She says the funniest things....

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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!