Kenzie Turns 2!

It's a big day- the only day you double your age and I have to say I'm feeling a little bittersweet about it all. I cried on her first birthday and I cried again on her second. We had a fun morning taking some pictures found here and then we walked around the mall while everyone oohed and awed over the tutu Keith's mom got for her this summer. I wanted to take her to the zoo but it was a gloomy day. We stopped at BF Rose's house to play for a few minutes then came home to nap. Then she watched TV while I made dinner. When daddy got home it was crazy- dinner and presents and neighbors visiting then book club at our apartment for a few hours.

After all was said and done I felt like I hardly held my baby on her birthday so I sneaked into her room and found her awake. I picked her up and rocked her and marveled that she was ever small enough to curl up in my belly. And then I cried. I cried because I felt like I had just delivered her and time was slipping away, because I loved her so much I didn't want to think about anything hurting her, but mostly I cried because over the past couple of weeks I have watched her slip away from being a baby and instead, turning into a little girl.

We are so very lucky to have you! Happy Birthday Mackenzie Shaw!

Corn Maze

On Friday, we made our way back to Deere Farms to go through the corn maze. Unfortunately, we had a bad storm on Tuesday with some high winds and a couple of tornadoes that destroyed a lot of the corn maze as you can see below:

But it was still a beautiful day and we had fun trying to hit the different checkpoints. Keith mostly had fun watching me try to navigate us through the maze with the help of a map.

It was a little challenging to enjoy it with this girl. We've both had colds so she was tired and she wanted only to eat the dried corn on the ground and sit to say "cheese" for the camera

We thought this view of the church was so beautiful. The bells rang out hymns for about 10 minutes at 6 o'clock, it was so peaceful.

Carving Pumpkins

We carved pumpkins this year with 1st year Mitch and his wife Kristi and 3rd year JD and his wife McCall. They're such great friends and we had a lot of fun together. My pumpkin is supposed to be an owl and Keith's is a wolf. If you want to see what our pumpkins should have looked like, check out my friend Kaleena's blog...

Zoo Boo

I must have been inspired when I bought Mackenzie's costume on clearance last year. My sweet little 11 month old was anything but a monster but this year being only 3 days off of 2 she fits the costume a bit better :) We were glad we didn't take a stroller this year. Kenzie can walk for quite a long time without getting tired and she loved the crowd and the freedom.

My pictures of the attractions were better last year. We went later at night this time and so most of my pictures don't show the cute decorations very well so you jut get a few:

New this year was a Toy Story area with Buzz and Jesse.

One day a few weeks ago, Kenzie started asking for Elmo. I'm not sure where it came from because we get only a few channels and PBS isn't one of them but she loves him.
Her monster friend
You can kind of see Shrek and Fiona in the background here
Some of the carved pumpkins on display

Ward Halloween Party

Our ward Halloween party was really fun. It was held at the Button Farm just outside our ward boundaries. They had a hayride and grills for hot dogs and burgers. As you can see, we dressed up last minute and threw on the only costumey outfits we have anymore.
I managed to only snap one picture of another couple- the Birds. We'll miss them when they leave us next spring!

My friend Michelle's little girls in their cutu tutus. Those girls are the reason Kenzie will be dressed cute the next two years. My friend Brittney and I took Blake and Kenzie trick-or-treating in Indiana later in the month. They had a lot of fun. Keith and I recently made up a song with Kenzie's friends in it and she always sings the first line "Blakey" over and over.

Bernheim Forest

Deere Farms

On Saturday we went to a Deere Farms in Indiana with our friends Brittany and Tanner and their little boy Blake. It was a blast and we were really excited that everything but our pumpkins were free. Kenz was really excited to go:

The 30 minute drive was beautiful

This girl is obsessed with pumpkins and kept trying to pick up the biggest ones.
The Barratt's
Blake and Kenz loved this bed full of dried corn
Pony rides that the kids didn't go on because our little girl is afraid and we didn't want to dish out $5
The kids maze
Our happy little pumpkin head
The very dirty slide that Keith braved over and over
The giant pumpkin bounce house. Kenz and Blake weren't sure what to do inside but once they figured it out, they had a blast