineview Reservoir and is MUCH quieter! It was perfect for fishing. We spent the morning getting ready for our fishing trip, visiting the Monestary in Hunstville, and going to find a canoe to rent. I have never fished from a canoe before and let me tell you...it was a lot of fun! We did have one incident though, we got out of the canoe to fish from the shore in a little cove where a bee or wasp or something crawled in McKenzie's shirt and stung her. I have never heard her scream like that before! We got rid of the bee/wasp and had a good rest of our day even though we didn't catch anything. There were salmon in the lake and they were spawning, so every once in a while we would see their red bellies when they jumped. When it was time to take the canoe back, we went back to the condo where Bodie grilled up some steaks and McKenzie and I went to the hot tub. McKenzie kept telling me on the way back to the condo that she really could use a soak in the hot tub. I can't really blame her...it takes a lot out of you to sit in a canoe and fish while your parents row around the lake! Sunday morning, we woke up really early and went up to Logan for our nieces baby blessing. It was a really nice day and a great way to end a fun weekend. Two of my favorite people in the whole world at lunch on our way to the lake.

Causey Reservoir...So pretty!

McKenzie and Bodie fishing.

It has been a great 12 years and hopefully there are many many more!

A short one...

2011-08-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

Mckenzie was getting ready for school yesterday morning and Bodie was complaining about his allergies...wondering why he was having such bad hayfever this time of year. When he asked McKenzie why she thought he had hayfever she said "I don't know...maybe you have Bieber fever". Bodie assured us he didn't but I think secretly he really does!!!

First Day of First Grade!!

2011-08-24T09:16:00.001-07:00

McKenzie is in first grade!!! I can't believe it. How did she get to be 6 so fast??? She was pretty excited and a little nervous to go back to school. She was bummed that she can't sleep in anymore or be lazy all morning watching TV, but once she got to school she was so excited to see her friends from last year. It was a lot easier to send her to school this year because when she started Kindergarten she didn't know anyone. I was so worried about her having to play at recess all by herself. I didn't have to worry about that for long though...McKenzie made lots of friends really fast. She came home from school yesterday so excited about eating lunch with her friends and her and the other girls chasing the boys at recess. When she told me that, I realized that she is not my little baby anymore!

She also loved the part where she got to go school shopping. Grandma Diane took some of the grand kids when we were in St. George and bought them some new school clothes. Her favorite item that she came home with...the Star Wars t-shirt. McKenzie couldn't wait to wear it! She definetaly impressed some of the little boys at school with that one!

She is such a cute sweet girl and I know she will do really well in school...even if it is hard for me to deal with the fact that she is growing up!

Entrepreneur of the Year

2011-07-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

My dad was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year this year. Every time he talked about it he called it his beauty pageant. Apparently there were several interviews and they came and took pictures and videos of him and all the other 24 nominees. There was a dinner we were all invited to where they announced the winner. It was fun to get dressed up and go out with my parents and all my brothers and sisters and our spouses.We got our oldest niece to come to my parents house and watch all the little kids. The kids love Lexi and were in heaven and like always, they were a little disappointed when we got home because that meant their night was over! Anyway, we all went downtown to the Salt Palace dinner and the award presentations. My dad kept telling us that he probably wasn't going to win, but it was nice to be nominated. Of course, the rest of us were not surprised when they announced his name. He is an amazing person. We are so lucky to have someone like him that we can look up to and try to pattern our lives after. Bodie and I waiting for dinner and the program to start.

Dad accepting his award. Big shout out to my sister Amanda for taking the pictures.All of us after the program. This is all of my brothers and sisters and their spouses...except my brother in law David who was in Maryland for work.

2011-07-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

Bodie's family gets together for a weekend every summer. This year we went to Kodachrome State Park. It was really fun...once we got there! We were supposed to leave on Thursday, but...no surprise....the mechanic called and said the truck was taking a little longer to fix than he had anticipated. We didn't get it back until 6 that night. Rather than drive and get there really late and still have to set up the trailer, we decided to get up early Friday morning and head down. We met the family at Calf Creek Falls. It was so pretty. It was a really hot 3 mile hike to the falls, but well worth it once we got there.
Bodie and McKenzie got in the water, but I was to much of a wuss. The water was FREEZING!!! We played around in the water for a while and then got on with the hike back. We went back to Kodachrome where the kids played Grandma's guessing game. Bodie's mom puts crackers, M&M's, and other treats in jars and the grandkids all take turns guessing how many is in each one. She always has enough so that everyone gets a treat. McKenzie got the M&M's this year...I was really excited about that, but next year, I am hoping she get's the money! Then everyone sang happy birthday to her (since it was the day after her birthday...and we were supposed to get there on her birthday and have a little party for her.) And, she got to open presents. She was in heaven!

Tom (Bodie's brother in law) is an amazing artist and sculpted this in the sand at the waterfall.

Saturday, we spent the whole day at Bryce Canyon. It is so beautiful there. We hiked, shopped, had pizza and ice cream. It was a perfect day. There were so many gnats at the campground, we made sure we didn't get back until bed time!

Sunday we all ended up at Bodie's parents house for church and dinner before we all had to go back home. We had a great time at the reunion this year. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family. It was so fun for McKenzie to play with all her many cousins and for the adults to get caught up on each others lives! We love our family and can't wait until next year!

McKenzie is 6!

2011-07-08T15:28:00.001-07:00

The morning of her actual birthday. We made waffles with mangoes and whipped cream and put a candle in the middle for her to blow out.

Mckenzie is finally, in her opinion, 6. We spent a lot of time celebrating her birthday! We started with a backyard Luau party with some of her friends. We played pop the coconut, ring toss, and some other Hawaiian themed games. Then we got to the good stuff! Cupcakes, presents, sno cones, and squirt guns. My sister Amanda came out and helped me with the party. I thought at first that I could do it myself, no problem, but I was so glad that she was there! After that party, we got ready for the next one. My family came out later that day for another Luau party. We had dinner, played games, ate cupcakes, opened presents, and drank from coconut cups (McKenzie's favorite part!) I am so happy to be part of a family where we are so close. It made McKenzie feel so special with most of her aunts, uncles, and cousins there.
She is really excited that we are singing happy birthday to her!

That birthday party was a week before her actual birthday. We were supposed to leave on her birthday to meet Bodie's family for a family reunion. Well, the truck was in the shop a little longer than we had expected so we didn't leave until the next day. We were all a little disappointed and had spent most of the day waiting around for the truck, so we decided to go have a little fun. We took McKenzie to the Mayan restaurant for dinner. It was so fun to watch her when they did the diving shows. She kept thinking the divers were doing belly flops and would laugh when they hit the water. It was a fun night.

End of the school year.

2011-06-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

McKenzie had such a fun year in Kindergarten. She did awesome. She made some great friends and so did I! I got to help every Tuesday morning. I loved it. It was a lot of fun to see her learn, and become less and less shy! All of her report cards were great. By the end of the year, she was above the expected level in just about every area. It has always been amazing to me to see kids learn to read...when it is my own kid, it is just that much more awesome! McKenzie loved her teacher and overall it was a great experience. She is so excited to go into first grade. She is especially looking forward to eating lunch at school. That will be interesting since she is the world's slowest eater!

The last month of school, McKenzie was nominated by her teacher for the Principle's Pride award. She was so stoked! This picture is her holding up her paper saying that she was getting the award. She got to go to a program in the library one morning where the Principle called each of the kids up separately and read what their teacher's wrote about them. Then they got a picture with the Principle that went up in the main hallway and a goodie bag. I wasn't able to get a great picture of her and the Principle, but luckily they sent the one home with us that they took! McKenzie is still somewhat shy, but she loves to have the spotlight on her...I mean she does want to be a rockstar when she grows up!

Okay, I know this isn't a great picture, but McKenzie had her gymnastics recital the week after school got out. She has done gymnastics for a year now and is loving it. She is a great little gymnast and is completely fearless in the gym....other places, not so much! My camera card got full and I couldn't get many pictures of her, but she did a bar, beam, and floor routine with her class and then got a trophy at the end. She was most excited about the trophy! After the recital, one of the coaches that runs the gym asked if I'd consider putting her in the class that is the next level up. McKenzie wanted to try it out, so we did. It is definitely more of a commitment, but she is loving it and is getting so good. Doing so well at gymnastics is giving her so much confidence in herself, I feel like it is well worth the money. They are great to her at that gym and I love her coaches for that.

Adoption

2011-05-06T09:05:00.001-07:00

So this post is mostly for me...sorry if anyone gets bored reading it! You may or may not know that we have decided to adopt. It has been 4 years of waiting to see what happens, miscarraiges, medical procedures, and more miscarraiges. So, after the last one, we decided we REALLY needed to think hard about what our next step would be. Our options were in vitro fertilization or adoption. We prayed a lot about what to do and I made an appointment...in the same week with an infertility specialist and an adoption caseworker. I left the Dr. feeling really overwhelmed an stressed and not very happy. Bodie and I left the adoption orientation feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off our shoulders. We knew that was our answer. Now, anyone who has delt with infertility knows that it can be really stressful and emotional. After we made the decision to adopt, no kidding, all the stress was gone. We feel now, and have always felt that it doesn't matter if our child comes to us biologically with our own genes or if it comes to us from another set of parents..it can be our child and we will love it no matter what. So, I know we are starting a whole new emotional rollercoaster, but I also know that this is what we are supposed to be doing, we we will be able to handle it. We went to an adoption education class last weekend. It was amazing. So many good insights and new things to think about. It got us really motivated to get going with our approval process! We are so excited and can't wait until we have another child. McKenzie is great about it too. At this point, I think she would be somewhat disappointed if we got pregnant instead of adopted! Anyway, sorry for the boring post! Wish us luck!

