3rd Leg of U.S. Trip: Mesa

We got back to Mesa on Friday night & stayed at my parents' house for 5 more days. Melissa, Brad & Nixen are living there right now, so Kylee & Nixen got to see a lot of each other, which they loved...

Kylee liked playing with the fun toys at Grandma & Grandpa's house too...

One of the highlights of my trip was staying up late with Megan each night. We made a few late-night runs to Walmart. We found LaLa yogurt there, which is what I drink a lot here in Mexico, so of course we had to buy one...

We also had fun printing off embarrassing pictures of Melissa & putting them on the bathroom mirror, where she could see them when she woke up...

Watching Toy Story 3 together...

Kylee & I were driving around one day so that she wouldn't wake Nixen up from his nap again. We ran a few errands & then I was wondering where to go next, when Kylee said out of nowhere, "Mom. Temple. Jesus." I asked, "You want to go to the temple & learn about Jesus?" She said "yes" so that is where we went. (We hadn't talked about the temple since we'd gotten to the U.S. or driven by it or anything. She said this completely out of nowhere.)
We walked around the temple grounds...

Then we went inside the Visitors Center. We saw an exhibit that they have on families, where you walk through different rooms of a "house" & watch videos. I'd never seen it before...it was really cool. Kylee loved the Christus...

I had been feeling stressed & confused, and walking around the temple really helped lift my spirits. It's incredible to me that I have a child in my life who is constantly reminding me of what is truly important. Kylee has such a sweet, innocent, mature spirit and I am in awe of the fact that I have the privilege to teach her about the gospel & about life. 

Another night while we were in AZ, I told her it was time to say her prayers and she immediately started praying by herself. (She folds her arms most of the time, but generally doesn't say her prayer with help even, so I was really surprised.) She said "Thank you for day. Thank you blessings. Bless....(and blessed a few people, I can't remember who). Then, "I sorry I hit Nixen" and said "Amen". I've never taught her about repentance or saying sorry in a prayer. Hearing Kylee pray was probably the best experience that I've had so far since becoming her mother. It also reminded me that I need to make sure that I'm always being a good example to her, because she listens & notices things that I don't realize that she does!

We bought Kylee a few headbands from Target to make her look more "girly". She was a huge fan of them...

My mom had stayed in Utah to help Ashley & Shawn and to get some extra time with Cooper. She flew back home the day before Kylee & I left. We had a girls' lunch at Crackers with Melissa, my mom & I. Oh, I've missed Crackers. And I've missed "girl time" without kids!

Kylee was excited to spend a little more time with Grandma before we went back to Mexico...

We really appreciated the yummy dinners, FHE's, games & everything else that we got to do with my family while we were in Mesa. A few more highlights from our time in Mesa were: 

A surprise visit from Steve & Erica & their kids
Lunch & swimming with cousins
Eating Aunt Tricia's famous chocolate chip cookies
Eating dinner with Jana & her family

Visiting 12th ward...it felt like home 

Saying goodbye to Heather before she moved to Utah

2nd Leg of U.S. Trip: Utah

Next we headed to Utah to see Shawn & Ashley's new baby! Kylee & I drove with my parents and stopped at a few places to eat along the way.

Kylee rocked her sunglasses on the drive up...

She also read about Steve Carrell in People magazine... :)

That night we made it to Salt Lake to meet our new nephew/cousin/grandson, Cooper Shawn Allen! He was born on July 30th, weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 21.5 inches long. He is a CUTIE, as you can see...

 Kylee loves to act like a baby when she is around a baby, hence the picture of her sitting in Cooper's swing...

Kylee immediately fell in love with her new cousin...

We stayed in Lehi at Ashley's dad's house for the 3 nights that we were there. We pretty much had the whole upstairs of the house to ourselves, which was great. They had a kids' playroom there that Kylee & Grandma spent quite a bit of time in...

 A pic of us in front of Shawn & Ashley's cute little house, with some messages that we wrote in sidewalk chalk to welcome Cooper home...

