Utah: Katie and Brandon's

We were able to stay with Keith's sister Katie and her husband Brandon for a couple nights. They hosted a BBQ with grilled ribs. Mackenzie loved the ribs. As you can see in the pictures below, she gnawed on one of the bones all night.
Kirk and Joy just had their 4th, a sweet little girl named Serena. The kids raced down the hill as Keith yelled out "Ready, Set, Go!"

We also went fishing on Strawberry Lake with Brandon and his friend. I didn't catch anything but Keith managed to get a couple.
Don't judge my outfit, it was cold and I had to "borrow" Brandon's sunglasses and sweatshirt.

Utah: Thanksgiving Point

This was a beautiful day. Kenz was really loving on her Grandma and all of us had a fun time at the Children's Gardens.

Utah: Kirk & Joy's

There's no way I can write one big long post about everything we did while we were in Utah, Idaho and Michigan, and I really don't think anyone would want to read one. So I've created more than a dozen collages to give a snapshot into our vacations starting at the beginning.

We arrived in Utah around 12 AM. Our 2 1/2 hour flight from Louisville to Denver ended up being 6 hours due to thunderstorms and we were actually really lucky our flight from Denver to Salt Lake wasn't any more delayed than it was. Kenz was such a trooper on the plane and we were lucky enough to have the only empty seat on the plane next to us for those 6 hours. Our first day was spent with Keith's family and that night (or the next- it all runs together) we went to his brother Kirk's house where we stayed up late playing Guitar Hero and catching up.

The photos in the bath are of Kenzie and Sophie. Sophie wasn't all that happy about Kenz sharing the bath with her despite the free backrubs. Eva received some stickers from Aunt Rebecca and Gideon was showing off his pearly whites. Oh and that little boy in the monkey backpack? That's what our little boys are going to look like. She was at our babysitting swap and managed to soak herself so our friend dressed her in her little boys clothes. I hardly recognized her when I picked her up and Keith's mom said "That little boy could be Mackenzie's twin" when she saw the picture :)

Pictures of the trip part 1

Well we haven't been very good at updating lately and I have a ton of pictures I want to upload but I don't think it will happen until August. We are just really enjoying our time with family right now! Here's a link to Keith's parents blog if you want to check out some pictures from Utah: www.randyandjoan.blogspot.com

19 months

Life has been pretty relaxed for us lately. Keith has school until July but his schedule is really low key which means we get to see a lot more of him. Mackenzie especially likes this. She is a full fledged daddy's girl now and chooses him over me every time.

Summer is definitely in full swing. We've had some warm weather, thick humidity and some fun storms. I loved the shot of this storm as it rolled in:

A few weeks ago I decided I was tired of my hair and needed a change. Patience has never been a virtue of mine and seeing as how it was Sunday and I couldn't run out and get it cut, I had Keith chop off the bottom and I cut the front. The first dentists were barbers so I guess it makes sense that he should have the talent for cutting hair.

Mackenzie is almost 19 months. 19 months...where did the time go? She's looking and acting less like a baby every day and as much as I love her growing independence and personality, I hate that she's getting so big.
She's a little copycat and loves to come into the bathroom and get ready with me. This day she got into my eyeliner and knew exactly where she needed to put it. Cute huh?

We think this is a Keith face, what do you think grandparents?Such a little sweetheart:

I love this girl to death. Yesterday we had a bonfire with some friends and she was running all over with her daddy trying to catch fireflies and I was overwhelmed with love for her. I think I have the best job in the world being able to stay at home and care for my sweet girl.
For the record here's a little bit of what she's doing: (Feel free to stop reading)

*Daily and clearly says: mama, dada, baby, head, toes, nose, no, yes, eye, uh-oh, banana, book, bubble, cheerios, duck, dog, milk... she repeats other words after us but these are the few that have stuck so far. She knows some sign language that I wasn't even aware of until I watched a signing movie with her and saw her do the signs before they did.
* We have a train close by and she loves to say "choo-choo." She can also make noises for horse, cow, dog, duck, cat, lamb, monkey, elephant
*She loves her babies. She cuddles them at night and loves to carry them around.
*She loves getting out. She hams it up in public. Today she was flirting with the apex salesmen behind us- not a good sign
*She loves her baths and she loves to swim
*She still eats as much as we do. Cheerios, milk and fruit in the morning, yogurt and veggies and bread for lunch and various things for dinner and snacks. Bananas and yogurt top the list for favorite foods
*She still sleeps 12+ hours a night and takes a 2-3 hour nap during the day
*She's in nursery and loves it because the leaders rock! Especially Amber, her second mom. Friday, I took her to Amber's house with me and when I set her down she walked right over to Amber and put her hands up to be held.
*She loves to run but hates to swing
*She loves Baby Einstein but her attention span is still short- about 10 minutes.
*She loves other kids, especially babies and big kids that dote on her.
*She's happy 99% of the time
*She finally loves to read. She can sit still through a whole story
*She understands just about everything we say now and she has quite the opinion on food, books, movies, you name it.
*She is a little bit of a cuddler now. When she's tired she'll lay on our shoulders and when you ask for hugs and kisses she'll give them.
* She loves to sing "Head, shoulders, knees and toes."
*Around 17 months she started showing signs for readiness for potty training. We bought her a potty so that she would be used to seeing it and within a few days she said yes when I asked if she needed to go and she did! Needless to say my enthusiastic response scared her to death and somewhat hindered her progress. This new phase scares me.
*She loves nature and is getting used to dogs. Birds are her favorite animal

When the In-Laws Come to Town

Keith had a week long break last week and so his parents took advantage of it and came out to pay us a visit. We were so excited to have them here and they planned an amazing trip for the 5 of us. I'll keep the captions brief and let you skim through the pictures because I know they're more exciting than anything I'll write.

