Kenzie's first snowmobile ride. We bundled up Kenz good and went for a ride together.

Here we are on the snowmobile. Kenz was a little scared of the noise at first, but she did like going fast. It was a pretty cold day, so her little cheeks and nose were turning red. She would say ouch and rub her nose. That's when we knew it was time to go in and warm up by the fire.

We got Shauna the biggest, warmest snow suit we could find. She actually did pretty good with the cold weather. Kenzie helped to keep mom warm.

Playing in the snow in front of the cabin. There was about a foot and a half of new snow. She would sink in up to her waist on her own. She liked trying to catch the snowflakes as they were falling.

IDAHO

She kept dragging her left arm out of the sled and would then get angry when the snow wouldn't shake out of her glove.I could never tell if she was slipping or just trying to free herself of my hand.

Family four-wheel ride

TEMPLE LIGHTS

This is one of the few times we let her out of her stroller. The Wise Men in the distance were obviously not as interesting as the rocks under the bushes.

(We are on a decilne in this picture, which is why I look so short)

She finds the oddest positions to sleep in.

Kenz likes to be in the middle of anything I am trying to get done. She will sit and play on the dishwasher lid until the grabbing of sharp knives elicits her removal. More than anything, Kenz likes rocks. We try placing her on grass but she quickly migrates to any available rockpile (which aren't hard to find here). She says "ock" which we believe is rock, but the same exclamation is made for dog, truck, duck, milk, park, and bottle.
Supposed to be helping her Dad put up the Christmas lights, but, again, playing with the rocks.

A top-heavy tree: We had to make some adjustments to our tree decorating this year. The ornaments are exactly out of Kenzie's reach, though she's figured out how to get to them by way of a nearby couch. She knows she isn't supposed to touch the ornaments and always keeps her back to me when she happens to pluck one off.

Christmas pics. Those poor holiday photographers looked a little frazzled due to the high customer volume, but managed some great smiles from Kenzie.

For Veteran's Day we spent some time with the cousins at the Riparian Preserve. Kenz was in heaven as long as sand and dirt were involved. Here she is at the playground with a stray stuffed animal she happened to capture.At the Riparian Preserve pond (AZ has gotten pretty good at faking natural water habitats). Kenzie is troublingly fearless. Poor Quinnelly had to pull her kicking and screaming more than once from the edge of the pond. As hard and fast as she kicks when we are pulling her away, I'm sure she'd find a way to stay afloat if she were to have her way.

This costume came together like it was meant to be. I don't consider myself crafty, but in a stroke of creativity, this is what resulted. The neck is a little unstable, but overall the pink flamingo was a success.


A headless pink flamingo. The feathers get a little overwhelming for both Kenz and the person holding her.

How to carve a pumpkin:

1. Taste first2. Remember some cheating is allowed.
3. Manage the mess wisely.

4. Display with pride (because yours is pretty much the coolest pumpkin on the block)

My sisters got Mackenzie this very pink, very princessy bike for her first birthday. It's as loud as an ice cream truck and does not have a volume button. Disney is not helping their cause with this product. Sometimes I passively aggressively hide the bike in the bathroom---out of sight out of mind. We have recently begun taking Kenz to the parks around the neighborhood. Her favorite part is sitting at the top anticipating the ride down. Once the sliding begins, she hold her breath until the very end when she lets out a half-moritified half-thrilled gasp.

It's sad when you drop one of your toys through the stair rails. Her face says it all. The poor child has been neglected as of late, but my thesis is almost done. It's faces like this that make me long for graduation.

Her "What are you looking at" face
Discovering that being tall has its perks
Food face
They should make this an Olympic sport.


I tried and tried to rotate this video but had no luck. Here she is playing the piano. She smacks my hands down when I try to play with her, so she is on her own in this video.

Our trip to Idaho:

Fourth parade-short and sweet

Fourth softball tournament-fractured my arm

Night of the Fourth-Evanson fireworks show...pretty amazing with some wayward fireworks that cinged some family members' shirts

Evanson cabin-beautiful scenery

Sun valley-missed a chance to meet W. Buffet and B. Gates, but enjoyed the weather, scenery, and Mexican food

Stanley, ID-family renuion, beautiful Sawtooth Mountains, tried tabouleh (Greek salad which I tried to recreate and completely failed)

Rockin the 80's

This was an old vest of my niece's. We had to complete the outfit with some makeshift 80's accessories. If only her hair were long enough to be crimped...

Kenzie making noise

Kenzie loves any opportunity to make noise

Side pony.

First ponytail