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the weather wasn't great during Spring Break, but man were we excited! It was so nice not to have to stick to a schedule. We could sleep in, eat breakfast late, and have sleepovers...which is just how we started our spring break! After a few days of lounging around, Bodie, Mckenzie and I met Bodie's parents in Capitol Reef National Park. We took the trailer....and found out that the truck gets WAY worse gas mileage when towing it. Gordon and Joann got there a couple hours before us and saved us a campsite. Then they found out that there are rules against that and the campground filled up. Luckily, we were able to squeeze the trailer into their campsite with them. The first night there, we had dinner and then went on a walk around the campground....until it was dark. Bodie got up bright and early friday morning and watched a guy across from us pack up his tent and leave, so Bodie jumped right on that. He parked the truck in that campsite. It was nice to have a little more room and a fire pit. Friday was such a beautiful day. We spent the day looking at the petroglyphs, hiking to Hickman's Bridge, and checking out the Fruita one room schoolhouse. McKenzie now has a new appreciation for her school! On the hike to Hickman's bridge McKenzie decided that she LOVED Capitol Reef because there were so many good places to take pictures of her. I love it!

McKenzie posing at Hickman's Bridge

Another place to take a picture!

You can't really see them, but those are petroglyphs behind her.

McKenzie and Grandma

We woke up Saturday to cold and rain...Boo! There was an Easter egg hunt at the picnic area, so Joann and I headed down there with McKenzie while the boys packed up the trailers. There were a ton of eggs and at first there were only a few kids there. By the time it started, the park was packed! McKenzie still got out with a lot of treats though. We all had a good time even though her fingers were freezing!

Waiting for the egg hunt to start

All the eggs. There were sooo many! Thanks to Grandma for going with us!

It was fun to be at Capitol Reef, but it was fun to be home on Easter as well. McKenzie got a cute Easter dress, so we had to go buy her some high heels to match. She loves those dang shoes! We had a quiet Easter at home enjoying Easter candy. We had somuch fun that we weren't even too sad that we weren't in warm, sunny St. George at my parent's new condo with them!

Dying Easter eggs.

Mckenzie in her Easter dress with her Easter basket behind her.

Bon Jovi Sistee Night!!!

2011-03-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

Last night, Janece, Tami, Mere, Leslie and I all got to go to the Bon Jovi concert. Let me just tell you ....it was awesome. Funnest sistee night I have had in a long time and a MUCH needed girls night out! We started the night off with dinner at Applebees at the Gateway. We got there ...okay Janece got there 2 hrs before the concert started and it was already getting packed. No worries though, we didn't even know the band that was opening for Bon Jovi, so once we got seated, we took our time eating and talking, and laughing...a lot! Then we walked over to the concert. I sure do love those Bon Jovi concerts! It was awesome...we were dancing the whole night. I didn't get any pictures, but Janece got a great video of all of us on her phone! We decided that next time he tours, we will go see him in Vegas even if he comes to Salt Lake. We could all use another sistee weekend in Vegas! I love my sisters and love that we are so close! The only thing that could make the night better was if Amanda was there, but she was on her way to California to try to get back to Hawaii. Amanda...next time you will have to come for sure. Or maybe we could all come to Baltimore when he is there!

My sisters are some of my very best friends and I love them all so much! I am so blessed to have such an awesome family!

McKenzie was mad that I didn't buy a ticket for her, so I told her that I would take her to the Justin Bieber concert when he comes in town again. I hope taking her to the Justin Bieber movie will do instead of the concert, but we will just have to wait and see!

Her First Wiggly Tooth

2011-03-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

McKenzie was a very late bloomer when it came to getting teeth. She was almost exactly 9 months old before the first ones came in. Imagine my surprise when she was the first of her friends to get a wiggly tooth. Now, I can handle a lot of things that come along with having kids... diapers, puke, potty training (though I got off real easy on that one!) and all the other messes they make. I cannot, however, handle loose teeth. I don't know why, but it has always bugged me. I have dreaded the day when she started loosing her teeth. McKy's tooth was getting looser and looser until one day, when I was at work and Bodie was in charge, I came home to this:

Bodie talked her into letting him tie a string around it and pull it out. She was really excited until it happened...and it hurt. Bodie felt bad that she was so sad that he told her that they could write a letter to the tooth fairy letting her know that it was her first tooth to come out and it hurt and when she got that letter, she would probably give McKenzie $10. Bodie is no longer allowed to be in charge of communicating with the tooth fairy!

Fabulous!

2011-02-10T10:32:00.000-08:00

So this morning McKenzie got all dressed for school and went in my room to check herself out in the full length mirror. This was her reaction: "I look great...Mom, do you want to take my picture when I get my shoes on?" So we did!

Family Pics!

2011-01-25T14:13:00.001-08:00

So my very talented friend Lindsay Sundloff took our family pictures a couple months ago and they are by far my favorite pictures ever! You can get to her blog from mine to check out more of her photography. She's amazing!

Merry Christmas!

2011-01-24T14:59:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas and hope that everyone else did too! Here are a few highlights...

Making sure Santa knows that she wants a DS for Christmas

Christmas Eve cookies for Santa and carrots for the Reindeer
She was very excited about the presents under the tree!

The pinata at Grandma and Grandpa's Christmas Eve party...after the ice skating of course. This year, we all met at the Gallivan Center for ice skating so we could be outdoors like in the good old days before the Murray Ice Rink closed. It was great. McKenzie is a really good little ice skater...even though she only does it once a year!

Christmas morning with all her stuff from Santa. You can't really see it in the picture, but she did get her DS and some games from Santa.

McKenzie and her Baby Alive. One of her favorite presents.

We spent Christmas Day at my parents house for a delicious breakfast and time to play with the cousins. We got to see Bodie's sister Crystal and her family when they stopped by on their way to Monroe. McKenzie loves to see her Walker cousins, we wish they could see each other more. After playing for a while, we came back home and spent the rest of the day playing with our new games and toys, and watching movies. It was a really fun, very low key holiday. I think those are the best kind!

She did it!

2011-01-18T13:01:00.000-08:00

After her cousins got their ears pierced, Mckenzie kept begging and begging to get hers done. On New Year's day while Bodie was snowboarding, we...Leslie, myself, and all the kids...headed down to the mall. We had to stop and take a good look through some clearance racks before going to Claire's and you would have thought it was an eternity to McKenzie who begged every minute or so to go to the ear piercing store. So, we finally made our way down there. We had to wait for a very nervous girl who was ahead of us in line. She looked like she was about 9 or 10 and when it came right down to it, she freaked out and started crying and didn't want to get her ears pierced. McKenzie caught sight of her and just stared. I asked Mckenzie if she REALLY wanted to do this. She said she did and guess what?

She was very brave and just sat there like it was nothing. I think I was stressing more than she was! It is hard to see in the picture but the studs are tiny blue titanium balls. They kind of look like a pin in her ear, but they are perfect for her. So, now comes the fun part....shopping for earrings!

She says the funniest things....

2010-12-31T09:17:00.001-08:00

So my cute McKenzie has a couple cousins...who she calls step sisters...who got their ears pierced in the last couple of days and begged us to let her do the same. I told her she has to ask her dad because I am mostly okay with it and I wanted to make sure that he was too. Dad told her that she could as soon as she brushes her teeth twice a day all by herself without being asked so she can learn the discipline needed to clean her earrings twice a day. tha plan was to do that for about a month. Well...yesterday...two days into it, she asked dad how firm he was on the month, followed with a big hug and kiss. If she still wants to, she is going to get her ears pierced tomorrow! Now she could change her mind, which I would not be upset about, but we will see. So last night, I am tucking her in bed and she says "Mom, I am so lucky to have two parents who... (this is where I think she is going to say, love me ) want me to get my ears pierced. Even though you are both stressing about it!" I love this girl!

Student of the Month

2010-11-30T11:50:00.001-08:00

Congratulations student of the month! At McKenzie's school they choose one student from each class to receive the student of the month award. The teacher writes a little note saying why they chose that student and then they present the awards and read the notes at an assembly. McKenzie was nominated because of her good behavior, always willing to help, and being a friend to everyone. Good job McKenzie. We are so proud of you!

Halloween In Disneyland!

2010-11-30T09:15:00.001-08:00

We had the best halloween ever! We decided this summer that we wanted to see Disneyland at Halloween, so what better weekend to go than Halloween weekend! McKenzie wanted to be a cowgirl for Halloween this year, so this is the costume we came up with. I think it is pretty cute! We got the cowgirl boots, skirt, and hat and just needed a vest, so we called Mom! She made this vest for McKenzie and it turned out great. McKenzie is lucky to have the best grandmas ever!

