The First Snow

It snowed about 4 inches on Thursday - that is a lot for us this time of year. In ABQ you have to play in it as soon as you can because the snow melts within a couple of days. We had to take advantage of this great opportunity.

Mark and Kendra built a 6 foot snowman. While making it Kendra decided to have a snowball fight without telling Mark. She got him good on the first throw and snow went down his shirt!

Megan in her big poofy snow outfit. She prefers to play in the snow without her gloves on so her hands were freezing!

Christmas Letter

Megan - 1 1/2 - she had a rough start but is doing well now. We learned that she was basically allergic to everything and so her body was fighting against itself which made her constantly ill. She has seen a naturopathic doctor since June and we've seen such a change! Not only does she feel better but she is gaining weight, growing, and developmentally on target. She loves to get into anything and everything. Megan is quite the explorer and although she doesn't mean to, she sure makes a lot of messes! She loves animals and loves to copy her big sister. She is very easy-going, has the sweetest temperament and is happy most of the time.

Kendra - 4 1/2 - She attends preschool twice a week and loves it. She can't wait until next year when she can go to kindergarten. Kendra enjoys movies, reading, and computer games and is enthralled with the latest Disney princess - Rapunzel in Tangled. She has a very vibrant personality and always makes us laugh. Kendra loves cowgirls and will often put on a "rodeo" for us. She'll wear her cowgirl hat and ride around on her stick horse waving and doing tricks.

Kristi - I get to stay home with the two girls and enjoy playing with them. My day is usually just cleaning up after Megan...all day long. The year is ending better than it began for me. Megan's constant illness really took its toll, that and the first time she slept through the night was in October. I enjoy reading, watching The Office, and hanging with my friends during play dates.


Mark- Enjoys his job and just received his comments about the year. Almost every co-worker had written these exact words about Mark, "easy to work with." He gets along with everyone whether it's our neighbors, people on the bus, or his work. He enjoys skeet and trap shooting and hiking when he can.

Stockyards

We visited the Stockyards in Ft. Worth - it's basically a real Texas experience. It was fun.

Camy and Kendra showing off their cowgirl hats. Kendra has wanted a pink cowgirl hat with a crown since the summer. And ofcourse we'd find one in Texas!!

My favorite - I sat on a Texas Longhorn!!! Isn't he a beaut?

There are cowboys and girls that ride horses in the street, crack their whips, and let you pet their horses. I like this picture because Kendra's face is funny.

We saw the Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show. This gal did fancy riding tricks and Kendra just loved it.

We don't ride horses here in Texas, we ride our longhorns.

This is just too good not to share.

Ft. Worth Children's Museum

On Saturday we took the kids to the Children's museum in Ft. Worth. Mark's sister had a pass so we all got in for free! What a bonus!

Megan and the tortoise

They have a shopping area where the kids push a grocery cart around and pick up plastic food items. Then they bring them to the scanner/cashier area. Kendra is with her cousin Camy.

The carts were too big for Megan so she opted for the basket.

Megan enjoyed the bubble tubes

What a fun place to play!

The guys chillin while the kids play in the dinosaur dig area.

(Mark and Marc)

Megan loved the sand!

Cousins dug up a dino bone.

Aren't they cute? Kendra just loved her cuz.

Ft. Worth Zoo

We went to Texas to see Mark's sister and my brother and their families for Thanksgiving. Texas is such a fun and interesting place. I've never seen so much American pride!

On Friday we went to the Fort Worth zoo with my brother and his family.

The girls loved their cousin Analee

Feeding the birds - probably our favorite spot in the zoo. You can buy seed sticks to feed them.

One landed on Mark

Megan had a great time chasing them.

Kendra feeding a bird - as long as they stayed on the stick she enjoyed them.

Jacob, Analee and Kendra sitting on an alligator

My brother, sister-in-law and their son Sam

Kendra at the petting zoo - Megan was asleep for this part, but she would have loved it.

Kendra playing at the little kid area

"I'm this big"

According to Kendra

Today Kendra gave the 11th Article of Faith in Primary. She repeated what Mark whispered in her ear and said, " We claim the privilege of worshiping all our Gods according to the dictates of our ward conference...." Good job Kendra!

Just A Couple of Things

Kendra went to a speed racer birthday party last weekend. Each child got a box that had been converted into a car. It is now the girls' favorite toy. Amazing how something so simple can entertain them for so long.

I have always hated the colors in the kitchen and family room. The kitchen was a green and the family room was brown. So I have been painting each weekend for the last month. I made the family room a beige color and the kitchen a garnet color.

I stayed up until 1 am finishing the kitchen because it was in such disarray and was very difficult with the kids around. I regretted that decision later when the children were up early!

For the Grandparents

Here are a couple of videos of the kids. Kendra ran around like a dinosaur but she always stops when I get the camera. The other video is of Megan saying a few words.

Halloween

On Friday we did our ward trunk or treat. Megan seemed uninterested in the candy until we came home and Kendra dumped hers all over the floor. Then she couldn't stop playing in it.

Yesterday we went to the Malloween (Halloween at the mall). Most of the stores pass out candy to the children. It was fun. Here is a picture of the girls walking with Mark. Kendra is Jessie and Megan is Bullseye from Toy Story. I made Kendra's costume but bought Megan's on ebay. Horses just aren't popular this year!

In our little box labeled Halloween we have nerd glasses from when Mark was in college and dressed up like a nerd. Megan looks so funny. We have a picture of Kendra around this age wearing them too.

We have childproof locks on our cupboards but some are broken. This is Megan's favorite activity when I am distracted by dinner. She loves to pull everything out.

A week or so ago as Kendra lie on the floor Megan tackled her. She proceeded to sit and step on her sister with Kendra laughing all the while.

Balloon Fiesta

Every year Albuquerque holds the international balloon fiesta. For those of you who don't speak spanish, balloon fiesta is spanish for, "balloon party."

We've been here for 4 years and have never attended. But I decided (mostly because we can't go to Disneyland) that we need to create happy family memories. So we got up at 5:30 am, spent 1 1/2 hours in traffic to drive 10 miles and made our way through thousands of people for this:

I took a picture of the lighthouse for my Grandpa - he was a sailor and loved the ocean.

Kendra's favorite.

"Wo - woo"

Darth Vador is not only the coolest balloon on the field, but they have storm troopers too!

So Cool.

Officers let Kendra pet their horses.

Our Weekend

We had the primary program today and Kendra was the ADHD kid up on the stand. Some people said she entertained them the whole time. Yes, seriously she was jumping up and down, waving, doing hand/arm motions, turning around - she just couldn't sit still. I worked on the songs with her but next time we'll work on reverence. Many people complimented her because she knew all the words to every song.

Saturday was free museum day (through the smithsonian magazine - I printed a coupon for Mark and I) and the museum we chose was 1/2 price so we all got in the dinosaur museum for $2.00. Megan said, "roar" alot.

Mark and the girls next to the bird from "UP"

I visited my neighbor the other day when gravity got the best of Megan. She face planted into her driveway. She has a rugburn on her face near her eye. Poor thing.

It has since scabbed over and now it bleeds when Megan rubs it.

The gear and sprocket on our garage door broke on Friday so that needed replacement. I'd prefer to spend money on something fun for my house like, new paint or furniture. Oh well.

I threw a baby shower for someone who use to be in our ward. This is one thing I made - they are baby socks that I rolled to look like roses. I also made a diaper cake - very simple with just ribbon around it.