Time in TX

We have finished our 3 months of rotation in TX and are now back in Utah for our last set of rotations before graduation. The end is finally in site!  We loved our time in TX though.  My parents were so gracious to let our family stay with them and we are so grateful.  Here are a few of the things we did the last couple weeks while staying there:

My dad and I ran the Cowtown 10K in Fort Worth.  It was such a great race.  My dad is the best running buddy.  We both made our running goal to run 8:00 minute miles. 

Kensley got her first haircut. We didn't cut off much, just a trim at the bottom to even it up. She was such a big girl about it too.

Morning waffles and cartoons, what could be better!

Found a fun way to put laundry away.  I filled up their carts and they raced to put it away in their drawers.  Win, win for everyone!

Coloring on the huge whiteboard in my parents' playhouse.  This was a must do activity whenever it was warm enough outside.

Mimi reading bedtime books on our last night there.

We went to the new natural history Museum in Dallas with my parents.

Kensley's favorite part of the museum was the farm/grocery store where she could put fruits and veggies in her basket.

Austin's favorite part was building dams in the river and floating boats down the river. 

Matthew's favorite activity during our stay in TX was shooting with my dad.  He went duck hunting a couple times, and skeet shooting several times.  Austin thought it was about the coolest thing ever too.  I love this picture of all the boys.

 I found Kensley had fallen asleep while reading a book during her nap. So cute!

I did some substituting while I was there and got to sub at my old high school a few times.  It was so fun to run into my sister Alyssa in the hallways!   

That was a random assortment of our time in Texas but we sure had a great time! 

Kensley Turns 2

Kensley's birthday was at the end of January.  I can't believe she is two! I'm so sad I don't have any really good pictures of her birthday.  I brought my good camera with us to Texas but I forgot the charger.  So it is now dead and I can't do anything about it until we go back to Utah (which is a couple of weeks away)  Phone pictures will have to do.
 
She woke up to birthday pancakes with candles.  Then we went to the book store to get her a new book.  She loves books right now and could read them all day so I thought it would be fun to let her pick out a new one.  Some of our books we have read so many times that she can open it and say every page by herself.  We just happened to get to the book store just in time for story time in the children's section.  That was a fun surprise that Austin and Kensley both enjoyed.

Then at dinner when my parents, Matthew and my little sister, Alyssa were all able to be there we opened presents and had cupcakes.  She loved the attention, all the singing to her and of course the cupcakes.

 Singing and Cupcakes

 Riding her new bike

 Austin helping Kensley open her new Cinderella legos

 Austin and I making cupcakes while Kensley naps.

Kensley is growing up so much.  Here are the things we are loving about her right now.
-She is talking in full sentences
-She wants to be doing anything Austin is doing.
-Books are her favorite toys
-She has discovered princesses! Rupenzel and Cinderella are her favorites
-She wants to be so independent with everything.  Sometimes tantrums follow when she can't do something exactly how she wants it done.
-Chapstick has become her favorite thing to carry around. She loves that she can take the lid off, put some one and out the lid back on all by herself. 
- Shoes are another one of her favorite things.  She loves trying on everyone's shoes.
- She loves playing and laughing with Austin.  She is pretty good about sharing and taking turns with him.
-She has such a cute and sweet personality.  She's a keeper!

Other cute, recent pictures:

Christmas 2013

This year Christmas was so fun being in TX with my parents. It also get so fun when the kids are getting older to "get" the whole idea of Christmas morning.

Here is everyone--my kids and my two youngest sisters-- lined up on the stairs waiting to see what Santa brought. :)

So fun to see all their faces!

Kensley's favorite gift were her new sparkly shoes

Austin's was his new bike!

Other fun festivities: Our ward party was A Night in Bethlehem theme and the kids were so excited to dress up as Mary and Joseph. 

 Austin and I made roll out sugar cookies while Kensley took a nap one afternoon before Christmas. Austin loves to help cook and he did such a great job!

His cookie cutter of choice was an airplane only because we didn't have a car shape. :)

This was our Christmas Sunday picture

Matthew had been working about 3 hours away the whole month of December. We only saw him when we drove up on the weekends.  But he worked a half day on Christmas Eve and then was able to stay with us the rest of the Christmas break.  It was so nice to have him around.  The kids sure loved spending time with him. We had such a great holiday season being with so much family.

