Fall Fun

Okay, for anyone who knows me just a wee bit, you know I'm a huge wuss when it comes to cold temperatures... which it's definately getting colder! But, given this, I still love fall just like everyone with normal thermostats! The colors, sweaters, leaves, chili (I made my own from scratch for the first time!), pumpkin bread, the whole package! I didn't even mind running when it was in the 30's a few weeks ago (don't quote me on that one though). So here are some pics from our Fall so far... (And no, I couldn't figure out how to get rid of the underline) Lucy & Katie being pulled (by me) in a wagon through the corn maze... which actually wasn't a maze at I- at least I didn't think so. More of a "corn path".

This was just a good one I thought

Katie picking out the perfect pumpkin. She and Lucy later found the smallest ones at the patch.

The matchy-matchers standing in line waiting to go in...

Me and my girlies... not the best pic of any of us... what can you do?

Okay, for anyone who knows me just a wee bit, you know I'm a huge wuss when it comes to cold temperatures... which it's definately getting colder! But, given this, I still love fall just like everyone with normal thermostats! The colors, sweaters, leaves, chili (I made my own from scratch for the first time!), pumpkin bread, the whole package! I didn't even mind running when it was in the 30's a few weeks ago (don't quote me on that one though). So here are some pics from our Fall so far...

Katie's car

Thank you Grandma Russell for Katie's Target gift card- she picked out the perfect toy! The day after her birthday (yes, we went to Target with a bashed eye), I took the girls to Target so Katie could spend her gift card from her Grandma Russell in Virginia. Katie picked out several things: baby doll, barbie stuff, stroller... but then she found something just her style- an adorable retro wooden car. I showed it to her and told her she could put her "baby bo" in it (baby bo is what she calls her little purple care bear with antlers that she got for Christmas 2 years ago and is inseparable from it). That made the choice easy. She had to have it. The thing weighs like 10 pounds because it was built like they used to make toys- super sturdy. So the moral of the story is that she takes her car everywhere with her. It is hilarious. She sleeps with it, and carries it up and down the stairs all day, even though it's half her body weight. Here are some cute pics of the car in it's daily routine... Thanks Grandma!

Katie Turned TWO!

So Here is her "Purple" cake that she requested. I did it the easy way (bought a white bakery cake, sprayed it with purple cake spray paint, put lots of purple sugar sprinkles on it and some Dora cake toppers. Yeah, I could have made it, but I love Bakery Cakes! I don't know what it is, but there is something magical about loads of crisco and sugar and maybe just a hint of somesort of unknown addictive ingredient...

Katie opening presents (Tea set, pretend microwave and cash register, and some pretend food)... and yes she did bash her face in on her birthday.

Katie and her "Purple" cake. She wants everything to be Purple (which is perfect since Lucy is my Pink girl).

What a love... I had these taken for fathers day (and no relative I don't hate you... I only bought 1 copy since they're pricey... so I need to get some prints done)
Cutie Pa-tutie! It's so crazy how much they change. Remember when Katie had brown hair? And now she has blonde pigtails (and a sweet mullet before she gets her hair done!). Katie is such a love. She has a sassy personality and makes sure that we know that everything is "mine". She has calls Lucy "Doody". Tells me to "Go Mom" at all the red lights in town. And woke up every morning and would even say in her sleep "Baby Poo" which meant the baby pool at 7 peaks (which we went to a lot).

I cannot believe that my baby turned two on Monday! (I think she accidently still thinks she's a baby since she still wants me to carry her all around the house). Time flies when your having fun! Two years ago I was in Queen's Hospital in Honolulu and now I'm in good ole' Provo going to Cafe Rio and Super Target.

We're in Utah-land...

I get a kick out of these photos of Lucy and Katie. Lucy always leans in to Katie for a cute cozy picture and since Katie copies everything that Lucy does, she leans the same direction as Lucy.

So it turns out... the Russell family is still alive. Amazing. My excuse for not blogging recently (okay like 4 months)was packing and moving... and unpacking, but we've been in Provo for almost 2 months now. Crazy. We found a cute house to rent in the tree streets, just east of BYU campus. Kenric took 2 classes in the spring, did two online prerequisite courses, and now is going to get busy networking and looking for interships for next summer... that along with going to seven peaks with me and the girls, hiking, camping in the backyard with Lucy, and possibly hotel-camping (which most people don't think exist) down in southern utah. Lucy just finished her first week of her BYU preschool and is excited for the next 6 weeks of fun (they even have a pet bunny and tarantula in her classroom). Katie is a total waterbaby and cannot get enough of the pools at 7 peaks (the waterpark here). Fun times abound.

in

Lucy's First Ballet Performance

Lucy Ballerina

Here is my little darling ballerina before her very first Ballet recital. She went to about 5 ballet classes (she got started late) and the show was Tuesday, February 17. There was no flash photography allowed at the performance, so here she is before we left.
She was very excited to get to wear makeup. She looked like a doll.
With just a few swipes of mascara, you can see her ridiculously long eyelashes. Talk about envy!

Lucy's Digital Camera

Go Princess!!

