San Diego

Jason had to go to San Diego to a conference for work and his firm pays for the spouses to go (thanks Jason's firm!) so we just had to buy Kate a ticket. The conference was at a really nice resort in Carlsbad and I honestly think it was one of the nicest hotel rooms I have ever stayed in! Kate is old enough to need her own seat on the plane now which is good and bad. Bad because we have to pay more to fly but good because I don't have to fight to keep her on my lap. Jason spent most of his days in meetings so Kate and I got to have lots of alone time. I really enjoyed just being able to hang out with her and not have to worry about running errands or cleaning the house. Our first day we went to the San Diego zoo. It's a huge zoo and we probably only saw about half of it. I think my favorite part was seeing the dingo puppies. They were so cute! Most of the animals were very active because it was close to feeding time. That night we ate at a restaurant right on the beach. I had lobster which was pretty good but reaffirmed to me that I just don't really like lobster that much, even covered in butter and truffle oil!
The next day Jason only had a half day of meetings so we had thought about going to Disneyland. Unfortunately, Jason woke up around 4 AM puking his guts out so that nixed that plan. Instead I took Kate to Legoland where I spent a small fortune just to get through the gate. I still feel bad for the poor guy at the ticket window. It's not his fault the prices are ridiculous! Anyway, we did have fun there. Kate was just tall enough to be able to ride most of the rides. And it was so cool to see all the things made out of legos!
On Saturday (Halloween) Kate and I went to Sea World. I decided to not get her a costume since we weren't home and I don't think she cares too much about dressing up yet. We went on more rides in the Sesame Street section where Kate proceeded to throw a fit every time we had to get off a ride and get back in line. Do the terrible twos really last a whole year? Then we saw the manatees and the sharks and a really cute pet show. The last thing we did there was see Shamu. I figured I couldn't go all that way and not see that, right? Kate played with some bubbles I bought the whole time but it was an awesome (if somewhat cheesy) show. We flew home the next day. It was a really fun trip and even though we didn't get to hang out with Jason that much, I am so glad we tagged along.

Houston Zoo

Houston had an awesome day a few weeks ago of low humidity and cool temps so Jason and I took Kate to the zoo. I think she had a hard time realizing that the animals behind the bars are real since she couldn't get very close or touch them, because she didn't seem too impressed. But we had lots of fun anyway!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

This post is long overdue, but I wanted to post some pictures from Kate's 2nd birthday. The pictures definitely don't tell the whole story since Kate actually looks happy in most of them. Let's just say the girl doesn't like lots of people in HER house playing with HER toys. But I think the other kids had fun. It was a Backyardigans themed party because Kate is a big fan of that show. After the party Jason and I took her to Chuck E Cheese and she had lots of fun there.

Kate at two:

She is a little chatterbox
She loves to read books
She loves all animals; not such a fan of dolls
She loves to go swimming and loves the swings
She definitely has a mind of her own! I think her least favorite thing to do is to be told what to do!
She gives the BEST hugs (and always gives them after she has been caught doing something bad)
She likes to dance and listen to her dad play the guitar
She can count to 15 but tends to skip 3-6 for some reason
She is a joy to have around! I love you Kate!

Summer

A wonderful trip to Utah and lots of trips to the neighborhood pool. Ahhh, summer!

San Antonio and Wicked!

Bev was kind enough to come to Houston in June to watch Kate while Jason and I went to San Antonio to see Wicked. It was so nice to spend some time sans toddler! Quiet dinners, calm shopping trips and sleeping in! Well actually, I never was able to sleep past 8 AM, but oh well. We stayed in a cute hotel right by the Alamo and ate on the River Walk every day. I really love the River Walk. It's so pretty and the perfect place to people watch. And Wicked was so good! I loved the music and thought the adaptation of the book was done quite well. The only pictures I got were of some caverns we visited, but they were really neat. It was a different experience from Mt. Timpanogos. I remember being really cold there but the ones in San Antonio were hot and humid! The camera died when we went on a "safari" so I didn't get a picture of the ostrich that came right up to the car. Maybe next time. Thanks Bev for an awesome trip! And I know Kate had fun with you.

Tragic

Here are before and after pictures from our backyard. We knew that someday the trees would be torn down, but it is still sad to see them go. At least we had a year and a half to enjoy them, and they did leave one! Goodbye trees, you will be missed (except when you fall on our house).

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Jason, dad and all you fathers out there. Thanks for all you do to keep us moms and wives sane.

Memorial Day

I miss you mom! Love you!

