Song from Phineas and Ferb

Yesterday, Lexi had a song from Disney's Phineas & Ferb stuck in her head. She was singing and dancing all over the house. Of course, she didn't ham it up quite as much once I turned the camera on, but you'll get the main idea...



By the way, we're back in San Diego. We got here on Saturday.

Annette

Our Utah vacation is coming to an end on Friday. We have had a great time and enjoyed seeing lots of people. More than anything, it has been fun to reconnect with old friends and get to meet each others kids. We have been lucky that Annette, my best friend from Jr. High, invited us to stay with her. The last time I saw her, her 17 year old was only 1. We have kept in contact over the years, but not as often as we would have liked. It has been great redeveloping our friendship. Lexi & Jordan have certainly grown to love her and her family too. We are really going to miss them, but we have been here 3 weeks and it is time to head home.

Snow Time

Yesterday, I took the kids up to Spanish Fork Canyon to play in the snow. Snow is one of the main reasons for our trip and they haven't been able to play in it very much. This time, it wasn't nearly as cold. Lexi and Jordan even got to slide down the hill (see the video below).

Babysitters

One great thing about Utah is that there is never a shortage of babysitters. I haven't really used this great resource, until last night. I went to meet old few friends for dinner and asked another friend if her 17 year old daughter could watch Lexi and Jordan. I dropped them off at their house last night and had a nice dinner without my sweet little loud mouths. The funny thing is that I used to babysit her kids when I was in college. Her daughter (pictured above) was 3 the last time I saw her. What a cute girl she has turned out to be.

I am putting the picture below in because everyone keeps commenting about how long Lexi's hair is. Even I am amazed:

Outhouse Experience

Yesterday, Lexi got her first experience in an outhouse. Annette's family all gathered at the Benjamin Cemetery to place the headstones for her father, brother, and Aunt, who have all died in the last 2 years. Lexi had to use the potty of course, so we walked over to the building and found that they had a small outhouse. She kept telling me that they didn't have a flusher and asked how it would go down. All I could do was laugh.

Two Exciting Things

Yesterday, the kids experienced 2 extraordinarily exciting things. First, we woke up to see big beautiful flakes falling. Lexi and Jordan were very excited. Later, we drove up to Roy to see one of my old friends from college and her family (six kids). All the kids were running around her house and having a blast. That evening, I got a text telling me that the friends we are staying with had a surprise when they got home.... their dog had four puppies. They hadn't even noticed that she was pregnant.

Snow Time

Last night while in bed, I realized that we only have about a week left here and there are a million things that I still want to do. One of the main reasons we came was to play in the snow. This morning, I drove up to Provo Canyon. There isn't a lot of snow here in the cities, but there is some in the shade and plenty up on the mountains. I knew we wouldn't be out long because the highs are about 35 degrees. The kids had fun even though it lasted about 15 minutes. That is when Lexi announced that she had to go to the bathroom. Since there are no facilities up there and I didn't want her bum to feel as horrible has my hands, I decided it was time to head out.




**By the way, I wish I had better pictures to share. Unfortunately, my camera has gone missing. I remember having it the first day we arrived, but it is now in some black hole, which bugs me more than I'll let on. I hate blogging or being on vacation without it. At least I have my silly little phone and was able to take these.

Visiting Mom's University

We embarked on a road trip to Utah. We arrived at the end of last week, but haven't taken many pictures until today. I took the kids up to BYU to show them where I went to college. We didn't stay long though because it is cold here and it is a huge campus.


Building where my grandma worked (the one Lexi got her middle name from)

Building where most of my classes in my major were

Four Year Doctor Appointment

Yesterday was Lexi's four year check-up. She was dreading it for a while because of the shots. First, they had me fill out a questionnaire about her development. There were various questions and tasks I had to see if she could do. They were all too easy. I think Jordan could have done at least half of them. After that, they weighed her. She is 36.5 lbs (50%). Then they measured her to see how tall she is and she is 40.25" (slightly above 50%). Next, they took her blood pressure, temperature & all that.

Then, they asked her to go down the hall with them for an eye test. She didn't want to hold the eye patch, but she did and answered the first two questions. When they pointed at the third thing (a cross), she didn't know what it was and immediately got frustrated. Apparently, my Mormon background has caused me to overlook teaching her that all too important shape. They asked her what it looked like and I know she could have answered but she was already flustered and didn't want to be there anyway, so she refused to continue the test. The doctor wasn't worried about it and said they would test her next time.

After that, they wanted her to pee in a cup. She fought me like crazy. She just couldn't see why she had to go in a cup. She wanted to use the toilet like normal. Finally, she gave in. She cooperated fairly well with the doctor, but was not happy when the nurses came back in with the shots. They gave her the nasal H1N1 first and then her two vaccinations in the arm. She didn't cry, but was NOT happy until she got her sugar-free sucker.

Fourth Birthday

Grandma Margie took us out to Dave & Busters last night to celebrate Lexi's birthday. We all had a great time and really enjoyed playing the games. When we got back, Lexi opened her gifts and we had cupcakes.




Birthday Brownie



Game


Winnings

Card from Aunt Angie

Horse from Aunt Carol

Wishing for his own presents

Tote & Cards from the Feils


Tea Set from Grandma Margie

Cupcakes

Sunday Photo

Has it become painfully obvious that I am just not into blogging that much so far this year? I managed to snap a few photos of the kids before church on Sunday, so I thought I would post them. At least it is something, right? Lexi enjoyed going to church on Sunday because they sang a birthday song to her and gave her a candybar, which she gobbled up seconds later.

Chargers' Day

Yesterday morning, we went to Papa Malcolm's church to hear him sing. Then we headed over to a little store that has Chargers stuff. We decided that morning to watch the playoff game. Of course, all of the gear was on sale so I got Chargers shirts for Lexi and Jordan (next years sizes). Lexi wanted to get one for her dad, but I explained that he is a Dolphins fan. The rest of the day she told everyone that she is a Chargers fan, but that her dad likes the Dolphins which is funny because she was not interesting in watching the game at all. For the first half of the game, she went to the dog beach with Papa Malcolm and Aunt Paige. The second half of the game, she just kept asking if we could watch or do something else. Now that I think about it, that is probably a good way for a true fan to handle a big loss.

New Bedding

There isn't a whole lot to blog about in 2010, not that things are bad (that would be something to blog about). We just haven't done many exciting things. There are many reason: Partly because we are recovering from all the Christmas excitement, partly because our SeaWorld passes expired, and partly because my workload has picked up. What we have been doing is spending a couple hours a day at the YMCA. My mom gave us a membership there for Christmas. Lexi and Jordan get to play with other kids outside and I get a break. I also get to workout. So it is a win-win-win situation.

Oh, back to the reason for the post... the kids got new bedding. I have been wanting to get them some for a while. I found these on sale and we had gift cards from Steve that almost covered the cost. The kids love their "new beds" and I love that they are thrilled to go to bed. I wish that excitement would last longer.

New Year's Eve

Grandma Margie offered to take us out for dinner on New Year’s Eve. We got the kids dressed up. Lexi & Eden wore their matching outfits that I gave them at their birthday party. We had a great dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. All the kids were in bed long before the ball dropped.