Trip to Cousins'

We are so glad we have family close to us now!! Blake's sister Dionne moved to Boston this summer after her husband Matt accepted a job there. Blake had two weeks off and Blake's mom was going to visit Dionne, so we made it a trip and went out to visit for a few days. We had such a great time!! Matt and Dionne had been wanting a pantry in their kitchen, so Blake used his manly skills and helped Matt build them one. It turned out great and it was so satisfying to help them out. Kelsey and Mylee had a great time. When we pulled up to their house, she quickly ran up to the door without us and ran inside to find Grandma Clifton. Even though we live so far away from our parents, it makes me feel really good that Kelsey feels so close to her grandparents. Blake and I got to go to the temple, which was fabulous by the way!! While we were at the temple, Kelsey and her cousins had quite the princess party! Being that these cousins are all boys (5 of them), they had never had a princess party, but Kelsey was very much obliged to show them how to throw one. Mom and Dionne gathered together some clothes for them to dress up in, but Kelsey was quite dissapointed her cousins didn't have a princess dress. Mom came to the rescue though with a white garbage bag and all was good! She was quite satisfied in fact I heard. Mom also made crowns out of disposible pie tins, so creative!

I heard that at one point in the party, Kelsey said, "This doesn't feel like a princess party." And then Dionne asked, "What do you do at a princess party?" She said, "We twirl like this."

and this...

Trey then joined her for a dance. How cute is that?!!!

Later that day, we also had a be-lated birthday for Mom because we missed it and an early birthday for Kelsey because it is coming soon, Feb. 24th! Dionne made a popcorn/marshmellow/M&M cake. It could not have been more perfect! Kelsey loves popcorn and marshmellows and M&M's! The boys also gave her a little bag that she now calls her make-up bag (she takes it with her every where!) with a whole bunch of first aide items in it. Her favorite are the rainbow bandaids and the lipstick. I've been finding bandaids on her dolls, on Mylee, on the bottoms of my socks, etc. She loves them, and I think she especially loves that she doesn't get in trouble for using them. And the lipstick, she has a daily ritual of putting it on at least once if not many times. Then she talks very carefully so the color doesn't come off her lips. One time she put it on right before dinner and she told me she couldn't eat because it would take her lipstick off. Wow, that girl is nothing but girl!! Of that though, I don't have a problem with. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my girls!! They are so much fun.

Kelsey goes to a Birthday Party

Kelsey's friend Niah turned four this last week and Kelsey went to her birthday party. It was a Barbie princess party so she was to go dressed up like her favorite Barbie. Being that she only has one, thanks to Sister Sessions who gave it to her for Christmas, she dressed up like her Ballerina Barbie. Kelsey picked out her tights. She had so much fun at the party. Thanks Natalie for hosting it and making it so much fun for the kids!! Apparently they played pin the crown on the Barbie, colored a page, watched a movie and of course opened presents.

PS. I AM STILL GOING PRIVATE, I just trying to allow enough time for people to look at it to get the message.

Frigid Temps!

While we were gone to Philadelphia it was freezing!! In fact the day after we got home, Burlington hit at record low at -21 degrees F. That was without the wind chill. Blake had decided our car needed washed to get all the salt off. He took to the car wash because our faucet was frozen. When we got to the car wash he opted for the cheaper (didn't I say cheaper is not always better, read previous post) wash and sprayed the soap and water on himself. As he was spraying the soap on, it completely froze! So then he preceeded to power wash off all the soap that had frozen to our car. Ha Ha, he did get the salt off though. Next time, he admits, he will use the drive through.

We also had some sprite cans in the mud room that had exploded because it got so cold. See how one of the cans is split in the middle. The other one was on the verge of exploding. Now were're up to the single digits, yes!!

Philadelphia Trip

WARNING!! THIS IS A LONG POST!

