Santa Claus

My good friend Aubrey and I got our girls dressed up in their cute Christmas dresses and took them to see Santa at the Bass Pro shop one afternoon in December. Kennedy LOVES Kaylee and Allie, and it’s so cute to see her get so excited when she sees them, and to watch them play together. We had a great afternoon with them!

Kennedy and Kaylee Still no smile with Santa, but at least she looks cute in her dress! I almost caught a smile with him here, she’s doing the end of her “cheese” look, I was just too slow. Kaylee taking Kennedy and Allie for a ride

We thought this antler tree was pretty neat!

USAA Christmas Parties

USAA goes all out for their Christmas Parties! The beginning of December they had the kids Christmas party at work. The Magik Theatre came and performed, “If you give a Moose a Muffin.” Santa was there, there were tons of carnival type games and candy, and many Texas and Holiday characters were walking around. The Magik Theatre did a great job and Kennedy loved the play! Carnival Games We still have yet to get a smile from Kennedy with Santa, she’s not afraid of him, but really shy and won’t smile

Kennedy loves HEB (the only grocery store here in Texas), and she excitedly screams “HEB” every time she sees the sign as we are driving.  So when she saw the H-E-Buddy at the party she ran right up to him!

   

This last weekend was the adult Christmas party downtown at the Alamo Dome, this year the  theme was “A Holiday in Hollywood.” 

Kennedy and I just before we left for the party

When we arrived downtown there was a red carpet and about 20 photographers snapping away as you entered the Alamo Dome! We felt pretty cool! :) Once inside people came up to you with h’orderves and then we met Whoopi Goldberg and Rod Stewart (ok, so it wasn’t really them, but they sure looked and sounded just like them!) There were also a lot of other Hollywood characters and look a likes wandering around and the whole place was decorated Hollywood style. It was a pretty big deal!

(this picture was taken with my phone, so it’s not very clear) We didn’t take our camera so we don’t have any other pictures, but they had a fancy buffet dinner and dessert bar to start off with which we got to enjoy with lots of our friends. Then they always have a band playing most of the night and this years entertainment was “Band from TV” and “Darius Rucker.” They were both quite good and it was fun listening to them.  There were also other side artists performing in different parts of the Alamo Dome that we went and explored. It was fun to get all dressed up and enjoy a night on the town,  and spending the evening with Zak and our friends!

Gingerbread Houses

We had fun making gingerbread houses together as a family this year!  I was just going to buy a gingerbread house kit, but when Zak heard that, he wouldn’t have it and insisted on making our own gingerbread!  So him and Kennedy made the gingerbread and had a great time!   They forgot to include peaks on some of the gingerbread pieces to hold the roof, so instead we went for the adobe style gingerbread house look!  There was definitely more candy eating than decorating help from Kennedy, she loved it! Don’t you love Kennedy’s big cheeser smile, silly girl! Kennedy was very helpful when it came to decorating daddy’s roofI’m surprised it didn’t cave in with all the candy on it!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

This year we decided we wanted to all dress up. So when someone said Kennedy would be a good Goldilocks, we decided we’d go along with that theme and be Mama Bear and Papa Bear and Kennedy would carry Baby Bear. Our bear costumes were kind of lame, but Kennedy was cute so that’s all that matters!     We actually painted our faces for our ward party, but I think it made us look a little scary, so that picture is not included…  Goldilocks trying baby bear’s porridge

  The traditional pumpkin pictures:      We sure think she makes a cute Goldilocks!     Kennedy didn’t even actually go trick or treating Halloween weekend, but she sure got plenty of candy between our ward trunk-or-treat, library story time, music playtime, a friend party and the YMCA! She quickly learned what treats were and would always ask for treats from her pumpkin!Trick or Treating with Chandler during Story Time at the Library Trunk-or-Treating at the YMCA with Chandler    That’s one happy Goldilocks!

Pumpkin Patch

Last Monday evening we went to a local pumpkin patch for family night.  Kennedy had a great time running through the rows of pumpkins and pointing out the bumpy and smooth ones. We had fun taking pictures and then Kennedy got to pick out her own pumpkin, she calls it her ‘baby pumpkin’ and loves carrying it around everywhere.

She loved this saddle and would say “neighhh” and bounce up and down like she was riding the horse. She kept trying to pick up these huge pumpkins and then say in a strained voice, “It’s heavy!”

  Looking for that perfect pumpkin

 

This is what we got when we told her to look at the camera and smile, there were too many other orange distractions to see :)

Lake Powell

The second half of our Utah trip was spent at Lake Powell with my family. My brother and his wife left for China 3 days later to teach English for a year, so it was one last hurrah before they left. The weather was seriously perfect, and it was so fun being all together, we had a blast! Overload of pictures ahead… Captain Kennedy! “Helping” grandpa drive the boat. She loved swimming with Aunt Nene! Kennedy is the only grandchild on my side so she was definitely spoiled with attention the whole time we were there by grandparents, uncles and her aunt! The long drive home was a boring one with just mom and dad. She got to go on lots of wave runner rides with Spencer and daddyo, she loved it!Our little Beach Babe Chillin with grandpa Zak busy building the sandcastle city The finished product and builders

We parked the houseboat in such a beautiful spot! Thanks to grandma we were able to go out on the boat child-free! Spencer, Christian, Zak and I wakeboarding My dad and I skiingReading Mary Poppins with her uncles, what a lucky girl! Relaxing on the “Relaxation Station.” Kennedy loved this thing, it was like her own little swimming pool in the middle. She’d jump and splash around and was the center of attention. Gma great even joined us at the lake and Kennedy always made sure she had her attention too, “Hi gma great, watch gma great!”Making pancakes with daddyo  We had so much fun tubing! Lots of laughs and maybe a few bruises…but so worth it!We started with two on the single tube and 3 on the double and one by one all transferred to the single tube!  Success! We got all 5 of us on one tube!Us tubing and Christian wake-skating all at the same time! Uncle Spencer got this BYU hat for Kennedy, so just before we left we had to get some pictures of them in their matching hats. Whenever she sees the hat, she says “Go Cougars!” or “Spencer gave it”Lake Powell holds many fond memories for Zak and I so it was sure fun to be able to spend part of our summer there and have Kennedy enjoy it with us! We LOVE Lake Powell!