Happy Pioneer Day!

We went to Grandma Hennessy's house to have some dinner and a fireworks show. It was the first time that Kenz got to watch fireworks up close.

Once they started, she couldn't take her eyes off of them. She'd look back at me every once in a while to make sure that what was hapening in the road was ok. We had a lot of fun!

But You Don't Have To Take My Word for It...

While getting ready for church last Sunday, McKenzie decided to play Reading Rainbow. She loves to look at books and help turn the pages. Her favorite book is 'Harvey the Helping Bee.'

Once her bink falls out she always takes scriptural advise to heart and begins to 'feast upon the word.' She hasn't really seemed to catch on that books aren't for eating.

Practice Makes Perfect

A few weeks ago our family got the chance to practice life with two kids. We got to babysit Kenzie's cousin Sam. His mommy has watched Kenz a ton so I was glad to repay the favor.

Kenz was a tickle monster, doing what older cousins do best.

We ended the day with a nap...my favorite way to end the day! Kenz loves the way Sam's hair feels. I'm hoping she grows out of this before he gets too old...

Reunited...

This afternoon I was holding McKenzie and walked past a picture of Christ that we have downstairs in our home. As I walked by I thought that this would be an amazing teaching moment for her and so I pointed to the picture and said, "McKenzie this is Jesus." She looked at me with a huge grin, turned to the picture and for the first time, waved. I then asked, "Kenzie, do you remember Jesus?" She turned back to the picture and waved again. Today I thought I would teach my baby about her older brother and instead, she taught me that they have been friends long before today.

The First Family Birthday!

When we were young, we had a tradition with my Mom's family to have a BIG birthday party in the summer for all the kids. We decided to carry on the tradition with our children. Yesterday we all met at a community pool and started off the festivities with lil' dip. Kenz had 3 swimsuits but had never been swimming before.

When she first got in she was pretty unhappy...dad sure thought it was funny though.

After a while, Chicken Little realized that the sky wasn't falling. She started to splash around and had a blast!!

We were terrified that we'd have a little lobster by the end of the day but luckily, the 4 layers of sunscreen protected our little Snow White. After swimming, we went to my sister's house, ate a bunch of food, opened presents and ate birthday cake.

My brother's wife Jamie is a Master Cakeswoman and made this awesome Roller Coaster Cake for all the kids. Very impressive!! I've already booked her for Kenzie's 1st birthday.

Our little family had a blast and can't wait until next year!

McKenzie's First Fourth

Yesterday was McKenzie's first 4th of July. The day was full of family and fun...and a ton of food. McKenzie even got to have her first cracker.

The texture made her gag a little but once she got the hang of it, we couldn't get it away from her. Now, she feels like she should get to eat what everyone else is.

After her very formal cracker tasting, she played a little Nintendo 64 with Uncle Jacob. She was more interested in putting the control in her mouth than anything else. When we got home from the day's festivities, she dozed off to the sounds of firecrackers outside her window...and slept like a log.

Our Lil' Olympian!!

We've decided to have Kenzie begin training in Thumb Balancing. At about 7 months, Kenz started to balance anything that she could (braclets, toys, binks) on her thumb. She finds it to be quite hilarious and giggles about it until you acknowledge her talents.