Loving my girl!

More pics with Cooper...

(Ashley took this one of us.)

It was hard to get Kylee to stay quiet while Cooper was napping, especially since she was pretty cranky from being completely off of her own napping schedule. My dad & I walked to the Sugar House park with Kylee to spend some time outside and enjoy the nice weather. She was terrified of the ducks...

A nice lady let us pick some apricots from her tree on our walk home. They were delicious!

On Friday, Kylee & I said goodbye to Ashley, Shawn & Cooper and headed back to Mesa with my dad. I think he has all of the songs on Kylee's Barbie Singalong DVD memorized now. Kylee kept getting mad at us because we were singing along with the songs & was constantly telling us, "No sing Papa! No sing Mommy!" She also insisted that she have wipes on her legs to make her "owies" feel better, even though her only real "owie" was on her toe. Silly girl!

I was able to meet up with my friend Rebeca for a few hours one night while we were in Utah. We hadn't seen each other in 2 years, so it sure was fun to see her! Kylee & I went to dinner with Rebeca & her family, then went shopping at Toys 'R Us & Nordstrom Rack. Kylee picked out a Snow White dress for her birthday at Toys 'R Us. She also took off her shoes & hid them at Nordstrom Rack, replacing them with a pair that she wanted to buy. So I found her with a pair of expensive shoes on & her own shoes nowhere in sight....that was fun. :)

We were also introduced to Monopoly Deal while we were there, & I ended up buying it and bringing it back to Mexico with me. It's the only version of Monopoly that Linc will even think about playing with me!

And just for fun, a few pics of the cute new parents that I stole from Ashley's blog:

 We love you so much Shawn & Ashley! Thank you for letting us spend time with you & for being such great people. You will make the best parents ever. We're so thankful that Cooper is a part of our family!!!

1st Leg of U.S. Trip: Snowflake & Mesa

So as I mentioned, we left for the United States on a Friday, after only having been back in Mexico for a month. We flew for the first time, which I actually didn't like as much. Call me crazy, but I would rather spend 3 days in the car than spend 3 hours trying to get a 2-year-old to behave on an airplane. We left for the U.S. the day after Kylee's 2nd birthday, which meant that we had to buy her a full-price ticket. My sister reminded me that I could have flown by myself with Kylee the day before her birthday, had Lincoln meet us 2 days later & saved $300. Oops.

Brad picked us up at the airport, we dropped him off, then headed over to where my parents were eating dinner to grab the car seat out of their car...not smart planning on our part. By the time we drove back to my parents' house to trade cars for our drive to Snowflake, it was pretty late. We made it to Snowflake around 12:30am, which was 2:30am our time. Then it was up in the morning for the funeral. 

The funeral was amazing. It was inspiring and spiritual & I am very thankful that we were all able to be there to honor Da & his life here on earth. I have so much to say about our beloved grandpa, but I'll wait until I have pictures from the funeral. 

All of Lincoln's family was in town for the funeral: every aunt, uncle, cousin, in-law, etc....EVERYONE! That meant that we got to spend quality time with family, which is always the best thing ever.

So excited to see this girl again!

Love him...

Olivia gave me so many hugs while we were there. I felt pretty special!

We drove back to Mesa later that night, then Linc left for the airport early the next morning. He had a big test the next day, so it was back to his grueling medical school schedule here in Mexico, while Kylee & I stayed in the U.S. to have some more fun!

Since Kylee didn't get a birthday cake, Melissa & Mom made some Birthday Brownies for her & we all sang "Happy birthday". She loved the attention...

"Papa" & Kylee...

Cuddling with Grandma & "Bear"...

(We had to bring Bear on the plane. Kylee can't live without him!)

Waiting to see what crazy voice will come out of Brad's mouth next...

Melissa & Nixen....

(Guess what? Melissa's pregnant & due in February! Yahoo!!!)

