Thursday, December 20, 2007

Boredom leads to Creativity

While I was talking on the phone, Grace pulled on my leg and showed me her snow boots. I ignored her. She then put 1 on by herself (a skill never done thus far). I continued chatting and a few minutes later, found her in the toy basket with a snow hat on asking to go outside. Guess we should put on some pants first.






Grace has become a handful recently. I see a new determination in her to discover and do more. She puts up a fight everytime I try to get her in the high chair. Instead she will get on the barstool where I always eat and request yogurt. Yesterday she dipped her head in the toilet and ran out with a huge smile like "Mom, check me out." She broke a Santa decoration, a tree ornament and a serving plate while Chad was watching her recently. I got mad at Chad and told him maybe if he watched her she would find other things to do. Then on my clock she drew in pen on the couch and used a yellow highlighter to color her clothes. Ooops. Yesterday I heard a 3 year old boy I was watching say "Wow. Baby! Crazy baby, How did you do that?" I walked in to find Grace on top of her toy kitchen gripping the top of the window trim to maybe climb the walls? She then proceeded to arch her back and say "whooo" to pretend fall. I did NOT take a picture of this because it eggs her on. She also tells me when she needs to go poo, so I put her on a training toilet, but she just uses it as a step stool to the real toilet. This is where I can't complain though; She poos on the toilet. (sometimes) I was going to post the pictures but Chad assured me no one needs a visual. It's so funny how excited you get about that.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Temple Lights in the Snow

We haven't had too much snow or cold weather, so that's the only reason why I welcomed the snow for December. It was a pretty way to see the SLC Temple lights with Amy's family.

I'm trying to show the cool ceiling of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

The lights were amazing. This doesn't do it justice.

The Temple

Temple Square Visitors Center - Statue of Christ

blurry picture

Our back deck (Dad, this one is for you)

I love the mountains after a snow storm

This is Grace thinking "Mom, is this really necessary?"


Roman is adorable in this hat. Don't you love kids dressed up in snow clothes!



We tried to get a good enough picture for x-mas cards this year. O-well.

Clark Bowling Party

Every December we get together with Bonnie's side of the family at the Morgan Bowling Ally. It was fun to see all the cousins and laugh at our great bowling skills.

This is Kenzie, who belongs to Kristee, who is Gaylene's daughter. (Gaylene is Bonnie's sister) got that? This picture was worth the explanation.

Grandpa Clark with Emma

Emma, Amy and Grandma Clark

No intro needed

cousins (doing eachothers hair)

Justin

Karlee, Kristee (some of Aunt Gaylene's daughters) and Amy

Kisses

Roman - He loves putting shoes on his hands

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

I'm thankful for commercialism

We had fun in Idaho Falls for Thanksgiving. Ahhh the memories... turkey, pie, kids playing, 6AM door buster sales. (What?) I had never been shopping on the busiest day of the year, and now I can say I have; My conclusion is why would you ever want to go shopping on the busiest day of the year? The "deals" are what entice us, but it's a little scary how many people can come together for a super sale. Some were determined, filled with impatience, (even in Idaho). Actually it was fun or entertaining to say the least. I was really lame and didn't take any photos of our holiday, so I'm jumping head first into commercialism and showing you some of the fabulous things I bought while out and about.

No more cleaning my hardwood... I hope


Grace's x-mas




Mom's x-mas (I want a piano, but since I can't play I'll be mastering the Casio Keyboard first.)


Just a fun story as a side note. On our drive to Idaho Falls we stopped in Tremonton to take Grace into the playland at McDonalds. While pondering the menu, I looked over my shoulder to see Grace throwing up all over Chad, the floor, a turkey donation display, etc. The look in the employees eyes was not one of thankfulness. Chad tried to catch the mess in his hands, which ya know... doesn't work. Curdled milk does not smell so great and after Chad took Grace into the restroom and got all cleaned up we decided Quizno's would taste better, smell better, and a playland was no longer a factor. Hope they didn't see us leave.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Grace Talking

I finally got Grace to say some words on video! This is a little game we like to play.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Kissing and Feeding Cousins

These two have become pretty close. Roman has a wonderful appetite and Grace becomes 10 times the eater when he eats it too. They share kisses, food, toys (on a good day), clothes and they love to play peek a boo together.

More of my Kid

The other night we were just trying to survive with a grouchy baby so we put her in the bath. I was in my bedroom and Grace in the Master Bathroom with the tub filling. Needless to say I got distracted and heard some weird sounds coming from the tub. I ran in to discover Grace's smiling face bobbing in a full tub of water with bubbles everywhere. I'm guessing the baby shampoo got dumped into the water. Wish I had a picture of her little head floating, but I was in sheer terror when I ran in and I'm happy to say I had the presence of mind to realize that although she looks so cute right now, her safety is in danger and now wouldn't be the best time to capture a cute photo for a posting. I couldn't get her out of the tub even after all the water was drained. She just kept exclaiming "bubbles, bubbles!"

