Trip to Utah!

Last week we headed to Utah for a to see the Hamptons. We drove, and it actually went pretty smoothly both directions. Forget that crazy Bumbo seat, the portable DVD player is for SURE the best parenting invention in recent memory. I told James every time we use it I would pay the $100 it cost us all over again. It was fabulous. We left in the afternoon both ways, so the kids just played, watched movies, and slept in their carseats the whole time. We had a few tears but really it was relatively painless. I'm positive it will be the quietest road trip to Utah we will ever have.

Monday we just sort of relaxed, slept, and visited with the family.



Tuesday we were able to visit the awesome Children's Museum at the Gateway Mall again. We went last year, but the kids loved it even more this time around.





Then that night I got together with several of my old roommates and our kids, eight toddlers and babies in all. Remind me never to have octuplets. It was noisy. Next time we'll ditch the kids and meet for Cafe Rio! But it was fun to see everyone's kids, and thanks to Autumn for hosting the craziness!


Wednesday we met up with my sister and did some sledding. Boy am I glad I don't deal with snow clothes on a regular basis. Seriously. But the kids had a great time, except Parker couldn't really grasp the concept of "the bottom of the hill." So every time we got to the bottom he'd burst into tears, refuse to get off the sled, and just keep repeating "more, more!" until we had to haul him up the hill crying and dripping cold snot.






Wednesday night was a fun and rowdy family dinner. The cousins had a great time playing together and with all their aunts and uncles. I wish we lived closer so we could have more chances to do this.






Thursday it was time to head out of town but first we met Sheena and her family at the little farm at Thanksgiving Point. Kenley is convinced that Sheena's daughter Lila is her "very best friend" even though she's only met her once, so we thought we'd give the girls a chance to hang. Parker managed to get bitten by a donkey. My friend Brooke pointed out that between the fall into the duck pond at the Wild Animal Park and the donkey bite, perhaps we should try to keep Parker away from animals. But he just loves them so darn much, that's always the problem.





So there you go. Don't you wish I posted such a detailed post every week of my life?

Three mini things, in reverse chronological order

1. I just opened the pantry and a box of Whoppers fell on my head. That's dangerous. So I ate them.

2. Tonight at dinner both kids were wolfing down some canned pears, and Kenley finished hers and wanted me to open some more. I told her she had to finish her dinner and then think about if her tummy was really still hungry before I opened another whole can. For some reason that sent her into a frowny-faced funk and she went and sat on a duffel bag and started to cry. And my sweet little Parker, even though he had been eating his pears rather enthusiastically (?!?), decided to offer his pears to her and then proceeded to feed her all the rest out of his bowl as she sniffled and wiped her tears. It was so sweet. Those two just warm my heart, I tell ya.

3. Yesterday morning James was home and told the kids they couldn't watch cartoons, and he turned on Fox News instead. While he dutifully emptied the car from our trip, I slept on the couch and Kenley hatched a plan. She comes up to me and whispers in her most conspiratorial voice, "Um, Mommy? Dis show is kind of crazy. And you not really crazy. You dest... nice. So how bout we watch a nice show instead? Like a cartoon."

The Big 3-0

You know those demure, humble people who would like nothing better than for their birthdays to slip by unnoticed and unacknowledged? Yeah, that's not me. I love my birthday. I love a whole day dedicated to celebrating that I was born. That's awesome! Reflects on my self-centeredness, but if you know me, you know that's not a trait I go to great lengths to hide anyway.


Luckily I have an awesome husband, amazing family, and wonderful friends who are willing to celebrate me to my heart's content. Except my mom? Refuses to make me my favorite cake for my birthday! She will only make her own favorite! We compromised this year and did brownies instead (Ghirardelli. From a box. So there, pastry chef husband). But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So anyway, this year I turned 30 - can you believe it?! We started the day with my favorite breakfast... These... Yes, the Pillsbury kind. You can wish mean thoughts upon me for wasting my husband's culinary talents. Whatever. It was my birthday.


Then I had to go to the DMV for an hour to renew my license. Not that fun but I did appreciate listening to other people's toddlers instead of my own, for a change.