Lucy got a sweet Kids Digital Camera for Christmas. As you can see it is a Disney Princess camera, so you have the option of inserting princess stuff in your pictures. It is lots of fun!
Isn't it so fun?
I love this one of mike holding Lucy's baby doll with the princesses.
Lucy took this one of Grandpa Price on Christmas morning. She is still working on holding the camera still... she just gets so excited to see it right after she takes it!

Back to Mainland USA...

Yes, it's true, we are no longer Hawaii residents. So if you were going to come visit us in Hawaii... sorry, you lost your chance. Some of you fellow bloggers may already know our story, so I'll fill the rest of you in. Kenric (and of course me too) decided to go back to school.... again. After building a business from the ground up, and having two years of chronic stress (not that school wont do that too), Kenric decided he wanted to get an MBA and figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. So the abridged version is that he got accepted to 3 MBA programs, and we decided (with a little help from upstairs) that Cafe Rio and Super Target... I mean BYU would be the best option right now. So here is a picture of the girls last November in all the commotion. We sold all of our stuff AGAIN on craigslist (okay we also shipped 50 boxes of clothes, toys, books and random things that I stil cant figure out why). We did sell our furniture and other stuff. So we are living at my parents for a bit (living the "Hawaii Dream" drained our pocketbooks) and Kenric is working at Bob's office during tax season. Me and the girls are hanging out doing our usual thing which now includes several Target trips a week. Lucy misses her old preschool but is now at a new one that she goes to twice a week. She is also in ballet and already has lots of new friends.

Kenric & Lucy go Camping

Kenric took Lucy camping for the second time this past weekend. A few dads in the ward took their kids (minus the babies) over to a campsite in Kaneohe. Kenric said that Lucy did great. She was in bed asleep by 9pm and slept like a log all night (even through the pouring rain). Aren't they soooooo cute in the first pic? The bottom two pics are of Lucy and her good friends Hunter & Mackenzie. No complaints from me. What an awesome Dad! Love ya Kenric!
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Happy Halloween!

Yeah for Halloween! I know, it's boring that I did not dress up. I was actually getting ready to dress up in Kenric's Laderhosen to be a little German girl, when life took a little turn for the worse. I was getting ready to put the girls in their costumes to go trick or treating and then to a Halloween Party. I had the curling iron plugged in (it was pretty far back on the counter) so I could put a few ringlets in Lucy's ponytail. When I was out of the bathroom and about to get dressed, Lucy reached for something on the counter, not knowing that the curling iron was hot. You can probably guess what happend: she burned her forearm. She immediately pulled her arm away, and thought she had gotten stung by something (I guess) so she grabbed the wound and it pulled off the hot skin. It makes my stomach drop every time I tell the story. So needless to say, our night got postponed a bit by me running to Longs and Mc Donalds (I thought a shake might help). The rest of the evening was great. The last two pics are of Lucy in her Halloween parade at preschool.

When Lucy Goes To School...

When Lucy goes to school, life might just be a little easier for baby Katie... Katie got something a little less boring for breakfast on this occasion when she found Lucy's waffle that she didn't finish before preschool. Nice break from oatmeal and yogurt. I found Katie on top of Lucy's desk playing DJ, putting in a new CD. Maybe her taste in music differs from Lucy's.

Here is Katie Just chillin' in Lucy's chair with nobody to push her out or tell her not to eat the book.
...and she gets her pick of the dress up stuff. Katie loves it when Lucy comes home from school, but she does get a nice little break for a few hours while Lucy is away. Don't worry Lucy, Katie still loves you.

Call Me Cutie-Pie

Okay, so many of you might know that I'm not talented in the hair styling department... at least when it comes to long hair. That is because I only have had long hair once in my whole life, and I think the pregnancy hormones tricked me into cutting it last year. Bummer. So I'm trying to grow my own out, but somehow the stylists in hawaii don't know what a trim is! Anyhow, I can't do a messy bun, french braids or pretty much anything but a ponytail. I was proud of myself when I put some cute spiral curls in Lucy's hair before preschool today. As she was walking out the door with Kenric, I said "bye Princess Lucy, I love you." She replied "I love you. But mom, don't call me Princess Lucy. Call me Cutie Pie." Done.

Laie Trip

So what do you do when you bug-bomb your house and have to be gone the entire day? Drive up to the Super exciting Laie. Okay, it is exciting that there is a Temple and BYU-H... but that is it. Literally. Well, there is a Mc Donalds (yes we went there to). Here are some pictures of us girls outside the visitors center while Kenric was in the temple. Katie really wanted to get in the fountain. Fun times.

An abrupt ending...

We had a lovely time at Lanakai Beach (it's beautiful) until we had to leave all of the sudden. It was bound to happen. Lucy got stung by a jellyfish. I know, boring. We were all in the water and I saw the little sucker, so I recruited Kenric to get it out of the water with a stick. Katie, Lucy and I were rushing out of the water, but a wave brought it over to us. It attached itself to Lucy's knee, so she had to pull it off, resulting in a finger sting as well. You can imagine the hysteria, so we packed up and left. A few Barbie bandaids and a slurpee later, and she was fine. What a bummer.