We started our vacation on Friday the 29th, after the Kindergarten Fall Festival of course. We drove down to Vegas and stayed the night with Bodie's sister. It was a lot of fun since we don't get to see them very often. McKenzie was in heaven playing with her cousins. We had breakfast with them Saturday morning, and then we were on our way. Saturday was my birthday, so Bodie made a surprise stop in Primm, Nevada at the outlet malls for a shopping trip. It was awesome! After that, we drove the rest of the way to Disneyland and spent the evening at Bubba Gump's Shrimp for dinner, than a walk around Downtown Disney, just to check things out. On our way back to the Hotel, we stopped at Cold Stone for ice cream. It was the best birthday ever! We stayed at the Ramada Inn Maingate, literally right across the street from disneyland. So, on Halloween morning, we got up and walked over to Disneyland. It was so fun to see how excited McKenzie got to see all the characters, rides, and decorations. We left Disneyland around 4 to go back to the hotel for dinner and to change into our costumes for Mickey's Halloween Party. We went back over at 6:30 and spent the night getting so much candy we could hardly hang onto our bags, went on a couple rides, and watched the fireworks show. There was a parade at 10, but McKenzie was falling asleep in her stroller asking to go back to the hotel, so we did! Monday, we were all very well rested and spent the whole day going back and forth between the two parks. It was awesome. We don't get to go on very many vacations with just the 3 of us, and it was so fun. I am so glad we did it. I can't wait to go back next year! October in Disneyland is the best time to go!

At Mickey's Halloween Party. I know it isn't a great picture, but it's the best we could get!

McKenzie and Jesse...the two cowgirls

McKenzie on the Teacups. The first ride at Disneyland. This was her favorite ride until she discovered Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad, and Space Mountain!

McKenzie and Dad outside Sleeping Beauty's castle

McKenzie and Belle

McKenzie and Ariel...her favorite princess!

Soccer and Gymanstics

2010-10-20T16:15:00.001-07:00

Well...we just finished our first season of soccer. I was going to sign McKenzie up for soccer last year, but she kept telling me that she wanted to do it when she turned 5. Sure enough right about when she turned 5 she asked if she could play soccer, so we signed her up. She had 9 games...most on Saturdays. And, she got to be on a team with one of her friends. The teams consist of 8 kids...hers was 2 girls and 6 boys....and 4 play at a time. She loved it. At first she would run after the ball and only try to kick it if it was out in the open. After the second game, I asked her if she knew that she could take the ball away from the kids on the other team. She said No. After we got that figured out, she was a pretty aggressive little soccer player. On our way to the last game she told me that her legs were tired and she wasn't sure if she felt like running. I told her sorry...she wanted to sign up for this and she was going to play. Once the game started, she got really into it. She even made 2 goals! She called everyone she could think of to tell them! We had a lot of fun this season and can't wait until it starts up again in the spring.

Mckenzie has also been taking gymnastics since May. She absolutely loves it. It has given her so much confidence and she is much more willing to try new things. She is almost completely fearless there. She wants to learn how to do back handsprings so bad. She has been practicing on the couch and finally got it down. She can now do them...on the couch...by herelf. They practice on a wedge at gymnastics and her coach told me the other day that she is confident that she can do them by herself on the wedge and is going to have her try next week. McKenzie is a great little gymnast. She has even decided that she doesn't mind being small because she strong. She knows she is strong because as she says...everyone at gymnastics tells her she is the strongest girl in the class. I say...good for her!

Camping Trip to Spruces!

2010-10-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

So, about a month or so ago we bought a tent trailer. We were so excited to use it, but McKenzie's soccer games have totally taken up our weekends so we hadn't been able to take it out. A couple weekends ago, we decided that we would go after McKenzie's soccer game up to the Spruces campground for a night. I love that campground. It is up in Big Cottonwood Canyon and is sooo nice. Anyway, we took the trailer up there Saturday and had Les, Nate, and the kids, and Mere come up for dinner...dutch oven chicken, carrots, and potatoes...yum! For desert...as many s'mores as we could eat. The kids thought it was hilarious to catch the marshmallows on fire, just so they could blow them out like a candle. It was so much fun. Sunday we got up and put everything away and started our hike to Dog Lake. We wanted to go to donut falls, but found out that our trailer couldn't go with us. Boo! Anyway, we started the hike, but go too hungry and tired to actually get to the lake, so we turned around and came home. We had a so much fun and were VERY sore the next day...what a hike!

At the campground...she always has to pose for the picture.

On our hike, we found a fort. McKenzie kept calling it her home!

Hiking around the campground.

Welcome Fall

2010-10-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

I love fall. Not the part where you don't know what summery clothes to keep in the closet...just in case it gets warm, but I love the cooler weather, the colors of the trees, and I love, love, love the halloween decorations. My mom and I took McKenzie to Gardiner Village the other day to see the witches and shop around. It was such a fun afternoon.

McKenzie with the hula hooping witch. Of course Mckenzie made sure to point out to us that she can hula hoop much better than that witch can.

McKenzie and the frog witch.

McKenzie in the carraige.

If you haven't been there yet this season, I suggest you go! Oh and don't forget the bread to feed the ducks. That is the one thing we didn't get to do.

Dallas!

2010-09-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

McKenzie and I got to have a much needed girls weekend a few weeks ago when my friend's husband had to go out of town and we decided to go out to Dallas to keep Kelly company. It was so much fun and despite what she says, she has some of the cutest, funnest kids. We had a great time! Thanks so much to Kelly for showing us around for the weekend and letting us crash her house!

Things we did:

Went to the Dallas Aquarium. It was so awesome. I was totally impressed.

Playing with the river otters. They loved it.

They took any chance they could to pose for a picture.

This was McKenzie's favorite part. She loved the sea turtles and manatees.

Checking the map to see where we go next.

Merry go round at the Fort Worth Zoo.

By the elephant. Don't they look like supermodels! This zoo was really cool too. It makes the Hogle Zoo look really wimpy!

We went to the Rain Forest Cafe, which I had never been to but it was too dark to get a good picture. The Rain Forest Cafe was a lot of fun. Better food than I had expected. I would totally recommend it!

We also did a lot of eating out, talking, laughing, and got in a lot of House Hunters, which happens to be my favorite show! Oh and we did get in a walk one day...a little exercise to burn off all the food and treats we ate!

Thanks again Larson's! We'll have to do it again really soon. Actually McKenzie now wants Bodie to be a dentist so we can live in Texas. She did inform me that Bodie can't be a Vet though...because he is allergic to cats and what if a cat needs to be fixed? Bad news for Dad!

Happy Anniversary!

2010-09-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Wow... our 11th wedding anniversary! I can't believe it has been 11 years. I still feel so young, but maybe it is because I am still pretty immature sometimes! We celebrated by going to dinner at Market Street Grill. It was delicious. We were pretty boring since we had both been working a lot that week, but we planned on spending Labor Day together, just the three of us. As it turns out, Bodie was on call that weekend and ended up working for most of it. We did get to go on a little hike on Labor Day up in Middle Canyon which was lots of fun . Anyway...it has been a wonderful 11 years!

First Day of School

2010-09-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

Posing for the first day of school pictures!

McKenzie finally had her first day of Kindergarten. Finally in her words...not mine! She has done great going this first week. She goes in the morning and on the second day of school, she asked me if she could start walking in by herself...I said no! I had to make sure she knew where her class was! Now that she knows, she walks in by herself and is so proud of herself. She told me the other day that she had made a friend in class and when I asked what her friend's name is, she said she didn't know. She is really good at going, and doing her reading homework, but just about falls apart at night. I know she is just trying to figure out what it means to be in kindergarten...she has to be big, and independant, and has to do it for the next 20 years! When we were getting ready for the second day of school, she said that she didn't want to go anymore because she has to wake up so early and she doesn't even have time to do yoga anymore. I realize that it has only been a week so far, but overall, the whole school starting thing has gone over pretty well!

Summer 2010

2010-08-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the highlights of our summer....which is quickly winding down!

Palisades Lake with the Topham family where we spent most of our time at the lake. It is such an awesome place. I want to go back next year!
Playing at the park in Manti with cousins....all these girls will be in Kindergarten this year. I wish we lived closer so they could all go together!!

Swimming....in her clothes....in the lake by Aunt Allisons house in Berthoud, Colorado
We went to Colorado to visit Aunt Allison and Great Grandma Dangerfield with Grandma Diane, Leslie and her kids, and Connor and Grace.

Riding Dallas at Aunt Allison's house

Getting ready for the 4th of July parade in Tooele with her gymnastics class. She has been taking Gymnastics since May and absolutely loves it....especially when she found out she gets to be in a parade!

Tooele Gymnastics Academy float. you can barely see her but she is the third one over from the right on the front row. She was really into throwing candy so I had a hard time getting her attention! After the Parade, we went to the park in Tooele to hang out and then we went over to a BBQ at our friends house followed by fireworks. It was a lot of fun.

McKenzie and I joined Grandma, Grandpa, Tami, Mere, Les, Janece and the cousins at the 24th of July Parade in Salt Lake. We went down at about 5pm on the 23rd to help Mom save her spot. I wasn't sure if McKenzie would fall asleep next to a very busy, noisy street, but she did great. She loved the parade and watched it way better than I ever did when I was a kid. I was always too hot and tired to enjoy it much after sleeping over. She said she wants to go next year but she is going to try to get more sleep next time. After the parade we went back to my Mom's house for lunch and then went to cool off in her pool at the Cottonwood Club...it was soooo nice! After swimming, it was time for dinner and then the Days of '47 Rodeo, which she loved. We had a very busy day and were totally exhausted by the time it was over, but we had a great time!

Funny Stuff

2010-07-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

So everyone tells me that I should write down some of the stuff Mckenzie says because she is so funny sometimes, so here it is:

Yesterday when my friend needed us to watch her daughter, who is 3 (McKenzie is 5 by the way) McKenzie wanted me to drop her off so she could babysit all by herself. She told me she was practically like a teenager because she can babysit and surf board...which she has never done. I told her that we should try surf boarding sometime and she said she would...only if she could have goggles and floaties on!