Happenings

These past 6 weeks have been pretty crazy, that's for sure! Here's a basic rundown of what has been going on with us:

-My HRT patch is on back order here in Mexico for an unspecified amount of time. That means that I got to switch my hormone medication to something that didn't work nearly as well. I was kind of a mess for 6 weeks, but the good news is that I got the right kind when I was back in the U.S. and I'm starting to feel better again. The bad news is that it cost me twice as much as I used to pay.

-Our kitchen was remodeled...again. When it was done the first time, the workers accidentally drilled a few holes in a pipe. This pipe was connected to the sewage line. Yup, we had sewage & rain water leaking into our cabinets. It was awesome.

-Linc's grandpa passed away. He had cancer, so it wasn't unexpected, but it was definitely sad for us to find out. We bought last-minute tickets to fly back to the United States the next weekend. Linc was only able to stay in the U.S. from Friday night to Sunday morning, but Kylee & I ended up staying for 2 weeks.

-Our nephew Cooper was born! He's seriously ADORABLE.

-We bought a schnauzer puppy who we named Hallux. He is awesome. Now I just need to convince Daisy of that. :)

-We are now fighting head colds here.

That's about it! I have lots of pictures to blog, so hopefully I'll be able to catch up soon!

Kylee 2 Years

It's been over two months since I posted an update on Kylee, so I think it is time for a long one! She has grown up so much and is turning into such a big girl. Her new favorite songs to sing are "Oompa Doompa" (the "Oompa Loompa" song from Willie Wonka), "We Are A Happy Family" and "Shake It The Booty" ("Shake Your Booty"). Kylee's new favorite movie is Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs...she watches it almost every single day. She covers her mouth & screams "Oh gosh! Oh gosh!" when the witch is giving Snow White the apple. Then she yells "Don't eat the apple!" to Snow White & "RUN!" to the dwarfs when they are running to save her. It is so incredibly funny! Kylee also likes her Barbie Sing-along movie & the Baby Animals movie that her friend Cason gave her. 

Kylee is getting even better at putting sentences together & communicating with others. Kylee calls me by my name sometimes (saying "Anj-a-day" instead of Anjane'). When Kylee & I were getting ready to fly back to Mexico & see Linc, I asked her if she wanted to see Daddy, to which she quickly replied, "Drink Daddy's soda!" The other day when I was changing her diaper she looked at me & said, "Mommy. Smells so bad!" On Kylee's birthday, I walked into her room & told her "Kylee, happy birthday!". She just looked at me & said "Sing it." I sang the "Happy birthday" song to her & then she said "Cake." I explained that our oven was broken so I couldn't make her a cake, but that didn't keep her from asking for one multiple times that day. When I ask her how old she is now she says "Five!". When we say "No. How old are you REALLY?" She says "Two." She is constantly surprising us & making us laugh. :)

Kylee still talks about our trip to Disneyland & about the "Small World" ride, which she calls "Babies Dancing". She loves watching videos of the ride on You Tube. Kylee is becoming even more creative when she plays dress-up, she loves making cookies with me & spending time outside. She has been very afraid of swimming these past two months & loves to get her swimsuit on, but won't get in the water. She hates getting her hair washed and doesn't like staying in the shopping cart at the store. Uncle Shawn taught Kylee how to give "Piggie muckles", where Shawn puts his fist out & Kylee hits it with her toes. It's hilarious. She tells me when she needs to go to the bathroom & lets me know that I need to change her as soon as she is done. She is fascinated with potty training books too, but she hasn't gotten any closer to actually being potty trained yet.

Since we've been out of town so much these past few months, Kylee has had multiple Happy Meals & loves the chicken nuggets with Ranch dipping sauce. She also likes dipping anything (& I mean anything!) in ketchup. She loves fishy crackers & pretzels too. When Kylee was younger, I would wrap her in her towel after a bath & say "Kylee's my little baby" and hug her. Now when I put her towel on her, Kylee reminds me, "Mommy...Kylee baby!" Sometimes I pick up Daisy & tell Kylee that "Daisy is Mommy's baby". Kylee DOES NOT like it & yells, "No! Kylee's a baby!"

