Our California Adventure!

Actually we went to Disneyland! Our spring break California trip went really well. We left Friday afternoon and drove to SLC and stayed overnight at Grandpa David and Grandma Wendy's house. The girls love their Grandma and Papa. Saturday morning we left to drive to So. Cal to visit Popo and the Aus and Wongs. The drive was uneventful (which is a good thing) and we arrived in Ontario to visit with cousins and aunts and uncle from the Au side. The girls had a blast getting reacquainted with cousins and it was so much fun seeing how big all the little ones have gotten. Sunday we visited my mom's Chinese branch and listened to three hours of church in Mandarin. McKenna and Ryleigh were able to go to the other ward's primary and nursery so they enjoyed the last two hours of church. It was an interesting experience and everyone was so nice. I was asked to give the closing prayer in Sunday School and I said "but I don't speak Chinese!" They didn't care and I gave it in English, thank goodness! Sunday night we had a Wong gathering and family pictures. Monday was a day of rest and letting the girls catch up on some sleep. They woke up early anyway but it was nice to relax and not have to go anywhere. The weather was in the 80s so we went swimming and Ryleigh loves swimming! She kept getting out to dry off and warm up and then would head back in even if no one else was in the water. She is my water baby. Tuesday Dan and I took McKenna and Ryleigh to Disneyland. We had a blast and ate and ate and ate. Ryleigh had to learn the concept of waiting in lines to go on rides. She wanted instant gratification. One time we reached the front of the line and the worker closed the gate on us before we could get on. Boy was she mad! I thought it was going to be a long few minutes to wait for the next turn, but luckily there ended up being one spaceship left and we were able to go on. Whew! We rode the carousel four times and McKenna and Dan or I rode Thunder Railroad twice and Space Mountain. Thanks goodness for fastpass. Ray and Catherine joined us in the evening to ride the train and Winne the Pooh and have dinner. It was nice of them to take time from their busy schedule to come play with us! Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we ate and ate more! I am pretty sure I gained five pounds on this trip. GongGong came home Friday to see us and then went with my mom to China on Saturday. We drove back to SLC on Saturday and home on Sunday. Dan and I were even able to squeeze in a trip to the Conference Center for the afternoon session of Sunday Conference. Seeing the prophet is amazing! What a trip! I need a vacation from my vacation!

Since we have been home, it has been back to normal. I am working lots of extra hours in April so it will be crazy, but thank goodness I have Dan to help me out.

February

Thought I would let you all know how we are doing over here. The girls are doing great!

McKenna started dance class once a week and is having a great time learning ballet, tap, and jazz. She is doing excellent in school, reading at a fifth grade level and loves recess and lunch. She has learned to jump rope and is a great help at home. McKenna loves to play with friends after school.

Ryleigh is learning so many new phrases and songs. She hides under the table and says "be right back." She likes things done just the right way and is my tough girl. She tries to do everything McKenna does. We had one incident at her two year appointment. She had an abscess on her stomach and had to have it cut open to drain the infection and she did really well. After it was all over we put her shirt and coat on and she was out the door. She is doing much better and on two antibiotics. We have put potty training on hold because the side effects of the antibiotics, but I have found a method to potty train in three days and will try it out as soon as possible. Here she is drinking melted ice cream from her bowl.

Violet has been growing and growing. She had her 6 month appointment last week. How time flies. She weighs about 13 pounds and is short with a big head. Both she and Ryleigh measured in the 97th percentile in head size. She had her first taste of rice cereal this morning and she is still not sure what to think. She is starting to sit up almost on her own and loves to play with toys. She is so happy and content unless she is hungry. She is such a sweet girl!


I loved my Valentine's Day flowers from Dan and the girls. We had a sweet Valentine's Dadinner at home with crab legs. McKenna loves crab legs and learned how crack them herself.

I will leave you on this note of Ryleigh singing part of the wheels on the bus.

Ryleigh's Birthday

Christmas pictures

Ryleigh loves Kenna's new rain boots I took up knitting

PJs made by Grandma Wendy

Violet missed all the morning fun cuz she was sleeping in, but she loves her play mat!

Books from Grandma Wendy

Opening gifts from Santa

Gifts from PoPo

Ryleigh wouldn't let go even for breakfast

Christmas Eve PJs!

Cookies for Santa! Dan made the girl in the green dress. It took him FOREVER!

Happy Violet :)

Grandpa David says she is just opening her mouth really big :O

Cookies made for a cookie exchange. I won a prize for Most Creative!

Behind on blogging

I am so behind. It has been a month since I posted pictures. Violet is getting more fun and smiley. Ryleigh is talking a lot more. Kenna is doing great in school, as always. She hasn't lost any more teeth but she thinks they are all wiggly now. It has been really cold here the past week, getting down to 1 degree F at night. We got a little snow, about one inch, Sunday night. We are just doing holiday shopping and the same old mundane stuff we do at home. I got summoned for jury duty right after Christmas so we will see how that goes. My parents are coming that week also. Hopefully it will be a little warmer than 15 degrees for them. We are planning on spending Christmas at home. It will be fun to start some of our own traditions with our growing family. We will miss everyone, especially my family in sunny California, where it will probably be in the 70s. Here are some fun pictures from the last month. Ryleigh really loves her grandpa David and bowling.

Bed head

Ryleigh stuffing triominos down her shirt...

Kenna and Ryleigh fighting to see who can sit on the Lego box.

Violet crashed on the corner of the couch. She is so sweet!

Turkey Day Countdown!

We made turkeys to pluck because we can't wait for Thanksgiving. This year we will be going to Reno to visit Dan's sister and her family who are back from Switzerland. We are excited for the little vacation and hope for good weather for the drive there and back. Kenna lost her first tooth today! She may lose another one soon too. The adult teeth are already starting to break through. She was a little nervous but pulled it out herself. My little girl is not so little anymore. Neither is my other little girl. Ryleigh was groovin' to Hannah Montana on McKenna's MP3 player tonight. She loves to dance and shake her hips. It is so cute.

Pirates & Pumpkins!!!

We went with a pirate theme in our driveway for Halloween night. I had to work until 7pm so Dan did all the work. He made everything with McKenna's help and set it up by the time I got home. He even made our traditional doughnuts for the trick-o-treaters and the parents. It got a little crazy at times but Dan pulled it off. I was given the easy task of taking the girls trick-or-treating. About 1/3 of the way through, Ryleigh started saying "trick-or-treat!" and holding out her pumpkin. I thought for sure she was going to eat all the candy before we were done, but she was really good and waited until the end. She wouldn't let go of her pumpkin though. I tried to get her out of her stroller and reached for the pumpkin to make it easier, and Ryleigh pulled it away from me and swatted my hand. I thought it was so funny. She was not giving it to me at all.
The pumpkin carvings reflect what the girls were for Halloween. Kenna was a witch, Ryleigh was a unicorn, and Violet was a pumpkin. Dan and his artistic talent carved Davy Jones in two hours just by looking at a picture. We love Halloween and hope to be able to carry on the tradition of making doughnuts every year. Our neighbors love us for it! :)