Last week we went to Philadelphia for Blake to complete the second part to his Step II board licensing exam. We had a good time, but it wasn't without some mishaps. Our trip there went very well, the girls were great, the roads were good and we got out early. I had hoped to get to Philadelphia before dark so we could tour some of the national landmarks. Luckily we got to Philadelphia before dark and we succeeded in finding the building where Blake was to take his test, but unfortunately I was driving and we never made it to see any landmarks. Some may not realize that I am directionally challenged!! When dating Blake, I once got lost in Provo--yeah, he still won't let that one down. Fortunately we invested in a GPS about 3 years ago, and that did help a little bit, but it isn't fool proof. Okay, so maybe it helped A LOT, but it still isn't enough to treat my handicap though.

We eventually made it to our hotel, after having to switch with Blake in driving. I was so excited because I had found this awesome deal online, way cheaper than anywhere else, it was much to my chagrin though when we arrived at the hotel. The place was a dump! Also, I thought the room was already paid for when I made the reservation online, nope, the reservation online didn't include the taxes and what I was actually charged was a reservation fee. So in the end I paid just as much for this dumpy hotel as I would have a much nicer one. Lesson learned!! Sometimes it's not worth it to go cheap. Well, at least dirt cheap.

The good thing about the hotel is that it had a microwave, so I was able to cook the frozen lasagna I had brought for my family to eat. The bad things were that the mini fridge it came with was covered in black mold, the bathroom had toilet paper stuffed down the facet that had browned and dried up, and the sink wouldn't drain. To make things worse, that night Blake got really sick and went to bed as soon as we walked in the room. Luckily he was well enough the next morning to take his test. I didn't sleep the whole night. I was worried about bed bugs and other little critters that were living in this room. The next morning we packed everything up and left. Before we had planned for me just to take him to his test and then return to the hotel and check out at noon. But I wasn't going to stay in that room any longer. I dropped Blake off at about 7:15 A.M, then I was left with two little girls still in their jammies in the middle of Philadelphia by myself. Wha-hoo!!

I found this while I was lost, pretty cool huh?

To make this post a little shorter, I drove around for an hour looking for the Indepedence Visitor Center where I was hoping to park and maybe see some sights with my girls. I found it, but didn't realize how expensive parking was until I had gotten to the bottom of the garage and couldn't back up. I parked for 30 minutes. Giving us enough time to get the girls dressed, their hair done and got me spiffied up a little bit and left paying $8.00!! I gave up the Independence Visitor Center and I left for the Please Touch Children's Museum. Luckily I found this without any glitches!! The museum was wonderful!! I am so glad we went. We were there for 5 hours until Blake called for us to come and pick him up. The girls were in heaven and they had the cutest things for them to do. Here are some pictures.

This was a place where they could build their own place and launch it off to fly it.Kelsey doing the balance beam, look at that future gymnast!They had a great water area with all sorts of fun activities
This was part of the space area

Kelsey dressing up like Alice in Wonderland
They had a mini shopping store, Kelsey is checking out here and a little boy is her cashier. He is asking for money here and Kelsey is giving to him. I was cracking up this part. My girls were in heaven!!
Mylee shopping. I couldn't stop laughing!! She was in HEAVEN!! She looks so big!

Kelsey and Mylee cruising

Mylee giving us her cheeser!

Our way home was pretty seemless too, except when we were about an hour away from home and Blake wanted a break from driving and pulled over so I could take the wheel. Just as he pulled off to the side of the road we started SINKING!! The side was the road was plowed up with snow, but underneath was a little ditch. Well, we got stuck and it was so cold outside that the roads were completely frozen and our tires wouldn't grip the road so we could get out of there. This was at about 12 in the morning by the way. Blake worked the 4-wheel-drive for about 15 minutes and we were eventually able to get out. What a relief!!!

Now we are done with our travels and are looking forward to staying put! Just a few days prior to our trip to Philadelphia, we were in Betheleham, PA for an interview. So in about a week's time we traveled about 1400 miles, totaling about 27-28 driving in the car with two little girls. They were champs though!

Going Private

After getting hits from many different countries where I don't know anybody among many other places I don't know people, I am going private. Please leave a comment and leave me the email address you would like me to send you an invite.