Then we went up to my brother's house up in Ogden and right before we were leaving, my nephew..who makes fun of me because I make McKenzie eat healthy...told her to make sure I got her a bug juice on the way home. Of course she asks me for one and I tell her no because she needs to drink more water. She told me that I needed to make myself be nice and let her have a bug juice. Thank you Taylor!

She also told me that she wants me to call the school and tell them that she wants to be in all day kindergarten. She has suddenly gotten a very independent streak...which I think is not all bad.

Happy 5th Birthday McKenzie

2010-07-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

My sweet daughter!

So last week, McKenzie turned 5. I can't believe it...she is already 5! She had a fun "friends" party at her gymnastics place. they did a bunch of obstacle courses. The highlight of course was jumping down the tumbling track into the foam pit. McKenzie also thought it was so cool when her coach said that she didn't have to follow normal gym rules because it was a birthday party...she could have free reign of the gym. She was in heaven. After an hour in the gym, she got to have cupcakes and presents which was her other favorite part!

The princess also got a cousins swimming party the day before her birthday. Thanks to Grandma Diane she got to have a swimming party at the country club with all her cousins. And the highlight....she got to have both Grandma's there. Grandma Topham came up with Eron and Emma. We met at my Mom's house for lunch, then went over to the club to swim for a couple hours. After that, we went back to Grandma Diane's house for snow cones and cookies. No pictures of that party though since I forgot my camera. I am relying on Grandma Topham to send me the ones that she took!

On her actual birthday, we took her to the Gateway to make a build-a-bear, then got dinner and went to Toy Story 3 in 3d. It was a fun movie...the first party was anyway. We made it through an hour of the movie when Bodie got called out and we had to leave so he could go to work. Boo! She was so good about it though and we promised we would take her to see all of it another day. All in all I think she had a fun 5th birthday.

Oh...I almost forgot. According to McKenzie I am the best mom ever. That's right....EVER, and I'll tell you why. Bodie and I got her a snow cone maker for her birthday. The girl loves snow cones more than any other treat, so I thought it would be fun to get her a snow cone maker. That cuts my trips for slushies way down which is a bonus for me! SO, when you're in the mood for a snow cone, head on down to my house!
Some things about the 5 year old McKenzie:

She love, love, loves gymnastics...she has only taken it for a couple months and is always tumbling around the house.

She loves to listen to Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Hannah Montanna, and Miley Cyrus. She is also always singing and dancing around the house.

She loves to be the center of attention...which is a complete 180 from my 2 year old McKenzie who was so shy, I wondered if she would ever get over it.

She is so sweet. She is constantly making sure that I am happy...except when she is being sassy!

She is smart and beautiful and I am so lucky she is my daughter!

McKenzie can't wait to start kindergarten. She loves to learn new things and I am totally confident that she will do great.

McKenzie....we love ya...more than you will ever know!

Swimming through the foam pit. (not sure what setting I had my camera on, but all the action shots came out blurry!)

Opening the snow cone maker

Enjoying a snow cone!

It's Summer!!!!

2010-06-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

We are loving summer here! I know Mckenzie was just in preschool, but I am loving not having to get her up early! So far, our summer has consisted of a family Lagoon day with all the Dangerfield's and Taylor's girlfriend...Tori! The girls were so excited that she was going to be there and they were all fighting about who got to go on the rides with her. Thanks Tori for being so awesome with the girls! We have also had several cousins sleepovers. We have had Lily, Lucy, Luke, Grace, Emma, and Eron over (at different times!) When Bodie's mom came to pick up Emma and Eron, she invited McKenzie to go up to Logan with her for a few days to hang out with her cousins up there. Lucy earned a sleepover all by herself so she called us yesterday and said "guess what? It's tonight!" When I asked what tonight was she said it was the night for her sleepover at our house, but she could only stay for 5 nights! Leslie heard and corrected her in the background. Anyway, we have had so much fun! The girls are sitting here watching Phineas and Ferb saying how hilarious it is, but I don't hear any laughing! They got in a couple fights last night so they came to me and said, that they accidentally fought a little, but that tomorrow would be a better day and they would try harder to not fight! McKenzie is lucky to have all her cousins be her best friends. Even the Hawaii cousins that we don't get to see much! We will always be so glad that we decided to go out there and spend a few weeks with them.

Much love to all the cousins!

I have the best daughter ever.....

2010-03-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

I am always thinking about how cool my daughter is so I thought that I would actually write it down and she will be able to read it someday and know that despite all of my grumpiness sometimes, I really do think she is the best. Yesterday we were walking to Nigh Time to get some donuts and she had her baby and her "baby bag" that she wanted to take with her. She told me that in her baby bag, she had a diet coke for me just in case I need one. I thought it was so cute that when she was packing her bag she would think of me.
Other things I love about McKenzie:

I love to watch her sing and dance....she wants to be a rockstar when she grows up and she is well on her way!
She loves babies, which includes all kids younger than her. So if she is ever treating your 3 year old like a baby it is because she loves to mother kids younger than her!
She loves to write in her science journal like Sid the Science kid. She loves to learn new things.
She still loves to hang out with me and her dad, which I hear will change when she is a teenager!
Believe it or not, I even sometimes like it when she gets a little sassy and talks back. I try discipline and most times I do, but sometimes it just cracks me up!
She is funny....one night I told her that she could watch one Phineas and Ferb on my bed before she went to sleep. She came out and said...Mom, I accidentally watched 2 shows instead of one. This morning, she told me that she woke up to dance! And yesterday as we were walking past the mortuary and saw the casket in the hearse (everyone was outside crying getting ready to go to the cemetery) and McKenzie said, loudly, "there's the dead body"
She's my little buddy. I just love to hang out with her. She's the best!

I am so blessed to have been given such a great daughter! We love you kid!

Girl's Trip!

2010-02-26T21:48:00.000-08:00

McKenzie and I got to go on a girls trip to Hawaii for 2 weeks this past month. We were going to go out to visit Amanda and help with the kids while David was supposed to be on a sub for 6 months. Turns out, he had to come home early, so we got to see him which was an added bonus...especially when he watched all the kids including McKenzie so that Amanda and I could go out shopping and to dinner. We had so much fun. The plane rides were worth it. (Of course that is the worst part but McKenzie did great...better than me!)

Some things we did in Hawaii:

Fun at the Dole Plantation...eating pineapple ice cream, riding the train, and feeding the fish.

Driving the Escalade around the block and pretending they were taking each other to school

BBQ chicken at the Hale Koa in Waikiki, then play at the beach until dark, grab a piece of cheesecake from cheescake factory and watching the fireworks at the beach....it was a great day!

We had lots of chances to swim in the ocean

At the Zoo

Shave ice from Matsumotos....where Dawson had the worst day of his life when Amanda ...trying to be sneaky...dumped some of his shave ice on the ground because it was too big. He ran to the other side of the van and saw what she did. He was not happy!

Became mermaids in the sand - with water wings just in case the mermaids can't swim very well!

Play at the beach and watched the waves at the North ShoreI know it's a bad picture, but this is whale watching at the Makapu'u light house. It was really cool. We saw a lot of whales...or a few very active ones!

Merry Christmas...LATE!!!!

2010-02-26T20:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning ready to go to Grandma's

Presents with the cousins

Hitting the pinata

Christmas morning with the pet pillow

I know this is super late, but I am finally getting Christmas pictures up. We had a great Christmas...Santa was very good to us. McKenzie got her purple hippo pet pillow that she asked for, and a cupcake maker that we all love (okay it is one of those toys that is fun for kids, but really annoying for parents). She also got some clothes...that she won't wear because she didn't pick them out and I guess I didn't do a good job. I did make two major mistakes though...I bought her pants, and they are a size 4, not 4T. Who knew there was such a big difference in size. They drown her. Oh well! My favorite present she got was a V-smile pocket thing. It is the kid video game system that you can take in the car. It is heaven!

We had so much fun at the Dangerfield family Christmas Eve party which, as always, consisted of ice skating with Grandpa, Mexican food at my parent's house with a pinata and gift exchanges with the cousins. It is always a fun time.

Because Christmas was on a Friday, it made it easy for us to go to Monroe to visit Bodie's parents. We left Christmas day after breakfast and presents and drove down for the weekend. We had a fun weekend playing with cousins and Grandma and Grandpa. McKenzie even got to stay a couple extra days with Grandma Topham. Thanks Grandma for keeping her. There are so many times that we are in the car and she demands that I take her to see Grandma Topham.

We had a great Christmas and feel very blessed to be part of such great families!

Catch Up!

2009-12-30T13:58:00.000-08:00

Mcky at her preschool program

After the first dance recital...she loved it!

Mcky entertaining herself in the car!

Well, we are all moved in and have some catching up to do! We sold our house and temporarily moved in with my parents where we celebrated Halloween. McKenzie had a few different halloween parties to go to and dressed different for each one. At Grandma Diane's party she was a cheerleader, at her school party she was a bunny, and at the dance party, country club party, and trick-or-treating she came up with her own costume and was a "tap girl"...a girl wearing a leotard and tap shoes. Sorry...no pictures right now those are on my old camera that is now broken!

Mid-November my sister and her family came in town for Thanksgiving...Bodie, Mckenzie and I moved into Leslie and Nate's house so Amanda could spend more time at my parents. Mckenzie was in heaven...she now has 2 sisters (Lily and Lucy) and 1 brother (Luke), 2 Mom's and Dad's! We had a sistee Thanksgiving at Leslie's house. It was so fun...and memorable. I have not laughed that hard in a very long time! It was great.