Here's Mackenzie just waking up and excited to see her grandparents

First stop: Frankfort - capitol of Kentucky

A beautiful floral clock outside
Abraham Lincoln- born in the bluegrass state
The mayor's office. We were surprised how welcoming it was with the doors wide open
A shot of the beautiful marble interior
Keith and I duking it out. I can see a future politician in Keith, can't you?We stopped at Cumberland Falls for a picnic lunch. Because of all of the recent rain and flooding in the area, the falls were roaring.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail. Did you know it runs all the way from Georgia to Maine?

The smoky mountains = beautiful. We had to watch Last of the Mohicans when we got home to see the scenery again

No more pictures!! She was pretty good in the backseat but definitely threw her fair share of fits

The Biltmore Home in Asheville, NC. George Vanderbilt's home opened in 1895 and is one of the largest private residence in North America. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the interior but did get some shots of the grounds.

The grounds were expansive and breathtaking

Keith's parents in front of some beautiful plants in the greenhouse

After spending a full morning at the Biltmore Estate, we went back to the hotel to cool off in the pool. Showing off the new suit:The water was CHILLY. We only lasted a few minutes before we migrated to the hot tub.

Joan has the magic touch.

Getting comfortable at the restaurant.

Our next stop was Shaker village in Harrodsburg, KY where we ate the best fried chicken I've ever had. It was really fun to learn about the Shaker's and their celibate lifestyle. It was a peaceful contrast to the busyness of the Biltmore. Everything was very simple.
Kenzie has two speeds: Run and run faster. Who needs a stroller when your kid walks faster than you do?

One of the work buildings

A worker explaining his trade. Some workers are volunteers, others are paid.

Kenz made friends with a cat, I might have to post videos of her "talking" to the kitty. The cat was a good sport. Kenz poked it's eye and stepped on it's foot and it still hung around.

On Friday, we had the opportunity to go to the Louisville temple with Keith's parents. For me, it was the highlight of the trip. You can't beat the peace and spirit of the temple. Being there with loved ones helps me to remember what's truly important in this life.
Friday night we went to Wicked. I LOVED it! The music, the story, the acting. It was wonderful. I would go again and again if I had the money.
Saturday morning, we went to Churchill Downs. We watched a live interview with Calvin Borel- the Jockey who rode the winning horse in the Derby last week. A nice rich looking man overhead Keith asking where to buy tickets for the races and he directed us outside to his friend who gave us free box tickets to watch the races for the day. We forgot our camera so i don't have any pictures of Churchill downs but it's a lot bigger and more beautiful than it looked on TV.
It was such a great week and we hope this motivates all of you to come out and visit us! Thanks Randy and Joan for the fun trip, we can't wait to see you again in July!!

Thunder over Louisville

Saturday night, we went to "the largest annual pyrotechnic display in North America." It was absolutely incredible!! Every year Louisville puts on a fireworks show called "Thunder over Louisville" to kick off Derby. It lasted 28 minutes and was synchronized with a wide variety of songs. According to this website, eight 400-foot barges assemble on both sides of the 2nd Street Bridge to form the stage from which the fireworks spectacular ignites. In other words, it was like a three ring circus trying to watch everything at once.

Thanks to a couple in our ward, we had a fabulous spot downtown to watch the show. The place was crowded (over 700,000 in attendance) and we saw the finest people Louisville has to offer including a rather large and hairy man who decided to expose just about everything right in front of us. Keith and Bryan said it was an instant self-esteem boost while Amber and I still gag at the thought of the scene. See the guy in the red shirt? We call him meal-in-pants guy because he had a fast food bag (with food) tucked into his tight jeans. Fries anyone?

The air show went from 3-9 PM so we were able to catch the last hour of it. You can barely see the plane in this video but I thought the sky was beautifulThe "Belle of Louisville" aka "The Belly"

Posing with the champion

This is what Mackenzie did through the whole fireworks display. I ate it up, I love when she cuddles!

And finally, the videos which absolutely don't do the show justice. The first is a fun clip Keith caught with some fun songs and fireworks. These are small videos but if you look close, you can see hearts and stars.
The second clip was a mini-finale in the middle where there was just a small lag. It gives you an idea of how many fireworks were going off.

And if you're wondering why they call it "Thunder over Louisville" check out this clip. It's from 2007 and at about 42 seconds, the fireworks start sounding like thunder. They do it for the finale of every show and there are no words to describe how they feel and look. Our camera didn't have a chance at capturing it.