Please note however that if you do not have a gmail account, you will only be able to access the blog for 30 days using another email account. I know it is really annoying! However, it is really easy to sign up and I have been really pleased with gmail and it's features. You can sign up for free and only use it to sign into blogs if you like. I personally have two email accounts, one for personal and one to receive adds and other stuff. You know like those things you sign up for on the internet that require an email address. That is where I put in my other email address.

To sign up for gmail just go to www.gmail.com and just follow the instructions. Sorry to make looking at my blog more of a pain.

Kelsey's First Day of Primary

Kelsey is now officially a Sunbeam. I can't believe I have a child old enough to go to Primary. Since it was a special day, we of course did her hair extra-special. She was thrilled by that. And without a doubt, she believes she is a real princess. I of course, know that she is.

Mylee Likes Caramel!

The other day, I went upstairs to get some chores done, leaving Mylee in Blake's care. The only problem was that I assumed Blake would take care of her after noticing I had left. Well you can see what happened. Blake fell asleep and Mylee went to town! We bought these little containers of caramel to dip apples in for snacks and Kelsey had some for lunch, but apparently had left it too close to the table's edge. She got it EVERYWHERE. It could have been worse though. Blake said she came into the livingroom and woke him up saying, "ma ma, ma ma" (that's what she says when she is trying to tell you something). He opened his eyes and quickly jolted out of his chair and took her straight upstairs to the bathtub. Mylee thought it was great of course.

Since we are talking about Mylee, I wanted to jot a few more things down about her. I laugh my head off at her every day!! She's hilarious! EVERY TIME she hears some music she moves her little body to the beat and gets a beaming smile on her face. I'll have to get a video of it on here for you to see. She's also become quite good at saying thank you. She still loves peek-a-boo, but LOVES playing tickle the most. Usually she'll chase either Kelsey or Blake around and say, "Ticka ticka ticka". You have to hear it though, it's this high-pitched all-run-together sound. So cute! Mylee also loves taking care of the many babies (dolls) we have around the house. She'll find one and say, "baby, baby" then pat it on its back and say, "Shhh." Then she'll usually laugh, throw the doll and find something else to do.

Yesterday for dinner I made manicotti which is a huge hit at our house. My girls gobble it up, well usually! Mylee just was not interested. She wouldn't even taste it, very frustrating. But when I wouldn't offer it to her she would ask for it again, "ma ma, ma ma...." So then I would try again to feed her, but again she refused. Then I figured it out. She wanted to feed herself. I gave her the fork and put some food on her tray and she ate the whole thing!! When I gave her the fork she gave me a little giggle and got very excited. It's so fun to see more and more of her personality coming out.

Curly Cues and a Box Fort

We experimented with hot rollers today instead of curlers, she's advanced! They turned out really sweet. I think we need them just a little bit smaller though so they last longer. Kelsey is so photogenic, I love it. It is so easy to take pictures of her.

Per Kelsey's request, we made a box fort today and it has been quite the hit!! Right now she is having quiet time in it reading books with her new princess flashlight with the blanket over the opening. Ha, that cracks me up. Kids are so adorable! I remember doing these sorts of things growin up. I love Mylee in these pictures. She is beginning to understand what it means when we ask her to smile. This is what she gives us. A big crinkled-up nose cheeser!! In the picture below, she is cheesin' it so much that her eyes are closed.

Christmas Day

This was a Christmas I will never forget. First of all I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to those who made our holiday brighter. It's been a long time since I have felt such an out-pouring of love from others. Elder Holland in his talk this last conference said:

"My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. “[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.”...And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal."

I have felt the present of angels both mortal and immortal and I thank those who may be reading this blog that were my family's angels this year. Blake and I were humbled and grateful for your service and kindness. We felt buoyed up, supported, and loved. Thank you!!!

From that note, as you may have guessed, Christmas was very special this year. Definitely different because it was the first year we celebrated Christmas without our extended family. But it was nice. Christmas morning began with the opening of presents then we had breakfast. I made the traditional sticky buns and breakfast casserole with fresh fruit. I always looked forward to this breakfast growing up. Thankfully it was as delicious as my mother's.