December came and with that a preschool program, a dance recital, and fun time with our families. McKenzie did great at her dance recital. The best part for her was all the makeup she got to wear. Now everytime I have the radio on she pretends she is on stage and makes me turn off the light when the song is over so she can run off stage. Bodie brought her flowers for doing such a great job and my brother also stopped to get flowers for the 4 girls in the recital. McKenzie is lucky enough to dance with Lucy, Lily, and Grace. It is amazing how much those little girls loved their flowers.

We are all settled into the house now and McKenzie finally has her blue bedroom she has been wanting for a long time. It was not fun to paint, but turned out much better than I thought. We are loving it here and loving the fact that we are all living together again.

Moving

2009-10-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

In our house right now, we have two bathrooms upstairs. McKenzie has decided that the big one is hers (but she'll share with me) and the one in my bedroom is for Me and Bodie. We have had our house up for sale for about a year now and we are finally under contract. We are staying in Tooele and will be renting a much smaller house until we decide where we are going to live. We will stay in Tooele, but don't know what kind of house we want or where so we'll rent and save money until we can't stand it anymore! Anyway, I told McKenzie that we are moving to a smaller house. She said that was okay. She doesn't mind living in a small house. I came back with "even though you, me, and Dad will have to share a bathroom?" She got very serious and said that she doesn't want to move. Too bad for her she is not in charge!

McKenzie's First Day of School

2009-09-17T11:26:00.001-07:00

McKenzie making up her own pose for her picture

Mckenzie started school last week. She is in the same preschool that she went to last year. She gets to go 3 days a week while in her words...the little kids only get to go two days a week. Oh and the only reason she is wearing pants is because they are new and sparkly, which you can't see in the picture. Last week I helped at the school and she made me walk in behind her...she wanted to go in herself. She is working on writing her whole name this year since last year, she got away with writing Mck. Can't say I blame her for not writing the whole thing! It is a long name for a 4 year old, but she has to learn sometime. We are both really excited for this year at preschool!

Happy 4th of July....A Little Late!

2009-09-17T11:22:00.001-07:00

I am just now getting about 600 pictures off my camera....hence the 4th of July post! I just thought I would post this picture. It is of McKenzie at the 4th of July Parade in Tooele. Sure, most of you don't notice, but she is in the same dress that she wore the year before for the parade. My daughter grows very slowly! I keep telling her that one day she will like being little. She just gets mad and tells me she isn't little. Oh well! She sure is cute though.

McKy is 4!

2009-08-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

Mcky and her dad playing with playdough that she got for her birthday

I know this is a little late, but whatever! McKenzie turned 4 on June 30th and is loving it. She woke up that morning hoping that she would be taller than her cousin Lucy is was still going to be 3 for another month. Now she just says yeah, Lucy is taller than me but I am still older. McKenzie hates to be called little, even though she is a small 4 year old....I just tell her that someday she will love it and she doesn't believe me(at her 4 year old appointment she was 29lbs and 38inches tall). Some things about my 4 year old:

She is adorable and she loves to tell me that other things are adorable or darling
She is very sweet but sometimes has attitude
I think she is a pretty smart kid (I know I am biased!)
She loves to wear skirts and dresses...I thought she would have grown out of that phase by now, but she has not.
She loves her family
She gives great hugs
She is the best kid I could ever ask for and we love her very much!
She is not a great athlete, but she loves to sing and dance.

We have had a great summer but now McKenzie is looking forward to her second year of preschool and dance. She is especially excited because this year at dance she gets a costume and gets to dance on stage!

Easter, Memorial day, Birthday....

2009-07-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

We have been pretty busy the last few months...here are a few highlights...

Easter in St. George with the family dying easter eggs, playing in the park, and hanging out with the cousins

McKy finished her first year of preschool at the Busy Bee preschool in Erda. It was a great experience for her...she made lots of new friends, decided she is not shy anymore, and can now write her name. Thanks to her wonderful teachers Reinee, Shilo, and Grandma Janice!

This is at her preschool end of the year program. They sang some songs and showed off some of the stuff they learned this year. It was nice outside while we were setting up for the program, then it go so windy and a little chilly. Grandma Janice was cute to get jackets and blankets for the kids.

Memorial day in St. George with the family again...sorry no pictures, we were too busy swimming all weekend!

Lagoon day with the family...thanks to Tyler and Janice for getting us in for so cheap and for taking Mckenzie on the kid rides so Bodie and I could ride the big rides....the ones that I am not scared of!

This is Brooklyn and Mckenzie on the airplane ride. Despite the look on Brooklyn's face, she really did like it!

Amanda and the kids came in town for about a month and we had a good time going to the zoo, having sleepovers, gong to movies and hanging out at Grandma's. We always love when they come in town.

We ended June with a trip to Steamboat Springs with my family. I have been there before, but have never realized how much there is to do...especially with a kid! We took our bikes and rode them everywhere...to the store, the fishing pond, and the alpine slide. The kids all got excited to have a turn in McKenzie's trailer. Bodie got very tired! We went to Casey's pond and all the kids (little and big) caught fish. Each of the kids had a character fishing pole, McKy picked out a Dora one, and they worked great! We also had McKenzie's family birthday party there. My sisters and Mom are so cute because even though their kids were coming to her friend birthday party they wanted her to open presents at her party that night, so they all headed down to the dollar store to get her something. She is still enjoying those presents!

That's all for now. More about her birthday later!!!

Poor Puppy!

2009-04-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

McKenzie loves Conan so much, sometimes I feel ad for him! She was convinced that he was cold so she put a blanket on him. Then she was concerned about his ears getting cold, so she put a towel on his head to keep them warm. She is so sweet to her puppy!

Fashionista!

2009-04-27T13:15:00.001-07:00

This is one of McKenzie's favorite outfits. She loves to wear it and dance to Taylor Swift in my bedroom while watching herself in the mirror !

So this is where we start in the morning when I ask McKenzie to get dressed. She has started pulling out her outfits and putting them together on the floor to make sure they "look cute and match". Her bedroom floor was quite the sight to see when we were packing for St. George. We were going to be gone for 5 days and she had each of her outfits on the floor complete with her underwear inside the skirts. She tried to pack 5 different pairs of shoes because her outfits weren't complete without shoes. I did talk her into only taking 2 pairs of shoes because they matched all of the outfits. She cracks me up. Bodie was so determined to not have a girly girl, but, somehow she became one and we love it!

This is the finished product. Pretty cute!

Pooch on the Pond

2009-03-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago the Grizzlies hockey was doing a promotional night called Pooch on the Pond. They do it every year and it is a night that you can take your dog to the hockey game. So, knowing that Mere was going (for those who don't know, she is a huge hockey fan and a season ticket holder) we decided to go and take Conan. What you do is they let you in a separate door, you go up the stairs where there is a ticket table and a section is blocked off only for those with dogs. It was fun. The sirens when we scored scared Conan a bit and he tried to hide under the seat, but by the end of the game he was really into it and would try to follow the puck. Mere's dog Kia was doing that from the start. It was so funny to watch the dogs watch the game. It was fun to be there with other dog lovers....at one point, the guy behind us let Kia lick his ice cream bowl clean! Before the game started, they played how much is that doggy in the window and a dog barked in the song, yeah, that set all the dogs off, they all started barking. It was so funny. Anyway, it was a great night. Thanks for the tickets Mere, you are an awesome sistee!

Murder Mystery Weekend

2009-03-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

We went to our annual murder mystery weekend the first part of Feb. There was a lot of the same old thing, but we also changed things up a bit. Usually we go up Ogden Canyon from a friday to a sunday, and usually, we feel like that is not enough time. So, this year, we went thursday night to sunday and we went up to Midway. It was awesome. The boys got in two days of snowboarding at the canyons, and the girls got in a day of shopping at the outlet malls (so fun and we found some great deals!!!) and saturday we had our hang out day. Saturday we got up, got the boys breakfast and sent them on their way. Then, we got to work....we did a 20 minute workout video that kicked our butts, then we headed down to the gym for an hour. After all that, we decided to reward ourselves and walk down into midway to the closest gas station for a fountain drink. Lucky for Les, Melissa, and me, Aly had to go to the store, so she drove to the store and then met us at the gas station so we had a ride home, which was really good because I don't think we would have made it back to the condo on our feet! The weekend was also filled with multiple trips to the hot tub, which of course, was awesome!!

Aly was in charge of our game and dinner and as always, it was great. We had burgers and fries and rootbeer floats, which went along with the theme of the game 1954 class reunion. We had a great weekend and I am already looking forward to next year's game!!!

The Girls

Me and Bodie

Aly and Damon
Troy and Melissa
Les and Nate

Mamma Mia Night, Pleather Pants....Optional

2009-01-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

Yes, my sisters and I LOVE Mamma Mia, the movie. We all love to sing along, even though we sound horrible and we love to dance and eat. So, we thought why not put all of our favorite things together in one night. We had a Girls Night Out at my mom's house to watch Mamma Mia. My sisters who are so very thoughtful bought me a costume to wear for the party. Something possessed them to buy us matching gold dresses with black pleather leggings. Let me tell you, I have never worn pleather let alone pleather leggings that were a little too small. It was an experience. McKenzie, after being babysat by Leslie all day was all ready to go when I got done with work. Lily had done her makeup and we were off to Grandma's to get into dress ups. It was such a fun night. I have said it before, and I'll say it again, I love having a daughter I can do fun stuff like this with. Sometimes she is pretty mouthy, but most of the time she's pretty sweet and we have lots of fun together.

