Grrr...

My external hard drive is dying and that happens to be where all my pictures are stored. My resident computer expert is out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday so cannot help me out. Kenna's birthday post was supposed to have a million pictures, however, it does not. I don't really know if any one even reads this, or if they care, but until Philip fixes my hard drive there will be no more posts, because I don't like reading posts without pictures. I can't imagine you do either. So until then (Tuesday he returns and I will bribe him to make it his A number 1 priority), read a different blog that won't bore you to tears like this one does.

Kennady Rebekah Turns Three

Kenna's Birthday fell on the day of Black Friday shopping. I was out and about when she woke up and Ryan called her to tell her Happy Birthday first. Evidently she said "It's my birthday? YES!" and then dropped the phone and went back to watching her movie.


Caden informed her that she had gotten a little kitchen for her birthday, so when Ryan carried it in she said "Oh...thats my kitchen." and walked away. So much for the big suprise. She loved it once it was put together and played with it all afternoon. Thank you Aunt Holly!


Then Uncle Mac and Aunt Rachel, and Vienna came over with the perfect gift. It was a Disney Princess Tin with all kinds of markers and stickers and coloring books. For the rest of the night she was on a "Princess High." She slept with the sticker book. Perfect! Thank you!

Saturday we went to the movies, where the princess demanded popcorn and her drink and then happily watched Bolt.

Caitlin made these darling cupcakes for her birthday, and gave her some much needed long sleeved shirts to wear under short sleeves. Thanks Caitlin!


Grandma and Grandpa Price came and so did Aaron and Tiffany. They also got her awesome, totally up her ally gifts.


Aaron and Tiffany got her a little white dog in her own little carrier purse, it is still attached to her arm as we speak.


Grandma got her these nesting boxes that are replicas of ones that she has. Kenna goes for these first every time we go there. She loves them. And another stacking nesting thing. Well loved already. Thank you Grandma!



Amy, Jason, Logan, and Silas came and they gave her a Princess filled purse. Shoes, Jewelry, a wand, and a Princess Diary. After all, what is a princess without her pretties? Thank you Amy. You know exactly what a girl needs.



Kenna is excited to be a big girl, until we mention that because she is now a big girl, she no longer gets a binki, then she is not so sure. She's come a long way from being born a month early and in the NICU for the first week.

She slept like a princess even then!
Happy Birthday Kenna!

Kenna My Love

See this sassy little squirt?

Well, on the day this picture was taken
(Somewhere near the end of October)
She pretty much made my day, probably my week, and maybe even my whole year.

See we were watching the pig races, (I'll explain later) and they wanted people to volunteer. So the pig race official calls out

"Okay, who has the prettiest mommy out there?"

Kenna gasped, threw her little hand in the air and yelled "MY MOMMY, MY MOMMY!"

Can you pay children for ego boosts like that? I bought her her very own Sprite.(She had been begging and pleading all night to not have to share.)

I didn't get picked. Who cared? Not me!
Caden got picked later and his pig won.
Here is Kenna modeling the prize.

But really the real prize had already been won.
My daughter thinks I am the prettiest mommy out there.
What prize could be better than that?

Man I love that girl.

Cohen Rick Price

Do you recognize this face?

This is the face of MISCHIEF!

If you ask Kenna who this is she will say, "This is Coco-butter."
If you ask Brynley who this is she will say, "This is Coco-chubs."

If you ask Caden who this is he will say, "This is Cokes."
If you ask Holly who this is she will say, "This is Chubba."
(He used to be my chubbiest, which was still pretty skinny)

Ask me.
I'll tell you this is the face of my sweet, but yes, very naughty, baby.
I love this face.

Today is Becky's birthday (well, I'm posting this Friday night, so technically tomorrow, but whatever.) My kids love Grandma Becky and they get so excited to go to her house that I have to wait to tell them or they don't understand why we can't go today.

Reasons the kids love Grandma

1. She plays with them, and I mean plays. She does a mean robot monster and her chimpanzee impersonation cannot be replicated. I have tried to do the robot and been informed by Caden that Grandma Becky does it better.

2. She knows all kinds of songs and she sings to the kids, opera, show toons, nursery rhymes. She even sing songs instructions. She has a karaoke machine that she lets them sing in really loud. They love it.

3. She reads books and she does ALL the voices. Even books about trucks or cars, she does all the sounds. When we were last there, they loved to sit by her and have her read.

4. She let them make sticker papers and then she sent them in the mail. They are on the boards in their rooms and they still will point and say that Grandma sent that to them.

5. She lets them sit at their own little table and cuts their food up into little pieces and when they are done, and this is the important part, She WOMP WOMP's their hands to clean them off. They freaked out for a week when we got back if I didn't womp womp their hands.

There are lots more reasons... but the most important one is

She sits them on her lap, or gives them hugs and looks right in their eyes and says "Grandma loves you. Did you know that? Grandma loves you, and Grandpa loves you and mom loves you and dad loves you and Heavenly Father loves you..."

