Running away to join the circus!

Mckinley went to the circus this week. I have drill on Tuesday nights and so Mckinley usually goes to visit my parents. My dad has gleaned the reputation with Mckinley of always taking her to do something fun, such as going to the "park" which during the winter has been to play at Del Taco or McDonalds play place. (There is a funny story about this but it will have to wait for another day.)
This week the circus was in town, and so when Mckinley thought she was going to the park, with grandpa, she was in for a whole new experience. When I got back from drill, and asked her how the circus was, she yelled, " It was AMAZING!" She was very impressed with the elephants and some puppies that could do all sorts of tricks, like riding on a pony's back. There were also Pixie girls that she was pretty excited about, doing tricks on the trapeze. And what circus would be complete without four dollar snow cones and cotton candy. I think it's safe to say that my child no longer leads a sheltered life. She's been to the circus.

Pay it Forward

My friend Jackie did a fun thing on her blog a few weeks ago where she made something unique for the first 3 people to comment on her blog. I was number 2 to comment and I was so excited to see her creativity at work. So, here is your chance to have a free gift! The first 3 people to comment on my blog will recieve a special surprise so surprising, I don't even know what it will be yet. If you do comment you must plan to make something for 3 other people. (if you don't have a blog, you can just pick three people to give something to.) You have 1 year to complete your gift giving, and it doesn't have to be anything too time consuming or expensive. It really could be a plate of cookies. Just make it a fun opportunity to share!
Jackie made these unbelievable cupcakes that I was really hesitant to eat because they were so beautiful. (They were really yummy though, once I caved and tasted them.)This was so fun! It felt like my second birthday! The middle of the sunflowers where oreos and I loved the little M&M lady bugs.

We're still here!

Hi! I haven't updated for a while because our computer has been getting fixed. Now we're back in business and lots of fun things have been happening. So here is a quick over view.

Once Upon a Mattress:
Remember our six fun things for New Years? We were planning to go to a ballet, but we never found one that would allow young disruptive three year olds into the showing. So we substituted a musical play for the ballet. My student Katie was an actress in this play and she did a great job. Mckinley really enjoyed it too because it was put on by a childrens theater company and all the actors were kids. It was really cute. It's almost the same story as the Princess and the Pea. There were a lot of princesses in the show and Mckinley wanted to be a princess too, so we let her wear a princess crown. It was so cute and we had a really good time. Sorry the pictures from the play are pretty blurry.

Polly Pocket:
This isn't really a big thing that happened but I thought it was kind of funny. Mckinley conned her daddy into buying her another Polly Pocket and when she got it home from the store she was having so much fun changing the clothes,(which, by the way, are plastic and very hard to get on and off.) Polly Pocket also came with shoes. Not such a good idea if you are a parent and know the commitment that comes when kids can't get the shoes to stay on longer than two minutes. So David and I were constantly helping Mckinley put the shoes back on her Polly dolls. This usually involved Mckinley bawling until we would stop whatever we were doing and put the shoes back on. So David got the very bright idea to super glue the shoes on to the dolls feet. This was a very smart solution and ever since, it has been nothing but Polly Pocket bliss around here. It's been so good that we have decided that the next time Mckinley takes her shoes off, we may consider super gluing them to her feet too! What a great idea!




Easter 2009:
Easter was extra fun this year because we had some very special visitors. Not just the Easter Bunny for us this year. We were very lucky to have Kurt, Becky and Alison up from Arizona. They came because we are the favorites...right Becky?( Haha. I know I'm not going to get away with that. There are seven siblings in the Holmgren Family, all pretty positive that THEY are the favorites.)
We had a fun weekend just being together and catching up. It always happens that my in laws take better care of us than we do them when they are here. And this time was no different. We were very grateful for the help with Easter preparations, especially because I was working all day and night on Saturday.
We colored Eggs at home on Friday night. Mckinley remembered this part from last year and was so excited about being involved with the whole process of getting the eggs ready. After a full sinus cleanse from the vinegar in the coloring cups, we ended up with some very pretty and some very ugly eggs. (not all color mixing experiments turned out good.) I told Mckinley that she better enjoy coloring all 12 eggs to herself, because, being the younger sister, I always only got to do six. We also now have 12 hardboiled eggs that we don't know what to do with so if any one has any good recipes, let us know.
The Easter Bunny made an early stop at my Parents house and there was quite a load of eggs, treats and little toys. Mckinley was very excited for this little egg hunt and it turned out really fun. The hit, was a little pinwheel that my mom showed Mckinley how to run with to make it spin in the wind. Every one had to have a turn running through the yard with Mckinley, including my Grandma Riddle, who pretended to be very winded afterwards.
I made Mckinley an Easter dress this year. It turned out pretty cute. I don't have pictures yet because I'm going to add some flowers to her sweater and hat before I take some pictures. She did wear it to church, complete with hat and gloves, A spectacle I always loved when I was younger. She was nothing short of fabulous at church yesterday.