Then I got back and we did birthday presents and lunch. We were going to wait for a while to do presents, but Kenley was walking around clutching a present saying things like, "Is this box for your lip gloss? Oh, I mean your jewelries? So do you put your lip gloss box, I mean your jewelry box, right down here? Oh. You working on the lip gloss Mommy? I mean the computer? I just holding these lip glosses, I mean special present for you." So I had to quickly open my (surprise!) lip gloss and some cute new maternity capris before she realized she was spilling the beans on her special present when she was trying so hard not to.


Then we headed down to my mom's and I picked up my crazy sister from the airport and hung out with her for a while. She's been gone for a few weeks, so just having her back was a great birthday present all by itself. Then I got a nap (HOORAY!), and then we had a birthday dinner.

After dinner we rented the mini-field at the Soccer Park and had a Katie Hampton Commemorative 30th Birthday Soccer Classic. It was so much fun, and a great workout. We played 4-on-4, and just rotated out as we needed to, which was embarrassingly often. It made me realize I miss playing soccer though. At our "halftime," we let all the kids come down and "play" on the field. Kenley was the oldest of the six kids there, so that was for sure some entertainment. My team won 3-2, thanks to TWO goals from awesome Whitney and one from my talented husband. Thanks to everyone who came and played!

Also, thanks for the many birthday well-wishes via Facebook, texts, e-mails, and phone calls. Really I felt so loved. And if you're reading this thinking, "Oh crap I totally forgot it was her birthday," just don't even worry about it. The ironic thing is that while I love people making a big deal out of my birthday, I am HORRIBLE about remembering everyone else's. So... happy birthday right now to all my friends.

Now for a total overload of soccer pics:

The teams....




Cute kid pics:




And the adult pics (sorry, tried to keep the most awkward-looking ones out of there):

Santa Rosa Plateau

It's been raining a lot lately, and is supposed to rain all through the weekend, so I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather today and get out of the house. The kids have been getting a little bit of cabin fever.

So today we headed up to the Santa Rosa Plateau for a little hike. Yeah, the scenery isn't really that pretty. I realize that. But the kids had fun. Kenley provided constant narration the entire hour, about everything, just jabbering away. "Hey I see a lizard. I talk quiet so I'm not scared of them. Oh I thought that noise was a bug. It's just people, saying some crazy words. Hey are we in Africa?" Never stopped talking. I'm sure any animals that would have been around were scared away. Parker spent most of the time in our hiking backpack, amazingly happy to just be chilling. It was a fun day.

It made me think of when we went when Kenley was little. Don't remember? Weren't a follower then? Check it out! Click here.



I love Kenley in the background of this picture scouting things out.

Cute little monkeys

It's been a while since I did just a random post about the kids.

Kenley: Despite being 3, Kenley has still mostly remained her sweet, tender, and helpful self. She is so nurturing and always tries to make everyone happy. Right now she's really into "solving her own problems" (a little echo of mommy there) and helping out around the house. We started a little co-op preschool where I switch with a few other moms and she is learning so much! She is quite the little chatterbox and talks constantly, always amazing me with the stuff she comes up with. ("And Mommy, then I realized, I DO eat fish! Just like a penguin!") She is sooooo excited about having a new baby this summer, but will be crushed if it's not a little sister. She wants one so badly. Kenley wants to contribute to this post. She says, "I like to play with my grandma. I like to play with my mom. I am good at obeying my mommy. I like to play with my daddy. I like to play with everyone!"

Parker: This is one funny little man. He is so absolutely obsessed with all things boyish - any form of transportation, robots, etc. He can be found 100% of the time toddling around with cars in his hands, seriously driving them on every surface of our house. He is still frustrating us with his picky eating ways, and I am comtemplating various ultimatums. Stay tuned for that riveting adventure. My favorite thing about Parker these days? Whenever I ask him if he is my big boy, he says, "No, baby!" and snuggles into me. Awwww... he wants to stay my baby forever! Unlike his sis, who is always telling us how she is sooo big and soooo old.

Although 90% of the time the kids play really nicely together, but they have recently started to fight. Yes, just now. Ohhhh... it is so aggravating! They fight over toys, over doing things first, over me, over everything. I think I'm in for a looooong next decade or two.

This week is brought to you by the number 5!

Five years ago this morning, I was getting my hair and makeup done in the wee hours of a rainy morning, hoping and praying that the skies would clear up for my wedding day. We headed down to the temple, and during the ceremony, the sun started to peek through the windows of our sealing room, bringing a smile to my face. It was a perfect, wonderful, beautiful wedding day. And in the five years since then, I have come to realize even more than I did that day that I married the best guy in the world, one who is loyal, supportive, kind, trustworthy, and a great husband and father. I love you, honey. You are the best husband ever!