More pictures of our night!

Merry Christmas!

2009-01-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

The Dangerfield Kids

Hitting the pinata at the Christmas Eve party Ice Sakting with Dad

Sitting with Santa after the Preschool Program

I love Christmas time! I love shopping and lots of people everywhere, and McKenzie seeing Santa, deciding if she is going to go sit on his lap or if she is going to have me sit on his lap and tell him what she wants for Christmas....it is all so much fun. As usual, we had a very busy december, starting with McKenie's Christmas preschool program...I have video, but we couldn't get it converted to the right format to put it on here, so if we figure it out, I'll post it. She memorized her parts and said them so well. After that, we had cousins dance recitals, work Christmas party, pictures in Ogden with all the Dangerfield grandkids followed by dinner at Chuck-a-grandma as Mck calls it, a sleep over at Grandma Diane's, ice skating on Christmas Eve and the annual Christmas Eve party at my parents house with Mexican food, a pinata, and presents. The best part is that Amanda and her kids came in town from Hawaii. It has been so fun to play with them. After Christmas we got to go down to see Grandma and Grandpa Topham for the weekend and play with her cousins down there. Then on New Year's day Joann held a surprise party for Gordon who celebrated his 60th birthday the other day. Everyone in the family was there. We had a blast!

McKenzie is getting so big, I can't believe she is 3 1/2. (She has started reminding me about the half part). She used to be so shy, but after a month of preschool, she informed me that she was not shy anymore and now she will talk to anyone, so to all those who have had their ears talked off by her, I apologize! She has loved to see Santa this Christmas and all she did last year, is cry when she saw him. She want to primary for the first time on sunday and her teacher told me that she was the leader of the group, which surprised me. She got after all the kids for not singing. She is quite mothering to the other kids at church and school. To her cousins, I am sorry, she doesn't feel the same need to take care of them!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

McK found these goggles and thought she would use them as sunglasses when we went to the park.

The kids at the park killing time before the Turkey Bowl

We had a really fun Thanksgiving and hope that everyone else did also. McKenzie and I started our vacation on the Tuesday before, we rode down to St. George with Leslie and her kids and met my parents down there. Everyone else came down on Wednesday. The weekend was filled with a lot of food, movies (Bolt and Twilight for me and the James Bond movie for Bodie), shopping, and golfing. It was so fun to be down there with the whole family, except we were really sad that my niece Kaysie couldn't come down because of work and Amanda and family couldn't come because they live in Hawaii, but they will be here for Christmas!!!

We got some awesome deals shopping at the outlet malls Thursday night at 11:00 then I turned around for more fun and met my sisters at Target Friday morning at 6:00. Let me just tell you, my 17 year old nephew Taylor, who really didn't want to come to St. George anyway is the best person to have with you when shopping on black friday. He can find anything you want. I left Target with everyone on my list and a little more thanks to him and Meredith who is not afriad to throw elbows and butt in front of people in line!

We also had our annual Dangerfield Turkey Bowl, which I am very proud to announce that Bodie was the winner. Every Thanksgiving in St. George, my dad takes us bowling and whoever wins gets to keep the trophy until the next year. Bodie having his own bowling ball and shoes has finally paid off!!!

On the way home, we stopped in Monroe and surprised McKenzie with a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Topham. For about the last month or two every time I tell her that we are going to Grandma's house, she gets really excited and asks if we are going to Grandma Topham's. The only bad part about the visit is that it had to be so short. But, Christmas is coming up and we are planning to make it down there sometime over the Holiday.

Anyway, we had a great Thanksgiving weekend and are very thankful for all of our friends and family. We are really lucky to have the best families ever!

Observation Day at Dance

2008-12-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

I know I am a little slow getting this up, but a week before Thanksgiving was McKenzie's observation day at dance. I got some pictures, but most came up kind of blurry because my camera was on a different setting and I didn't know how to change it. The dance class is really cute and she gets to take it with her cousin Lucy, which she loves.

Fun Stuff

2008-11-11T10:35:00.000-08:00

So, as I mentioned earlier, my birthday was the day before Halloween. Bodie and McKenzie (and my sister and friends which we'll get to later) worked so hard to make it special. They made me a cake and spelled mom with 30, yes 30, candles. They gave me new crocs with fleece lining on the inside which are so cozy, and they bought wii fit for me. I have been telling Bodie to just get me the crocs, and like every year, he does way more than I want him to and got the wii fit, which I love! I highly recommend it to all of you wii players. My favorite is the Yoga, which I am terrible at.

Now, to my sisters and friends.....exactly 15 days before my birthday I was at work complaining to my friend Kristin that I feel to young to have so much responsibility what with being the Primary President and our program coming up, selling the house, buying a business, moving to another state (even though it is just next door to Utah), etc. Oh yes, and lets not forget about my car getting stolen. Anyway, later that night, there was a knock at my door. When Bodie and Mck answered it, there was a note and some candybars reminding me that there were 15 days until I turned 30. That started the 15 days of gifts. I automatically assumed it was my friend Kristin and the girls at work, who are so sweet they would totally do something like that. Then, I started getting gifts in all sorts of places while I was out and about that I couldn't figure out who it was from. During this time, I was told there was a UFC fight night at my sister's house on the Sat. after my birthday. I decided the girls should get together for dinner before the fight and have one last GNO before Aly moved to Idaho. So I got our night all planned. Back to my birthday, I found out it was my sister Leslie and friend Melissa giving me the treats. Okay, back to the GNO. We got to my sisters house and walked in to find that she and Aly had planned a surprise party for me. My whole family was there along with my friends. It was so much fun, and thanks to my wonderful family and friends for all the love!

McKenzie is growing up so fast. She loves preschool and dance class and now as she puts it "is not shy to people anymore" which means that she tells everyone everything and sometimes gets it a little mixed up which is fun for us. The other day she told her nursery teachers that she was late for church because she was at the movie theater. Really she was late for church because she was up tossing and turning all night and didn't really fall asleep until 4 in the morning. She makes me laugh and I am so happy to have such a great kid.

Halloween Fun

2008-11-10T14:24:00.000-08:00

I know Halloween was a couple weeks ago, but I am just now finally getting up pics of Mckenzie's Halloween. She partied all week that week. She got to wear her halloween costume to dance on the Wednesday before halloween and have a party with her dance class, where she gave treats to all the girls in dance class and they gave her treats....her halloween bag was about half full at this point. Thursday was the halloween party at school, where they did a little program (I am going to try to get the video up) and went trick-or-treating to all the parents watching. She came home with a full trick-or-treat bag and it wasn't even halloween yet! On top of that, it was my birthday and she had made me a birthday cake, so we got to eat birthday cake also. On Halloween they do trick-or-treating down main street in Tooele, so we went down to that and stopped at Bodie's work and Cole and Lindsay's house where she got lots of fun stuff. So, we had a pretty good Halloween and have our candy supply for the next year!

A Busy Week

2008-10-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

McK on the Elephant at the Zoo, don't let the smile fool you, she was pretty nervous!

It has been a pretty crazy week around here! We started with Bodie's birthday on the 12th. We had my family over for sunday dinner to celebrate. McKenzie had picked out a cake with balloons...which she was so excited to eat. In all the excitement, I forgot to buy birthday candles, so Bodie had sparklers on his cake....because that is what Hugh Hefner gets on his birthday cake. The same day, McKenzie insisted that we have birthday cake with Cole (Bodie's friend from work) and his girlfriend Lindsay. Cole and McKenzie have the same birthday, so she expects Cole to always eat birthday cake with her! The next day, Bodie had the day off work, so we ventured out to the zoo. It was a pretty cool day...which kept all the people away. There were maybe 20 cars in the parking lot - just perfect for Bodie. After the zoo, we drove up Emigration Canyon and just happened to end up at the outlet malls in Park City where we finally found McKenzie some princess light up tennis shoes that she has been wanting for the last month or so. It was a really fun day.

Mck and Dad on the Bronze Tigers

The next day, Bodie left to go to work only to find that our Geo had been stolen. That's right...it was no longer in the carport. When we called the cops, they said it was the 4th car in 24 hours to get stolen. Luckily, my parents have extra cars parked at their house and so generously let us use one. It sucked, but I had gotten used to the idea of my car being gone and to make myself feel better, I was planning to buy something else. Imagine my surprise when I pulled up in my driveway yesterday after work and my car was back in the carport. It was missing the stereo, air vents, and most important...the cup holders. I mean come on, who steals cup holders? Actually they just took out the whole middle section of the dash where the stereo was. The funny thing is that they found the car in the parking lot of our old apartment complex. Anyway, they also got away with McKenzie's bike, carseat, our DVD player with her favorite movie in it, tool kits that were in the trunk and the old 6 disc CD changer that they will be dissappointed to find out that it doesn't work since it got soaked with the sprinklers one night. When Bodie talked to the police officer that found the car, he said they thought they knew who it was, but didn't have him in custody yet. I hope they catch him and he goes to jail for a long time!

Saturday was my sister's birthday so a bunch of us got together and took her out to a place downtown called Keys on Main. It is a dueling piano bar. It was awesome...those guys can play any song. They were really good. I highly recommend that place. McKenzie felt pretty cool becuase she got to be babysat by Cole and Lindsay...who she conned into buying her another Charlie Brown Pumpkin movie which is the one that got stolen.

So, as you can tell, we had a busy and interesting week! We hope things will calm down a bit for a while now.