Thanks for loving my kids Becky. It means the world to them, and to me.

We Love You!
Happy Birthday, you 29 year old, you.

Halloween

Kenna was the lovely Tinkerbell. She loved her costume. She put it on when she got up and she wore it all day. She still wears it at least every other day, for some amount of time, it seems like. She says it makes her a "bellarita".

Kenna and her Cousin Brynley sharing some fairy lovin.
Bryn was done with the wings at this point but these two are always up for hugs

Cohen was our baby skunk. We tried to teach him to hold his nose and say pee yew, but he doesn't talk much so we were thrilled with what we got which was poo poo in a high pitched voice.
He kept laying down on the kitchen floor on his padded fluffy tummy and pulling himself around. We started calling him our baby roadkill. At times throughout the day he smelled like road kill.

Caden was our Captain Jack Sparrow.
He looked pretty cool. He fought me on the makeup for most of the day but finally let aunt Holly Fix him up. He kept saying "Mom, I can't, I will look ridiculous" where he learned that word I do not know, but he was very concerned about looking "ridiculous."
He felt better once a guy at the church told him that he had the coolest costume in the whole room.

Did you Vote?

I went to vote on November 4. I know why I went, it was for the principle of it. Not because I think my vote would change a single thing. Utah is a Republican state. True blue through and through (well,my sister tells me republicans are red, but I am a BYU Cougar Fan so I'm sticking with true blue). But I went anyway.

It was good practice, because someday I might live in a state where my vote matters, or someday I might understand why I vote when the electoral college decides anyway. Whatever, I got a cool sticker that I wore all day long.

And then Kenna thought it was so cool that I had a sticker, that she gave me another so I could have red and blue stickers on my shirt

JRP makes bread

JRP, as mentioned in an earlier post devoted entirely to him, is an excellent cook. He often makes dinner, and he often bakes on a Sunday afternoon. A couple of weeks ago we had a rare Saturday night when I did not have to work.

"Lets make bread" JRP says.

"That would involve going to the store with all the kids to get more flour." Andi says.

I thought this was a worthy threat ( I was watching a movie or something and didn't want to get up) because there are several things that JRP DOES NOT DO.

1. Take all 3 kids anywhere all by himself. He says he never really needs anything bad enough to go out with all 3 and risk the headache trying to corral them would bring on. One time I was at work and he called me from the store to see if I needed anything while he was there. I almost dropped the phone and immediately said "You went to the store with all the kids?" He laughed and said, "How well you know me...I left two of them with my mom and just brought Cohen." Ahhh... this is the JRP I know and love.

2. Go to Wal-Mart. Really this applies any day of the week but especially on Saturday. He says it is constantly crowded, people pushing and impatient, the parking lot alone makes him frustrated.

3. Go to any grocery store in Utah on a Saturday night. All of us Mormons out here stocking up so as not to break the Sabbath makes for a three ring circus at every single grocery store.

He shocked me by saying, okay, lets get them in the car and go now. We could use some other groceries too. I ran to get my shoes and off we went to the store. I couldn't pass up the opportunity as it might not happen again.




They turned out pretty good huh? They tasted even better. I am so glad JRP suggested it. It was fun to bake together.

This recipe is a family one that my Aunt Melanie has made for us since I was a little girl. She really has perfected it and has won awards yearly at the state fair for their deliciousness. Someday when I learn to put links on here I will post the recipe. If you would like it, just leave me a comment.

Also notice the Silpat Silicone baking mat and perferated pan. I sell these and other guaranteed non stick silicone bakeware. Its THE BEST for bread. Cooks more evenly so you never have brown bottoms and doughy tops or vice versa, and they are guaranteed 100% not to stick to anything. You never grease them, you just throw the stuff down and go. I could go on and on, but really, even Martha Stewart uses them, so don't take my word for it, take hers. They rock.

So this is what motherhood looks like today...

I did this post two months ago but couldn't get the pictures to work. I finally managed it, so think early September.

If I could keep Cohen off the table it would be a great day. People think that I turn the chairs around to start a new trend or something. No. It is my only hope of keeping Cohen down for two seconds.

So while I was outside dealing with this...





Cohen climbed up and created this
Isn't he precious? This happens roughly, six times a day!

Over the River and Through the Woods...

We went to visit Grandpa Rick and Grandma Becky in April. The kids think Grandma's house is the coolest toy store in all the world and when she washes their hands, she says WOMP, WOMP. I can't tell you for how many weeks I had to womp womp with the wipes or their hands were not considered really clean. How can I compete with grandma?



While we were there grandpa also took us to this huge barn craft store thing and the kids found this awesome pig. I seriously would buy that. It would make me laugh every single time I looked at it for the rest of my life, so I would consider it an investment in my future. Only in Goshen Indiana would you find something that ridiculous.

The Company that my dad works for, Fairmont Homes, builds houses and vans, and motorhomes, and all kinds of stuff. While we were there they were getting ready for a big housing show so since we knew a VIP we got a special tour. Some of these houses were awesome! Better than my own home. I loved this one.
Not my favorite color and it doesn't look that awesome from the outside but from the inside. Wow!