And now, five years later, we are set to become a family of 5! We can't wait to welcome another baby in August! Kenley has announced that she will "pat its little head and pinch its chubby little cheekies" and that we will be naming our new baby either Max, Princess Ariel, or Uniqua. Parker has no comment.

The World Traveler

I know not all of you know my sister, but she's spending a few weeks travelling around Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. She's doing a travel blog that is pretty funny, so I thought I'd pass along the link in case anyone is interested in reading what Andrea's been up to. Just click below!

Andrea's blog

And one last time...

Well, today was the last day of our Disney passes before they expire. We had such a perfect day. The weather was nice, it wasn't too crowded, Parker took a nap, just an all-around good day. We got to go on all of our favorites, plus try a few new things. We ate dinner at a place that had airplanes on the tables and Parker thought he was absolutely in heaven. He also had a kiss for Lightning McQueen. :) Near the end of the day we let each kid pick out a little toy in honor of our last trip, and they were so happy. You can see in the last picture Kenley is asleep and still clutching hers, and Parker is holding his up so joyfully for all the world to see.

We love Disneyland and have made some great memories there, but on to some other adventures for 2009. Maybe we'll be back in 2010. We sure hope so!

Elder Ballard and Elder Uchtdorf got to rock the Inauguration!

I loved this article from lds.org. I love the fact that the church leaders are so involved in world events, and I love the tone of their comments. It's a lesson that I hope stays with me about being gracious and Christlike even when they may not agree politically with President Obama. I thought it was so classy. The only thing better than getting to go to the Inauguration would have been to get to sit by Elder Ballard and Elder Uchtdorf!

SALT LAKE CITY 20 January 2009
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was represented at inaugural events for President Barack Obama by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“Elder M. Russell Ballard and I were very pleased to have been able to attend today’s historic inauguration of the 44th president of the United States of America. In doing so, we represented President Thomas S. Monson and the entire Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” President Uchtdorf said.

“It was inspiring to be an eyewitness to this peaceful, impressive, transfer of power and the swearing-in of the first African American president. We pray for President Barack Obama’s success in these challenging times and join in his expressions of hope and optimism,” he said.

President Uchtdorf and Elder Ballard attended the swearing-in ceremony on January 20 and will attend the National Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral on January 21.

“It is always an honor for the Church to be represented at the inauguration of a new president,” said President Thomas S. Monson. “We send our best wishes to President Obama and pray for the blessings of a loving Father in Heaven to be upon him and his administration.”

Mmmmm.....

Today it's 77 degrees out, and we're hanging out outside, the kids in shorts and swimming suits spraying themselves and each other with little spray bottles and laughing hysterically. I am curled up in the chair just soaking up the sun. I love winter.

I know you're jealous

Yesterday Kenley was sitting next to me, leaned over, grabbed some of my chub, and informed me that my "side bum is very... bouncy."

If you don't have a three year old, you should get one. They are very... um.... honest.

Sea World Adventures

Nothing too exciting from us lately. We've just been doing the things that need to get done. We did use some Christmas money to buy Sea World passes to replace our Disney passes, and we've been twice so far. The kids really love it and so do we. I don't care how many times you've seen "Shamu" and his stand-ins do their jumps and flips, it's always amazing and makes you involuntarily oooh and ahhh. They've put in a new kids playland since we were little with rides(?) which is really not okay with me. Sea World is supposed to be about the animals. Oh well. Kenley commandeered all the foam blocks in this baby play area and made this creation, organizing and stacking them all so neatly by size and shape: Lovely picture of my children: Oh! And we also went to see Wicked last week in LA! Finally! James and I have been listening to and loving the soundtrack for about a year, and we got tickets as a Christmas present from Dad and Joanie. We LOVED it! We had unbelieveable seats and the play itself was amazing. Thank you Dad and Joanie! The light inside the theater wasn't the best so we don't have very good pictures, but it doesn't feel complete not to add one, so here you go... Best of all, we also had a hotel room and got to spend the night away from the munchkins. I got a FABULOUS mid-afternoon nap and was not awakened the next morning by Parker yelling "MaMA!" for the first time in months. Ahhhhh.... bliss! And the kids did great staying with Dad and Joanie, so everyone was happy.