Last Days and First Days

We finished our 3 months of rotations in Salt Lake City and now have 3 months in Texas.  That means Matthew drove to Texas and I flew with the kids down to Dallas.  I get to stay with my parents the whole time and Matthew will be traveling around the state and will be able to come stay with us on some of the weekends.

The last couple days in Utah I wanted to make sure we went to the Salt Lake Temple to see the Christmas lights.  We went with Aubrey and her kids and had such a great evening.  I think one of the highlights for the kids was the train.  We took the Trax to Temple Square and all four of the kids we just so thrilled to be riding a real train!  Simple pleasures! It wasn't crowded and it wasn't freezing so that was a win-win for us.  I love the feeling around the temple and am so glad we were able to go before we left Utah.

The next day we got a huge snow storm. Tons and tons of snow!  It was so pretty and such great timing!  Austin and Kensley were in awe as this is the first time they remember seeing snow.  Living in AZ for the past three years didn't give us much exposure :)  We got bundled up in borrowed snow gear (that's why Kensley is in a boy jacket) and went outside to play.  

 This is a fire pit that they are sitting in.  Makes it look like they are hot-tubbing in the snow.  Haha

Kensley really enjoyed trying to make snow balls and throwing them.  That is until she did a face-plant in the snow and came up looking like Santa.  She was done after that!  Austin and Aaron made snow angels and had a snowball fight.  I loved that we could play in it for a couple of days and then leave for warmer weather!

Traveling with 2 kids by yourself is never any fun but considering Kensley missed her nap that day and had an ear infection, we traveled pretty well.  After 12 hours of traveling we made it to my parents house.  I think the hardest part was our 3 hour layover. The kids were so bored and I wouldn't let them get the ipad out because I was saving it for our last flight.  

We probably spent about an half hour in this little shop:

 Kensley was building towers with the tampons and Austin was racing cars on an empty shelf...

But hey it kept them entertained!  

I thought by coming to TX that we left all the cold, bad weather behind but no, it came with us.  The night we got into town, Dallas got slammed with a huge ice storm.  Had we landed about an hour later we would have been stuck on icy roads.  It was raining slush and freezing as it hit the roads.  For the 3 days we were homebound.  The whole city shut down too. My little sister Alyssa ended up getting school cancelled for Friday and Monday.  Church was cancelled on Sunday.  Half of the city lost power for a few hours.  TX doesn't really handle ice and snow very well since it is so rare. All they do is pour sand or salt on the roads and hope for the best.  

I think the saddest part of this ice storm was the amount of trees we lost.  The trees were covered with ice and it was making it so heavy and weighed down that several trees split and broke.  Actually everyone on our street lost some trees and driving all across the city we could see broken trees everywhere.

But after the ice melted we have had some great weather.  Like perfect 68 degree, playing outside weather.  

We have had a great time in TX so far.  I love being able to spend time with my parents and with my little sister Alyssa!

Thanksgiving 2013

We were able to spend Thanksgiving week with both our families this year.  Of course we are living with my in-laws so we were already with them but my parents flew up to Utah since most of my sisters are living up here anyways.  I realized most of my pictures are from my side of the family. But we love taking pictures and the Graffs- not so much. But we really did spend time with both sides.

Black Friday Shopping.  I am pretty sure it was only fun since my whole family was there. None of us had any real, serious objective but it was fun to hang out together at 10pm at Target.  And we did all score the same exact jacket at half off. :)

We had one afternoon where it was warm enough to go to the park.  My kids had the best time with their aunts.

 

My dad, my sister Kayla and I all ran a 10K race Thanksgiving morning.  It was so fun and motivating to be able to run with them.  Kayla sped ahead but my Dad and I were able to stay together for most of it. We froze but such a great way to start out Thanksgiving Day.  Matthew's dad and Grandpa were so nice to come watch me cross the finish line.

 

 Austin tried pumpkin pie for the first time and loved it!  He had his fair share (as did I!)

 

 Matthew and Kensley were pretty worn out after our first Thanksgiving Dinner with my parents.  After they woke up we enjoyed a second dinner with Matthew's parents.  So perfect to see everyone in one day.

 

 Kensley loves Mimi and enjoyed some bonding time.

 

 The other cousins did a holiday building project.  They had such a great time.

 



Thankful for my dad going to build with Austin as Matthew had to leave for his next rotation before Thanksgiving weekend ended.

 

Poor grandpa had just finished racking these into a nice pile...

 

Sisters!

 

We sure had a great time with family during this break and are so lucky and thankful to be able to live with both of them during this year of traveling for us.