The bottom picture is a picture of Alison in Mckinleys car. Alison was bound and determined to get inside the car and she was so happy when she got it to work.

Funny Things

Mckinley has been saying some pretty funny things since the time she could talk. But just in the past couple of days, she has been coming up with some stuff that has had David and me cracking up.
I sometimes hold Mckinley like a baby and say things to her like: " I love that nose" or "I love those pretty eyelashes. " Sometimes she says things back to me like, " I love your Cheeks mommy. " For the past few days, my allergies have been crazy because of springtime coming, so I had a really runny nose a few days ago, and I was holding Mckinley and telling her all the little things I love about her. In the sweetest voice ever she looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I love your boogers." I laughed so hard. You don't find that kind of love every day.
We've also been reading "Chocolate Fever," to Mckinley for the past few days. If you have read the book, it's about a little boy who eats too much Chocolate and so he starts getting these little brown freckle spots all over his body. (She has been so worried about her daddy because he seems to have a serious case of Chocolate fever. Judging by all of his freckles, he has had WAY too much Chocolate.) In the middle of the night, I could hear that Mckinley was awake so I went in to put her back to sleep. This was the conversation:
Mckinley: Mommy, you know my head?
Me: yeah?
Mckinley: I think it hurts.
Me: It does? What's the matter?
Mckinley: I think it's got Chocolate Fever.
Me: Oh dear. You better get right to sleep, so you'll get feeling better.
Mckinley: Ok. Tell Daddy.(This means to have her daddy come in and talk to her. She has us both wrapped around her finger, and we just about always do whatever she wants us to.)

It's so fun to have a little girl who keeps us laughing all the time.

More Dress ups!

Super Mckinley to the rescue! Mckinley sometimes watches Super Why in the mornings, and the other day, she got the idea to put on this blanket as a cape, after which, she jumped off of every piece of furniture in our house yelling "super readers to the rescue!"

Josh and Angie

My cousin Josh got married on March 14th. It was so fun to be there and see him get married because he has been such a close friend of mine as we have grown up, and he is one of the few people that no one can ever find anything wrong with. He's just such a great guy, and I'm so glad that he has found such an equally great girl. Sometimes I think we get a little bit protective of our good friends and relatives and it's really hard for their spouses to "match up, " in our minds. But Angie is really everything all of us imagined for Josh. Congratulations guys! Here are some pictures of the new Married couple.

Josh has a special friendship with my brother Johnny. Johnny has always wanted a brother, and from when Johnny was pretty young, he has adopted Josh as his brother. When Josh went on his mission to Peru, Johnny informed all of us that he was going to go on a mission when he was old enough too. This was surprising because we had never really seen a mission as an expectation from Johnny because of his mental and physical handicaps. Johnny has looked up to Josh in so many ways, imagine how proud he was when Josh and Angie picked Johnny's sixteenth birthday as their day to get married! Johnny is in this picture with his adopted brother and sister, Kristina. Kristina's boyfriend, Cole is also in the picture. After Josh's mission, Kristina and Josh invited Cole to take the missionary discussions and he was recently baptized. We are so excited for him.
It was such a great day! And family marriages are so fun because we get to inherit a new family member! Woo Hoo!!!

Mckinley was a little bit grumpy at the temple because it was naptime.

With the palm trees behind us, it kinda looks like we are in some tropical paradise huh? Close, we were in St. George.

The Love of My Life

Well, it shouldn't come as too big of a surprize that I'm not winning any Wonder Wife awards as of late. But I did want to write a little note about David because it was his birthday on Sunday. I am really always amazed at how lucky I am to be married to someone who makes me so happy. Maybe luck isn't the right word, but then again, maybe it is. I was always worried about the comments that gloom and doomers made to us before we got married. You know the ones who only had something to say about how terribly hard it is to be married and snow, barefoot, up hill, eating saltine crackers for a treat etc. Of course marriage is not always a walk in the park, even with my perfect soulmate, but I do have a wonderful husband. I think it is worth mentioning that David is the same but better person he was when I dated him. He still tries for me, and he still finds sweet and unique ways to show me that he loves me. He is a fabulous Daddy. (albeit a usual pushover for his daughter.) So talented in so many ways. A perfectionist. And a hard worker. I'm so lucky to share my life with this person.

I Love you So much, Love. Happy Late Birthday!