Bros

My brothers came to Houston and silly me, I didn't take any pictures! Oh well, I pulled some out of my collection. I think Greg will really appreciate the one of him. It was so fun to see them and I am so glad to have Paul home safe and sound and out of Afghanistan. We had fun sleeping in late (well, they did), catching Paul up on The Office and eating good food. My favorite part of them visiting is that they cleaned up after I cooked for them! You guys can visit anytime! We also went to the beach one day. Kate was scared of the water at first but I held her and went in gradually and she eventually had fun. Mother's Day was really nice. I didn't have to teach my primary class and after church the boys let me pick a movie to watch while Kate napped. For dinner my brothers grilled hamburgers, steak, corn on the cob and bought watermelon too. It was so good! I had so much fun hanging out with my awesome bros. Thanks for coming guys!

Easter

We had a very nice Easter. Saturday our neighborhood had an egg hunt. Kate had fun picking up eggs and throwing them back on the ground, but we managed to get 3 eggs in her basket. Then we threw her in a bounce house and determined she is too young for bounce houses when she crawled to the back and wouldn't budge so Jason had to go in after her.

Sunday I put Kate in her new dress and we went to church. After, we had an egg hunt of our own. Silly mom, putting jelly beans in some of the eggs. Kate figured out how to get the eggs open and proceeded to pour all the jelly beans in her mouth. Her cute Easter dress is now covered in jelly bean juice and the label says "dry clean only". What was I thinking?! Along with lots of candy, Jason received Guitar Hero Metallica (with the caveat that he only play it with headphones on when I am in the house) and I got a Cuisinart ice cream machine. Yeah! George got the jelly beans that somehow didn't make it into Kate's mouth.

Visitors from the Big Apple

My good friend Addy was flying from New York to Utah and had a lay over in Houston. She decided to make it an extra long lay over so we could hang out a little. We had lots of fun! I picked Addy and Conor up from the airport late Tuesday night and after a waffle breakfast Wednesday morning, we took the kids to the Children's Museum. We wore them out pretty good there so when we got home the kids had naps and we watched Persuasion. Then we visited with the Burrs who were in Addy's ward in New York before they moved to Houston. After dinner, I took Addy and Conor back to the airport. A short trip, but it was so good to see Addy again and spend some time with Conor. He is so cute and such a good baby! Thanks for coming guys, and you are welcome back anytime!

Fondant Fun

I have been wanting to experiment with fondant for awhile now. I got a kit from Williams Sonoma that had fondant and some cute cut outs and last Sunday I tried them out. The results are pretty cute, but unfortunately the fondant tastes awful! Now begins my quest for some good tasting fondant!

Flowers

There is nothing like real flowers to brighten up a room. Thanks Jason!

Firsts

Lots of firsts these last few weeks. We went to the Houston zoo for the first time since I have been here. It gets so hot and humid that my motivation to go has definately been lacking in the past. But now that Kate is older, I wanted to go before it got too hot. It is a really nice zoo. We checked out the petting zoo, a bat cave and of course the lions, tigers, and bears. The temperature was just right and the company was great. The kids were all exhausted and fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the car.

Nursery is another first. Kate has actually gone 3 times now. The first two were somewhat rough, but this past Sunday the leaders told me she didn't cry at all. Go Kate! I love our nursery. They do so much more with the kids than I ever did when I was a nursery worker!

Another first is a babysitting ring we started with 3 other families in the ward. Jason and I were the first to watch all the kiddos and it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. Kate has been babysat by 2 other couples so far and after cry for a few minutes when we first leave, she does pretty well. It is so nice to have date nights again!

This isn't really a first, but I wanted to include Kate's stats from her 18 month checkup:
Height is 34 inches (95th percentile)
Weight is 23lbs 3oz (40th percentile)
Head is 18 1/2 inches (60th percentile)

Girls Night In

My WONDERFUL hubby had to go to Utah for work for a couple of days. He shocked me by asking if I wanted him to take Kate with him. My answer was, of course, a resounding YES! Kate, I love you kid, but mamma needed a break! I was amazed how much I was able to get done without a little one following me around tugging on my pants so I would pay attention to her. Here is everything I did Tuesday:
Made strawberry jam
Cleaned the kitchen
Paid bills
Swept and mopped
Vacuumed
Took a bunch of stuff to Good Will
Got my hair colored and cut
Went to the grocery store
Made treats for girls night at my house
Watched a movie (Penelope-so cute!) with friends
Whew! What a day! Thanks so much Jason for taking Kate with you. I had a great time but I will be happy to see you both soon!

Breakfast Party!

I just got a really cute new waffle maker that makes waffles shaped like barnyard animals, and so to try it out I invited a couple of neighborhood friends over for breakfast. My awesome friends totally obliged and even came over in their PJ's! It was lots of fun and the best part was that the waffles were really yummy! Thanks for a fun morning guys!