Built in desk at the end of the hallway
I love the huge island and the huge window over the sinks, and the double oven, and...
The living room with awesome fireplace and built ins on either side.

Every night the kids finished up by watching a movie on the couch downstairs. Their dream come true



One of the days of our visit, she got out the Karaoke Machine...Shoot... Kenna was made to Karaoke. She freeked out anytime anyone took the microphone from her.

And since all good things must come to an end... so did our trip. That car was packed to the top and then some for the cross country drive. We always find things that we want to bring home with us. Little by little we are unburdening our very patient Dad, who has been storing rocking chairs and cradles and high chairs and other memorabelia for all the years that we have been out of the house. We had a good time Dad and Becky! We can't wait to come back!

Cowboy Boogie

This is Cowboy Caden showing me his cool dance moves. He was so funny. He stopped every two seconds to pose again for the camera and to say "did you see that mom? did you see that? Every day he has a new dance style. My mother in law is very concerned that he is going to become an exotic dancer or something. I say hey, if you got moves...on with the groove.

"Caden?"
"yeah mom?"
"don't you think that you should get some clothes on to dance?"
"no mom. I have my "pool up" and cowboy hat on."
"Okay, but are you cold?"
"nope, I'm just good."

This is the one that has the "m.i.l." worried.

"Are you tired Caden? From all that dancing?"
"Nope. I like dancing. "

AWESOME

Maui Me All Over Again

Hawaii. Ahhh...it makes me feel relaxed and peaceful all over again just saying the word. My awesome amazing Aunt Mary(my moms sister) but kind of like a my own mom too came to stay with the kids. This is an adventure of its own and a separate blog. Ryan and I had the best time. Really, the best time. I filled a whole memory card with just the road to Hanna. Which is what our selection will be today. I think I need to do Hawaii in installments. There is no way it would fit in one days blog. SO here we are, the road to Hana.

A Volcanic Black Sand Beach at Pa'iloa Beach at Wai'anapanapa Park
where we stopped to get Ryan's mom some sand. It was really cool. I love the sound that the water makes when it sucks back out so sea through the rocks. This strange rattling, clattering sound.
This is a red sand pocket beach off of Hana Bay. Once again, to get sand for Ryan's mom. This was a tiny little beach about twenty feet wide in between huge rocks. It was a major hike, to get there and it was so tiny Ryan said that we could do whatever we wanted here and no one would even know. Wink wink. Just as we were laughing about it, two people climbed over the rock and onto the beach. And as Ryan and I kept laughing at out little joke, two more people climbed over the rock. Definitely not our own private beach to do whatever we wanted.
Waioka,
or for those of us that are not natives, Venus Pool. On one side, this beautiful pool, then rocks and black sand, and a beautiful beach. You could swim in the warm, freshwater pool and watch the waves crash on the sand/rock. Once, again, an intense hike along a not so beaten path, and dangling down the side of a cliff holding on to a rope so I wouldn't fall off a one foot wide ledge. You better believe Ryan had to talk me into that one. I found a video that shows the sounds of the water pulling back out over the rocks by the venus pool, and you get the bonus of seeing Ryan's sexy back...

These are the seven sacred pools. They waterfall one into another until you get down to the ocean. They were so pretty but after a long day of hiking and swimming and exploring waterfalls, I was too tired to get out of the car, so this is what you get. View from a car window.

This concludes road to Hana part one, the other half of the pictures are on a memory card that isn't downloaded yet. I'll get my before mentioned rock star of a brother to help me with that so we can get the other half of the road to Hana.

twilight

What can I say. I love Twilight. Probably more than any 28 year old woman should. I read them all the time. Ryan gets so irritated because he wants me to read the seventh Harry Potter so we can discuss, but I just can't get into it because I am so into Edward and Bella and the whole shabang. Who needs Harry and Jenny when you have Edward and Bella, and who needs Ron and Hermoine when you have Alice and Jasper. I don't care if its juvenile. I don't care if people say its poor writing. I love it. Who cares if its mushy, who cares if its a vampire. I love it. and just for the record...my husband has read them too...because i told him he should because I LOVED them...and he did...because he loves me...dang...I should read Harry Potter...cause I love him too... and he loves Harry Potter. I will alwas love twilight more than Harry Potter though.

My brother, Philip, or otherwise known as Phlipup in our house, is a rock star on the computer and we casually asked him to find the twilight font for us...cause we are making these cheesy twilight tshirts for the premier (of course we are going, Caitlin, Holly and I), so we could then convert them to a sewing program and then embroider them with our sewing machines. Pretty tall order huh?

Well, not for my rocks star brother! He found it in seconds and then found the conversion program, and then linked them. So we now have twilight. Just like on the cover of the book. We also have Bella's handwriting, and Edwards, and Alice's. See how obsessed I am? I am so excited to have a twilight font. My cheesy t-shirt is totally going to ROCK! Yeah twilight!