I have a few more stories to tell about Kylee, but I'll save those for a later post. Here are a few random pictures that I have taken of Kylee recently:

One day, Kylee walked out of her bedroom after her nap, dressed like this...

The only way that she will wear this dress-up skirt, is around her neck. Here she is checking out a worm that Daddy found on our porch...

She also likes the hat & shirt that Grandma & Grandpa bought for her on their cruises...

Kylee loves these Winnie the Pooh decals that my mom gave her. We put them up in her bedroom, and Kylee is so excited to fall asleep next to her favorite characters...

Linc converted a bookshelf that we bought from our neighbors into an entertainment center. Kylee wanted to help him...

Taking care of this girl is definitely a full-time job, but it makes me very happy! I sure do love her & appreciate her friendship, her love, & her fun personality...

WE LOVE YOU KYLEE GIRL!

Celebrating Kylee's Birthday

On July 28th, Kylee turned 2 years old! We celebrated by meeting the Biggs family at the mall. We ate dinner at Applebee's, where Kylee enjoyed making funny faces on the glass partition...

Then we all went on the indoor train ride! Kylee has been wanting to go on it ever since we moved here.
Here we are waiting in line, holding our train tickets!

The train just drives through the mall past the stores, makes a loop and goes back. Kylee loved it though. :)

We couldn't resist posing for a few pictures before we left the mall...

That balloon in the picture makes it extra funny...

Then it was off to visit the churro lady to buy some YUMMY churros filled with cajeta and lachera! Seriously, after tasting these, Disneyland churros don't taste nearly as good. 

We celebrated Kylee's birthday the day before her actual birthday, because we had some workers coming over to fix our kitchen. (Long story that I'll post about later, along with what else has been going on these past two weeks!) Well, the workers finished early & we couldn't help but celebrate Kylee's birthday with her again. We took her for her favorite food...TACOS! She loves the pastor tacos with pineapple & guac...

Then we went to our favorite nieve (water-based ice cream) shop next door & Kylee got her own cookies 'n cream nieve. We let her make a huge mess with it & she loved every second...

I can't believe she is already 2 years old!!!

I Did It!

I have to brag about the fact that I gave my sacrament meeting talk in Spanish yesterday & I didn't faint! Plus, the members of my ward said that they could understand my whole talk. I was definitely helped, because when I read it aloud for the first time on Saturday night, it did NOT sound good. Luckily with the help of Lincoln and my friend Kim, and with quite a few "I'm really nervous...PLEASE help me to speak better Spanish than I can really speak!" prayers, I survived it. I learned that the feeling of satisfaction I get from doing something SO out of my comfort zone is totally worth the anxiety & frustration!

Anyway, I thought I'd mention a little bit more about the differences in our ward here compared to the wards in Mesa. Our ward meets for church in the stake center, which is about a 15-minute drive from our house. The only room that is carpeted in the church is the nursery room...the rest is tile. There is no library, foyers, or mothers' lounge in the building. Only one person in our ward (my friend Kim) knows how to play the piano, so if she isn't there then we sing a cappella. The members here don't grow up knowing all of the hymns in the hymn book, like a lot of us do in AZ, so we usually end up singing the hymns that everybody knows. 

We will probably be asked to speak in sacrament meeting every few months while we are here. Lincoln has already spoken twice, and I'm guessing now that the ward knows that I'm willing to give a talk in Spanish, they will probably ask me to do it again. I think I mentioned that I've been subbing in Primary for the last few months. I was teaching my class in English, but now I have three Mexican boys coming to my class, so my friend Dani comes in & translates for me. Sharing time & singing time are in Spanish, although the Presidency & teachers do a great job trying to incorporate some English into the lessons & songs. 

Other than that, the church is the same. It's amazing to know that the gospel is the same everywhere, and that our Church is so united in purpose around the world!

P.S. Linc is now the ward clerk/secretary!