Family Pics!

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!

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!

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....

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!