Picasa - Thank you LEANNE

I had no idea that improving my pictures took such little effort. Downloading Picasa is simple and free. I've also made a link to Shutterfly which I'm sure you all know about. They've got a great calandar that you can customize with personal photos and birthdays, etc. It's a good idea for the holidays.
http://picasa.google.com/download/
http://www.shutterfly.com/shop/product_c10014/Calendars

Just showing an example of how this picture is better than the same one below.

Three Stars for the Book of Mormon

I hope this doesn't offend anyone. Chad sent it to me and we thought it was so funny.

Amazon Book of Mormon Review

ENJOY!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

I finally figured out my new camera!!

So I fell off the wagon with blogging. I got a new camera which we were "testing out" until I dropped it and scratched the video screen. Guess it's a keeper! Grrr. My parents also arrived from Mexico a few weeks ago and we've been out on the town. Here are a few highlights...

HALLOWEEN - We really underestimated how much a baby wants to trick or treat. Grace loved all the kids coming to our door, but once a little girl came that looked like Emma, she needed to go outside to follow her. We went to a few houses and she enjoyed carrying her pumpkin basket with a treat in it, but when she received a sucker she was ready to head home for some sticky fun.

We have horses across the street that Grace loves to feed, (actually the donkey is the only one who will eat the weeds we offer) so it was really fun to see Grace go to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point to see the animals. My Mom's holding Grace while my Dad makes her crack a smile.

Her favorite part was the pony ride


Playing Peek-A-Boo


She liked jail so much, licking the iron bars was a delight.

Grace loves trains. We hear lots of them blow their horn as they pass by our house... (How did we not notice this when we picked our home?) So I thought she would really enjoy a train ride which was confirmed by her smiles and pointing as we passed the train. I guess during the 20 minute wait for the ride she lost her enthusiasm. I tried to recapture the mood as we pulled away from the "train station", but the tears started to flow. The nice girl sitting next to us was quite photogenic though.


Slowing down... she loved playing in the balls, but started to get sleepy
I loved that they had mini blow up toys for the toddlers. Grace is very good at taking care of babies. She recently set her baby doll on the end table and waved "night night" and walked away.
Grace couldn't quite figure out how to escape this one. Maybe I should have helped her before the whole tent caved in from her trying to get out through the netting.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Random Stuff

Just some fun shots from the last few weeks.



Justin uses our tramp more than anyone else.



Grace loves to put food in her hair. FUN!



Emma makes her 1st trip to the dentist. She loved it.



Emma takes ballet and is the star. (I can say this not being her Mom)
I'll be adopting Amy's kids as far as blogging goes. Their parents just can't seem to get their priorities straight. Letting work and church callings get in the way of blogging is a real shame. :)

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Roman's Birthday

Roman turned 1 on Sept 21st and Amy threw him a pirate party. A good time was had by all.


The Birthday Boy


The Cake


The Partiers


Emma "walking the plank" and yet another photo of my naked baby. She does wear clothes. I promise!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Give me the helmet!

I just love how my voice sounds on the video.
Please ignore the commentary

.

She wants what she wants


She loves Chad's motorcycle, but settles for the helmet


She refused to look at me in fear I would take the glasses


Showing some attitude while strolling at the zoo

On a positive note, we have reached a major milestone with Grace. She can go to the nursery at Church now! This Sunday was her first time and she was literally pushing me away to play and had a great time. On the other end of things, Grace has been a little demanding lately. She used to see something interesting, give a little "uhhh, uhh" and then I would distract her. Now she screams, cries, bucks and my favorite, reminds me of her sadness by pouting. So it seems she is learning how to throw a fit. On rare occasions though she asks "What's that?" and smiles in a way that makes me give away nearly anything. I'm definetly not the one in charge.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Cancun Baby!

Last month we went to Cancun for our 10 year anniversary with all of Chad's siblings. It was so fun to all be together without the kids. Matt and Kliss watched Grace (thanks again!) Chad & I renewed our vows, enjoyed the beach, went to ruins and ate a lot. We stayed at the Barcelo Maya Colonial Beach Hotel in the Mayan Riviera. Wish I were still there.


This was at 6:30AM..too early. Of course it rained.


We discovered the kayak's on our last day. That's OK;
There were topless girls on this side of the beach!

Too cool


Chitzinitza - Now one of the world's 7 wonders


The pool. It was really warm which I loved.


The white sand and crystal clear warm water tops it all!