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve this year, the Stake President and his family invited us over for dinner and holiday festivities. It was a lot of fun!! It was so nice to be in a home and to celebrate the holiday with friends. The dinner was wonderful. Sister Sessions make yummy rolls, ham, cheesy potatoes, vegies and there were a whole bunch of desserts. I was feeling ambitious and brought cherry cheesecake and fudge. Yummm, I love fudge. However this year, I accidently forgot to put the vanilla extract in. Opps, thankfully they still tasted good. After dinner we played holiday BINGO. Everytime someone got a bingo they got a present and then we would play until everyone got a bingo and a present. I got a nice cosy blanket. Blake got a huge remote control--haa haa, that was funny. Kelsey got a Ballerina Princess Barbie. She could not have been more thrilled. On the way home from the party she said, "This is the best present ever!" Mylee got a cute cuddly puppy.

This is what Blake got. Apparently President picked it out.

Kelsey and her new Ballerina Barbie

As part of the evening, the kids also decorated sugar cookies for Santa. There were all sorts of sprinkles and toppings to choose from.

The last activity of the night, President Sessions read the children, "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Kelsey was completely enthralled! She loved it. The President was so sweet with them.
Mylee had a great time. She loved exploring a new house and got into all sorts of things. It took me and Blake forever to eat dinner because we had to keep chasing Mylee and getting her out of things. Look at that cute smile!

Playing in the Snow

Our weather here in Vermont has been very strange in December. Just a few days ago we had over 18 inches of snow and now there is barely a sprinkle because it decided to rain this week. Never fret though, the snow will be BACK, I'll guarantee it!! I crack up every time I get Mylee's snow suit on. Poor thing can't move in it and I'm not too sure she's convinced that playing in the snow is for her. Kelsey on the other hand LOVES it!! Snow we need you to come back. And oh, when you do come back, please no freezing weather, so we can actually play in you :)

Blake helped Kelsey with some practice ski runs off the back of our house. The house you see in the back is our mud room. Blake constructed a nice little hit and let Kelsey cruise down. I wasn't there to witness it, but I hear she was quite good! He can't wait to get her up on the slopes. With our crazy weather, we were going to go at the beginning of this week (Blake works up there every day at the ski clinic and gets a free pass and Kelsey skis free of course), but her bunny hill is half grass half snow. Not too great conditions. It snowed last night though, so I'm awaiting the slope report from Blake when he gets home today.

Gingerbread House Tradition

Today we pulled out the Gingerbread house to decorate. I'm not sure if Kelsey or I had more fun! I love doing this every year. I have to admit though, I was pretty impressed at Kelsey's skills. Poor Mylee was having her nap so she didn't participate (not that she could have anyways), but when she woke up later she got to enjoy some mini M&M's and boy did she LOVE that!

WOW look at that masterpiece!

Kelsey at the Dentist

Kelsey went to the Dentist on Wednesday and did such an awesome job!!! Wow, I was so proud of her. She was a little shy going in and a little reluctant, but her hygenist Amy was so cute with her, that Kelsey warmed right up. Getting to pick out some really cool sunglasses didn't hurt either. Kelsey thought she was pretty COOL!! During her whole appointment Kelsey didn't wince or make a sound and was so good! I was such a proud Mom! Amy mentioned that she wished all her patients were that good. It was so cute, Kelsey was so concerned about doing what Amy asked her. For example Amy would tell her to open her mouth, so she would open it and KEEP it open FOREVER, even to the point where Amy said that it was okay to close her mouth and swallow. Kelsey then would say, "Oh, okay" and then shly smile. Oh man, I'm seeing so much of me in her it is scary sometimes! At the end of her appointment she got a toothbrush, floss, and got to pick out a prize for doing so well. She picked out a bouncy ball--and of course lost it not 30 minutes after we got home. I actually found it today under the stove.

Kelsey using "Mr. Thirsty."

Kelsey getting her teeth polished.