Welcome to Phoenix!

A few months ago, we had our wonderful friends, the Kimballs, come visit us in Phoenix.  Dave is expanding his business down here, and Heidi was able to tag along with the kids.  Kate and Ellie are only a few weeks apart, so it was fun to see them play together!

LOVE Emma's face in this one!

This picture warms my heart!

We were able to spend all week together, which was AWESOME!  We went to the Train Park, where we rode trains and merry-go-rounds.

Ellie came home exhausted every day, after a full day of playing!  I had to stop at the grocery store after a particularly fun day, and the poor thing passed out in my arms.  After awhile, she got too heavy for me and I transferred her to the shopping cart, and the poor thing stayed asleep the entire trip, despite her uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.

It was nearly impossible to get a picture of Kate looking at the camera.  She was too busy!

We also went to the zoo, and had a great time!

Getting to know the Orangutan

It was so much fun to have the Kimballs come down for a visit!  With them moving to Philadelphia soon, who knows when we'll get another opportunity to do something like this!  Thanks for coming down you guys!  And the offer stands for anyone else to come down!

Calling all Super Scouts

Mike and I have been serving as Cubmasters in our ward for the last 5 months.  I knew next to nothing about the Cub Scouts program before starting.  One of the many things I've learned about CS is that the most dreaded month of the year is February.  Why?  Well, because of the Blue & Gold Dinner. 

I've never had to plan dinner for 40+ people, and it was seriously intimidating.  Luckily, I work with some really great people who I couldn't have done any of this without.  We ended up doing Hawaiian Haystacks, which the parents enjoyed, but the scouts wouldn't touch it.  We ended up with plenty of left overs for everyone to take home.

Our theme was "Calling All Super Scouts" and we had a member of our bishopric come talk to the scouts.  He gave a really great talk and at the end, held up a picture of a Cub Scout wearing a scarf and a uniform and the caption of the picture was "You can't judge a hero by the size of his cape."  It really tied in nicely with our theme!

 I even made centerpieces for the occasion, which is also uncharted territory for me!  I used up all of my creativity and craftiness for the year, so don't expect any more of me until 2014.

At the end of the night, we had a Super Hero obstacle course where the boys had to put on over-sized clothing, run to a Phone Booth to change into their super hero cape, crawl through a box tunnel, navigate their way through rope obstacles, and finish by smashing through a wall of boxes.  They might not have liked dinner, but the obstacle course was a hit!

The only picture I got of the obstacle course.

It was a great night, and now I can relax again until next year's Blue & Gold.

Kinder Eggs

Over the years, Mike has collected quite an impressive collection of Kinder Egg Toys.  He lived in Germany as a kid, and then spent 2 years in Italy on his mission where it became a goal of his to add to his collection.  Mike's mom gave us these wooden houses/display cases and we finally got around to painting them. 

This is only a small portion of his collection, mind you.  These are the full sets he was able to collect.  We had fun painting the houses together and they make a nice addition to our apartment. 

Monkeys

Trees & Flowers

Magic Collection

Little Crayon Dudes

Haunted House Collection

It's beginnig to look a lot like Christmas

We had a great, albeit short, Christmas break up in Utah. 

Ellie's first time sitting on Santa's lap.  She doesn't look like it, but she really enjoyed meeting him!

It's a little colder in Utah than it is in Phoenix.

 Mike's parents took us to Midway to go on a Sleigh Ride to Santa's village!

Making Sugar cookies with the Higbees

On Christmas Eve, Grandma & Grandpa took all the grand kids on the Polar Express.

Showing off their bells.

 We spent the rest of Christmas people, with Grandma Mona & Grandpa Ken.

Grandpa Ken's funny glasses

 It snowed so much while we were in Utah, so Ellie had ample opportunities to play in the snow!

A nice action shot of Tilly.  She liked the snow too!

 We also got to go to a Fun Center in Layton with the Trowbridges.  Ellie loved riding down this slide, and I got to play Laser Tag for the first time in my life.

 

We spent a night with Dave & Tiffany.  Mike and Dave passed the time in the garage with Dave's home-made forge.  They made a knife out of a railroad spike.  Very impressive!

 We also made it to the Natural History Museum up at the U.  It was a really nice museum, and we all enjoyed ourselves.

 Thanks to family and friends for making it a great trip!

I have 3 fingers!

You can tell how behind I am on my blog...

Ellie turned three in December!  When we ask her how old she is, she enthusiastically replies, "I have 3 fingers!"

As always, she had two birthday celebrations: one with my family, and one with Mike's.  

In keeping with tradition, here are a few of the things we LOVE about our 3 year old:

1-  She is OBSESSED with Super Heroes.  I blame it on our babysitting group, which consists of 4 little boys and Ellie.  Every day she is someone new: Batman, Spiderman, Superman...  Even when I get out her My Little Ponies, they immediately become Super Ponies and Bad Ponies.  Some days, she'll only respond  to me if I call her Batman. 

2- She loves music.  One night she woke me up around 3:30 to help her go potty.  She's sitting there taking care of business, eyes half-closed, and starts singing "Hey!  I just met you.  And this is CR-A-A-A-ZY.  Here's my number.  Call me maybe." 

3- She has mastered the art of negotiation, and she knows exactly what I want.  "Mom... can I have some candy, and then we can snuggle on the couch?" 

4- She is one of the kindest people I know, and I hope she never loses that.  We were at a baptism and during the intermission where the people were changing clothes, she decided that she wanted to share her Teddy Grahams with each of the 20+ people in the room.  As she handed one to each person, you could see the joy in her eyes as she learned that giving of yourself brings happiness.

5- I can give her a paper and some scissors and she'll blissfully entertain herself for hours.  She'll cut up the paper into tiny pieces and dump them on the floor so she can collect it in our dustpan and dump it in the garbage. 

6- The girl is left-handed.  She has sort of switched off hands up until just recently, but she has now definitely committed to her left.

7- She loves babies.  She's had 3 new cousins born in the last few months, only one of whom she's met, but... she loves making faces at babies and will work determinedly until she can make them smile. 

8- She's very independent now.  She gets deeply offended if I try and help her do something that she can do herself. 

9- One of her most frequently used phrases is, "Oh, I LOVE (insert name)!  Her so cute!"

10 - She licks her lips all the time, to the point where her upper lip becomes red and chapped.  I'm trying to break her of the habit so it won't be so painful on her lips, but I'll be honest... it's so cute, I think I'll miss it when she stops. 

We absolutely adore our little Ellie, and feel so lucky that she's our daughter!

 

 

 

The delicious Red Velvet Cake my Mom got from Nothing Bundt Cakes

The My Little Pony Cake, made by the lovely and talented Tiffany!

This was a seriously delicious cake!  And I loved the frosting!

What?!?

I have a blog?
Please accept this embarrassing video of Ellie as a promise of things to come.
(P.S. - Why yes, this is how I teach Ellie Korean!)

Do you have 9 minutes?

Every now and then, before turning in for the night, Mike and I will listen to a song or two as we're lying in bed.  Last night, we stumbled upon this one and it brought a smile to my face and it warmed my heart.  I just had to share it!

Just in case you don't know who they are, Flight of the Conchords is a comedy duo/band.

They were asked to write a song for a sick children's charity in New Zealand.  If you've seen their show, there's an even longer version on youtube that has a clip with Murray in it, which is funny.

Oh, and Bret McKenzie (the bearded one) wrote a few of the songs on the Muppet Movie, which they reference in this video, just FYI.   

Anyways, you should watch it.  You'll laugh and you'll... feel inside... and stuff like that!