Her new favorite pass-time is "making mud". Thanks to Lily and Lucy for teaching her that trick!

GNO

2008-10-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

McKenzie and I had a little girls night out last night. It was so much fun. She worked very hard the last couple weeks to earn all of her stickers so I told her she could have whatever she wanted. I was a little nervous to offer anything she wanted, but I did and she decided that she wanted a puffy vest that she saw at Children's Place a while ago. So, we went to South Towne Mall and got dinner, rode the carousel, and shopped. We got the puffy vest and even found a shirt to go with it. She was very excited when we found some frog pajamas and couldn't wait to wear them home! I am a little nervous for her to grow up and be a teenager because last night she was already showing a great interest in the shopping and buying stuff. When I told her we were leaving the mall, she said that we couldn't leave yet because we only had 2 bags, and she wanted lots of bags. We went in a couple more stores and got mad when I didn't buy the "really cute shirt" I was looking at. We passed Claires on the way out of the mall, so we had to make a stop in there and look at all of the "beautiful things" in there. Then, she talked me into a cookie from Mrs. Field's when we were really leaving the mall. It was so much fun to hang out with her. I love having a daughter!

McKenzie's Tutu

2008-09-18T15:39:00.001-07:00

So we were at dance the other day and this little girl had the cutest tutu on. We went to the mom to find out where she got it and it turns out that she made it. I thought it was so cute and McKenzie would love it, so we went to the store today to get stuff to make one. It turned out really cute, but of course McKenzie doesn't like to wear it. I did get her to wear it long enough to take this picture though!!!

First Day of Pre-school

2008-09-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

Here is McKenzie as we are getting in the car for her first day of preschool. She goes to the busy bee pre-school which is taught and run by a good friend of mine. McKenzie doesn't usually have much separation anxiety, so I wasn't too worried, but of course being her mom, I was a little concerned about how she would do. Well, she loves it. She has been there for 3 weeks. She has great teachers and they do lots of fun activities. Because her birthday is in June and they won't be in school then, they celebrated her birthday last week. When they do that, the parents send a poster with pictures of the kid and a treat for all the kids and they do a spotlight on the birthday person. It just happened to work out that we were in Monroe visiting Bodie's family the day before her birthday celebration at school. Bodie's sister Tori is amazing when it comes to scrapbooking and especially making cards, so I had her help me cut out some stuff for the poster on her Mom's cricuit machine. The poster turned out so cute. Reine (McK's teacher) said that the only problem with it is that it was too cute...especially since her son's birthday was this week and she had to do the next poster. Oh well, we had fun!!!

Dancing Queen

2008-08-31T14:51:00.000-07:00

McKenzie has been a dancing fool this last week. About 6 of our Young Women in our ward are on the Tooele High drill team. They had a dance clinic last week, so they called to see if McKenzie would like to go to the dance clinic. They practiced Tues, Wed, and Thurs night from 6-8 and then on friday night they performed at the football game. I was a little nervous that she wouldn't want to do it, which would have been fine. But I also kind of thought that she would get out on the football field and start crying (sound familiar Amanda?) Well, she did it and it was so cute. The video is of their dance and then they lay on the grass for a few minutes while the older girls do their dances. The second clip is at the very end, they all jump up and step and clap. I was so proud of her...she has obviously inherited my dancing skills (not her dad's as he's got rythm) McKenzie also started a tap/ballet class with her cousin Lucy this last week. She loved getting all dressed up in her leotard and tights and tap shoes! Really, she had so much fun dancing and she gets a huge smile on her face when anyone tells her that she did a good job. It has been a lot of fun.

Party Attire

2008-08-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

So, I told McKenzie the other day that we had to get ready to go to a party at Grandma Diane's house and this is what she ended up with! She is a very social girl...as long as she knows the kids she is playing with....when we are getting together with people she doesn't know she is pretty shy. A lot of times she will warm up a bit though. She had a pretty good time trying to get my friend Kelly's daughter to laugh when we went to lunch when they came in town for a visit. She is such a fun kid. I couldn't ask for a better daughter...even though she tells me to leave her alone every time I try to correct her behavior! She still says that I am her favorite Mom and she is my favorite girl. I am going to enjoy that while I can!

4th of July

2008-07-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

McKenzie at the parade

Bodie after the run

McKenzie's tumbling at the park

Bodie started out his 4th of July holiday with a 5K run with his friend Cole. He really hasn't run much since high school, so I am very proud that he even finished! Also, he proudly wore his Topham T-shirt. McKenzie and I watched the parade at Cole' s house, which is conveniently located on the parade route. We had a lot of fun. McKenzie got help picking up candy from Cole and Lindsay's family. by the time we left, her purse was full to the top. I think she was wondering how things could get any better!

After the parade, we went home and got re-grouped before heading off to the park where McKenzie was doing a tumbling performance. We got there a little early so she could play before the performance and we were glad we did. There was a bounce house and huge blow up slide for her to play on until it was time to do her tumbling. She of course was the best tumbler there, it is always fun for me to watch her. When the tumbling was over, we were in line to get a balloon flower when we saw some friends that have a daughter McKenzie's age, so we stayed a bit longer so McKenzie could play in the bounce house with her friend.

After the park we went home and had a BBQ, just the three of us. Then, we loaded Conan into the car and went to the top of the mountain to the Kennecott overlook. We watched all the fireworks shows in the Salt Lake Valley. McKenzie fell asleep on the way up there and when she woke up the next morning, she asked when we were going take Conan up in the mountains and watch the fireworks. Luckily she hasn't said anything since then!

McKenzie's 3rd Birthday

2008-07-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

I know I am a little late posting this, but McKenzie is now three years old. She was so excited for her birthday because she wanted to be 5 so bad. She is now dealing with the fact that she has to be three first. It has only taken a few weeks! Bodie made McKenzie a doll house for her birthday. It is big enough for her Barbies to fit in and McKenzie thinks she can fit in it too. She loves to crawl in the rooms on the bottom, but makes it very clear that I am not to try to get in because I am too big and will break her doll house. She had a fun birthday party with family and friends on saturday night, complete with a pinata and an Ariel cake.

McKenzie painting her doll house

On her actual birthday, we went shopping with Leslie and her girls and my mom. It was a perfect day. I was happy to be shopping and McKenzie was happy to be with her cousins! We came home and made her favorite dinner, chicken nuggets and corn on the cob and ended the night with cupcakes and more presents. It was a good time for all of us!

"Camping"

2008-06-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

So the other night, we decided to take Conan up in the mountains and let him run around a bit. We also decided to take stuff to roast hotdogs and marshmallows. McKenzie thought this was great. All night she kept saying "Dad, this is really fun camping." She especially loved the part where any food that fell on the ground, or anything we didn't want to eat, we got to throw to Conan. While we were roasting marshmallows, I took the top burnt/ashy layer off hers and not thinking, left the sticky part on the end of her stick. She didn't want it and thought she would throw it to Conan. It was so funny because she would try to throw it and it wouldn't come off her hand. She took it with her other hand to try to throw it, and then it was stuck to that hand. She ended up getting it on her finger and it almost came off when she tried to throw it, but she gave up and finally went and wiped it on Conan's ear. So now, she has two really sticky hands, and Conan has a marshmallow stuck to his ear. She thought she was the nicest kid ever to share and she went and patted Conan's back...with sticky marshmallow hand...and said "there you go buddy". She tried to lick her hand clean, but stopped (thankfully) when she saw all the dog hair stuck to it. It was so funny, all three of us were laughing so hard. I tried to get a picture of the marshmallow on Conan's ear, but it had fallen off by the time I got my camera.

Life is good again!!

2008-05-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

The weather is finally nice enough (again) to lay in the hammock in the evening! Now that it is warming up McKenzie likes to spend time outside playing in her sandbox or driving her pink Barbie Jeep. She also likes to throw the ball to Conan and then get mad at him when he looks at her like are you crazy, I'm not getting up just to get that ball! She loves her puppy, but he is a little clumsy and I don't think he knows really how big he is an often knocks her down. She usually gets mad and calls him a naughty puppy and then five minutes later she is chasing him down again so she can pet him!

We are all doing better since the last time I posted. Most of you know by now that I had a miscarraige (I was 10 weeks along) a few weeks ago. We were all a big mess for a few days, but we are okay now. Thanks to everyone for all your love and support (that sounds kind of cheesy!) but really, we have the best friends and family ever. It has really helped to have McKenzie around to focus on, she has gotten pretty spoiled the last few weeks. Bodie and I felt so bad that she was so scared because of how upset I was and how "sick" I was that anything she has wanted has been hers. We are trying very hard to get her over that now! I guess we kind of shot ourselves in the foot when we started doing that, but it made us so happy to see her happy. She is a great kid. Yesterday was memorial day and Bodie got most of the day off, so I asked Mckenzie what she wanted to do and she told me she wanted to go shopping. Then today she asked me if I wanted to play "money buying stuff". She told me that the way you play is that you pretend you are going to the store and buying everything. Yeah, I think we're in trouble!

I went to Lily's preschool graduation last week with camcorder in hand so grandma could see it when she gets home from China. Lily did so good. I am so proud of her. McKenzie watches the video everyday and tries to sing all the songs with them. She is getting excited for her birthday coming up in June, but is a little frustrated that she is only going to be 3 because she really wants to be 5!

Anyway, there is our little update. Not much going on (anymore), but that is a good thing, I think! Again thanks to everyone. We love you all so much!

McKenzie and her friend Blake...all he wanted to do was be spiderman, but she made him be her prince!

A Fun Day

2008-05-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

We all had a really bad day on Wednesday, especially McKenzie. We felt really bad, so we decided to take Thursday last week and just focus on her. Bodie took the day off work and we went into Salt Lake to the Gateway. We told McKenzie we would take her to Build-A-Bear so she could make a piggy like Lily's. Well, we got there and there were no piggys. She wasn't upset or disappointed or anything and she picked out a turtle instead. Then when we were looking for clothes for the turtle, she came across an Ariel outfit. Most of you probably know that she loves Ariel anything and had to have it. So...we bought her the turtle with the Ariel costume. I have posted a picture so you all can see how "cute" it is. She loves it though and it made her happy, so it was worth it!

After we made the turtle, we went to Taifoon for dinner...it was so good. Thanks Melissa for turning me onto that restaurant! Then, we spent about an hour or so just playing in and around the fountains. McKenzie's favorite part was throwing money into them. She had such a good day, it made everything better to see her so happy. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful kid!

This is the BEST therapy!!

Playing in the fountain with Dad (I didn't want to get wet!)

Oh yeah, she ended up getting soaked and I wasn't prepared, so she also got a new outfit because it was too cold to get all the way back to the car with wet clothes. It was a good day for her!

Vegas again!!!

2008-05-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Bodie and I in front of the Paris...I think!

Me and Amanda outside the Paris

Amanda and David

So, we went back to vegas last weekend. My sister and her husband and bodie and I all went down with no kids. It was great. We went down to see the Bodies exhibit at the Tropicana. It was so cool. Other than that we mostly just walked to strip to get cheesecake from cheesecake factory and eat at the seafood buffet at the flamingo....sooooo good! We met up with Bodie's sister Jordan and her husband and kids for some shopping at the outlets. We found lots of good deals and it was so fun to see the Cecil's. They have the cutest kids. It's amazing how fast they grow. Mostly it was nice to have a weekend without kids and hang out with Amanda and David since we only get to see them about once a year.

Vegas!!!

2008-04-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

So, I just got back from Vegas on sunday, and there are no pictures becuase I found out about a day before I left that my camera was broken, so you'll just have to use your imagination! I went down with my sister and three other friends. We all left husbands and kids behind...it was so relaxing and very much needed! We got down there on friday and did our shopping on the strip...we had to get that out of the way so we could go to the pool all day Saturday. We had spray sunblock and it was kind of breezy, so we all got really wierd sunburns (lots of patches of sunburn). We headed back up to our room at the excalibur around 3 to get ready for the Bon Jovi concert which was at the MGM grand. We also had to give ourselves plenty of time to go to In-n-Out Burger for dinner before the concert. The concert was awesome. I was a Bon Jovi fan before, but now I'm a huge fan! Sunday we spent the day shopping more and then decided it was time to come home. By the way, Jordon, sorry I didn't get a chance to come see you, but Bodie and I will be back down in a couple weeks!

McKenzie had a fun daddy-daughter weekend. She got to spend friday with Lily, Lucy, and Luke. When I told her they were coming over and I would be leaving she said that was okay and she volunteered to babysit Lucy and Luke and Lily could be in charge. I still haven't really asked (nor do I want to) about how that turned out! Then Bodie took her down to spend the night at Grandma Topham's. I am glad they got a chance to go down...McKenzie was crying for her Grandma Topham the other day! She also got to see her Leavitt cousins and see their brand new house. Overall...it was a good weekend for all of us!

Happy Easter!!

2008-03-24T15:40:00.000-07:00

McKenzie in her Easter dress...posing like a princess

McKenzie's Easter basket

McKenzie and Taylor

We had a great Easter and hope that everyone else did too! The Easter Bunny came to our house friday night while McKenzie was sleeping, so she woke up Saturday morning to a basket full of Easter candy and the movie Enchanted. She was so excited and watched her movie 3 times on Saturday. Grandma and Grandpa Topham came up for a visit with Ethan and Emma (McKenzie's cousins) saturday night and they stayed until sunday. They had lots of fun playing with toys, dyeing easter eggs, and driving McKenzie's barbie jeep around the front yard. They left Sunday afternoon, just as Kaysie and Taylor (cousins on the other side of the family) got to our house. They came over because Tyler had to work and the rest of the family was in St. George. We spent the day playing the wii, watching Enchanted (again!) and of course...eating. It was so fun to spend time with the family this weekend!

McKenzie is growing up so fast and has a very active imagination. Every day she pretends to be Belle or Tracy Turnblatt, or Ariel, or Giselle, or any other princess. I usually have to be the Beast. When she is pretending she is someone else and I ask her to put her toys away or clean up her room, her answer is always well.....I'm Belle.....appearantly princesses don't have to help clean up!

Murder Mystery Weekend

2008-03-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

Ali and Damon...ready for the murder mystery dinner
Les and Nate
Me and Bodie
Troy and Melissa

Okay, so I know am way slow at putting this up, but I finally got the pics on the computer from our murder mystery dinner. Every year, we go with some friends up ogden canyon for a murder mystery weekend. We usually get there friday night and the boys play x-box or playstation or wii while the girls hang out, eat snacks, talk, etc. Saturday morning the boys get up bright and early and go snowboarding all day. The girls start the day by driving down to the maverick and getting fountain drinks to take to the hot tub. Then we spend most of the day sitting in the hot tub, only going back to the condo for a lunch break. When the boys get back, we all get cleaned up and have our murder mystery dinner. We have been doing this for 5 or 6 years now, and I hope we don't ever stop. It is something I look forward to every year. McKenzie, Lily, Lucy, and Luke got to spend the weekend with Aunt Janece and Uncle Tyler. They were in heaven. McKenzie loves spending time with her cousins!

Lily, Lucy, and McKenzie at Janece's house
Madi, Lily, McKenzie, Lucy

Disneyland Trip

2008-03-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

Our Disneyland trip was so much fun!! We started by driving down to Primm Nevada, just south of Vegas and stayed at Buffalo Bills. Really all we did there was sleep and eat breakfast and then it was on to Disneyland. After getting lost in LA, and finding out that our air conditioner didn't work, we finally made it! As soon as we walked in, there was a parade down main street with all the pincesses. Mckenzie was loving it! Her favorite rides were the teacups, all the rides in the bugs land in California Adventure, and King Neptunes Carosel where Lily (McKenzie's cousin) got to be the princess and the leader of the swim. It was so cute to see them get so excited. I was most excited for the princess dinner at Ariel's Grotto. When we walked in and it was McKenzie's turn to see Ariel, she decided that she didn't want a picture, she just wanted to wave to all the princesses. Cinderella, Belle, Mulan, and Snow White all came to our table, and she would say hi, but still didn't want any pictures. Then we ended our Disneyland trip with the electrical parade, which I had never seen before. I kind of thought they didn't do it anymore, but it was awesome. McKenzie loved the parades. I'll try to post some video later...when I fugre out how to get video on the computer and then on here!

McKenzie's favorite ride

Me and Leslie with Belle, since Mckenzie wouldn't take a picture with her, I did!

McKenzie with Boog and Mike

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2008-02-20T12:31:00.001-08:00

I think that this is the very reason McKenzie enjoyed Valentine's day so much!! Bodie was out snowboarding all day, so McKenzie and I decided to make cookies. I got out the heart shaped cookie cutters, but I guess they weren't fun enough for her, so she got out the halloween ones. By the time we were done, we had about half of them frosted and the bottle of sprinkles only made it on about 3 cookies. McKenzie was pretty excited also when her dad brought her home a huge stuffed animal, and she got a princess valentine card, and new cinderella lamp, and some princess markers. Her love for all the Disney princesses makes me so excited to take her to Disneyland to see all of them. I was shopping last night with my mom and sister and her kids and we decided it was good practice for Disneyland as I was pushing my stroller with McKenzie in it, Lucy was holding on to the stroller so she didn't get lost, Leslie was holding Luke (the baby) and pushing her double stroller (empty), while Grandma was holding Lily's hand. Oh...and kids were crying, needing potty breaks and diaper changes, and wanting snacks! Despite all that, I am still really excited!

McKenzie and Conan

2008-02-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post this picture because I think it is so cute. This was the day that we got home from Hawaii, after being gone 10 days. Our other dog died just before our trip and McKenzie heard Bodie and I talking about how we were a bit concerned about Conan...not having Maggie around, and us being gone for over a week. When we got home, McKenzie was so excited to see Conan. He is starting to be more of an inside dog becuase he has become a lot more mellow in his old age, and he has no one outside to play with. McKenzie loves it when I put her in charge of watching Conan and making sure he doesn't get into things that he shouldn't. She'll hold on to his collor and stand there with him thinking that she is the reason that he is not moving. When he does start to move, she will not let go of his collar and she'll let him pull her around the house. The whole time she is so proud of herself because she is in charge of the dog. She finally has someone that she can boss around, and she really thinks that he listens to her. She does get a little frustrated when he won't lick her face when she tells him to...for some reason, she loves it when he licks her. She also loves to put on her leotard and make Conan watch her dance and do some of her tumbling tricks. It is pretty fun to watch!

I actually did it!

2008-02-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I finally started a blog. I have been telling the girls at work that I would do this for a while now and here we are!

Here is my sweet McKenzie who told me the other day that if I didn't let her have a drink of my diet coke, she would not invite me to her birthday party. I guess she doesn't understand who throws her the parties! I did let her have some...and those of you who know how much I love my diet coke, that was pretty good of me! It was just so funny, that I couldn't help but share!